Police said it appeared Joe Howard Teague's actions were justified
A 93-year-old man shot and critically wounded a burglar and scared off his accomplices, according to authorities in Los Angeles.
The retired plumber, identified as Joe Howard Teague by the
Riverside County Sheriff's Department, confronted the intruders when they broke into his house in Moreno Valley early on Wednesday,
ABC reported.
"I approached them to put them under citizen's arrest. They wouldn't adhere to that and then one of them came at me with a fishing pole," Teague told reporters outside his home Thursday, the network reported.
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Teague said the suspects, who kicked his door open, began throwing things at him as he tried to hold them at gunpoint.
"It was just like somebody comes to a gunfight with a pocketknife, you know," Teague reportedly said.
Teague called police around 1230pm, reporting a burglary in progress, the sheriff's office said, and told dispatchers he was holding several suspects, including at least one woman.
When police arrived they found one of the burglars with a gunshot wound. Witnesses said they saw several people fleeing on foot.
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ABC named the wounded suspect as Joseph A. Ortega, of Moreno Valley and said the 33-year-old was hospitalised in critical condition.
"Investigators have established that several individuals, including Ortega, were inside Teague’s property when a shooting occurred," the sheriff's department said.
Teague was not injured.
Sheriff's department officials said it appears the shooting was justified, but added that the investigation is ongoing.
Investigators are working to identify the other assailants and no arrests have been made.
Oscar Malma, whose wife is related to Teague, told ABC station KABC, that Teague had been the victim of a string of recent break-ins and had become increasingly frustrated.
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