Intruder Shot Dead by Palmdale Homeowner

A Palmdale homeowner fatally shot an intruder who burst through the front door Monday as the homeowner was trying to telephone for help, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

While his wife and four children fled to the rear of the house, the homeowner fired one pistol shot into the intruder’s upper body, Sgt. Robert Stoneman said.

There was no known relationship between the homeowner and the attacker, and the motive for the assault was unknown, Stoneman said.

The body of the intruder, an adult male, was not immediately identified, Stoneman said. Investigators withheld the homeowner’s identity because he is traumatized by the incident, Stoneman said.

The shooting took place at a small, one-story, wood-frame house on West Avenue S, which sits in a large field in a sparsely populated section of southwest Palmdale.

About 1 a.m., the homeowner heard loud pounding on the door of the attached garage, as the intruder apparently attempted to break down the door to gain entry, investigators said.

The homeowner instructed his wife to call 911 for emergency aid, then moved to the front door, they said.

Sighting him, the intruder rushed toward the resident, trying to force open the front door as the resident tried to keep him out by leaning against the door from the inside, investigators said.

At the same time, the homeowner ordered his wife to get off the phone--leaving the line open--and take the children to safety in the rear of the house, they said.

As the homeowner retreated to pick up the phone, the intruder kicked down the front door, burst inside and the homeowner shot him, deputies said.

It was not clear if the resident was talking to anyone on the phone or merely waiting to do so when he fired the shot, they said.

Meanwhile, in an apparently unrelated incident in the same neighborhood eight hours later, a 35-year-old man was found dead in the road in front of 100 E. Avenue S, sheriff’s investigators said.

The man apparently died of natural causes, deputies said. The county coroner’s office, which will perform an autopsy, withheld the man’s identity until relatives could be notified, authorities said.