An elderly Vietnam War veteran turned the tables on a naked madman who broke both of his legs — shooting the attacker dead in Los Angeles’ Studio City neighborhood, cops and witnesses said.
The maniac had driven to a suburban block on Tujunga Avenue Friday morning before he stripped down on the sidewalk then screamed nonsense as he broke into a woman’s home, cops said in an interview with Fox News.
Security camera footage from a house across the street shows the man trying to break into the house while holding a garden sign and yelling unintelligibly.
He managed to break into the home and chased the terrified tenant out, according to the police. Her landlord, the 79-year-old veteran, heard her screams and ran out of his home to help, the report said.
“He tells the suspect to leave, he told him ‘I have a gun, I will shoot you’,” LAPD Capt. Warner Castillo said in an interview with Fox News.
The naked man “slammed” the veteran on the ground, fracturing both of his legs, Castillo said. The veteran opened fire as the attacker approached him, witnesses said.
“I looked over, and the naked guy was on the ground, and the older guy was on the ground, and he shot him two more times,” a neighbor told ABC News.
The veteran was rushed to the hospital and has since undergone a successful surgery, Fox News reported.
“Hopefully he makes it out of here without being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life,” Castillo told reporters.
The incident has left the neighborhood on edge, but many have hailed the veteran as a hero.
“I think it’s a textbook example of self defense and I really, really hope he does not face charges,” said neighbor Betsy Weiss to CBS News.
Any charges for the veteran will be decided by LA County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.
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