NEVER TOO OLD TO SHOOT A BURGLAR

'What's the point of having a gun if it's not loaded,' 84-year old homeowner said after shooting intruder to death

By Karen Kane

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
December 8, 2017

An 84-year-old man who sleeps with a loaded semi-automatic pistol under his pillow shot to death one of two intruders who broke into his house early Friday in Lawrence County.

"It was a me-or-them" situation, said Don Lutz of Ellport.

"I wasn't scared at all. I had my gun. I'm an expert with guns. You do what you have to do," Mr. Lutz said Friday afternoon.

Ellwood City police Lt. David Kingston said Mr. Lutz shot the intruder at "point-blank range in the chest."

The man died on Mr. Lutz's kitchen floor, and the second intruder fled.

There is no description of the second man because the house was "pitch black at the time," the lieutenant said.

The home invasion happened at 1:10 a.m.

"I couldn't tell them anything about the guy (who fled)," Mr. Lutz said.

After consulting with the local district attorney, Lt. Kingston said Mr. Lutz will not be charged with a crime. "He was defending himself," the lieutenant said.

Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa said two legal theories protect Mr. Lutz: self-defense; and the state’s Castle Doctrine, which allows a homeowner to use deadly force to protect life, family or house against an intruder.

“Based upon the circumstances that led up to the shooting, the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office has no intention of filing charges against Mr. Lutz,” Mr. Lamancusa said. “There is no duty to retreat in your home. He was authorized to use deadly force under these circumstances.”

Police do not know the dead intruder’s identity.

Lt. Kingston said the man appears to be 35 to 45 years old. Mr. Lutz added that the man weighed close to 300 pounds and was white. Mr. Lamancusa said no weapon was found on the dead man, who was wearing rubber gloves.

The elderly veteran said he owns several weapons and has made it a longtime habit to sleep with a loaded pistol.

"What's the point of having a gun if it's not loaded?" he said.

Mr. Lutz said he became comfortable with weapons when he served during the Korean War, spending some 16 months on the front lines.

Friday's incident began with Mr. Lutz asleep in his bed until he was startled by the sound of breaking glass.

"They broke the glass and pushed in the door," he said.

Carrying his .380 semi-automatic, he went down the hallway and, as he got to its edge, he confronted the two men, one of whom grabbed him.

"It was pitch black. I met one face-on, and he reached out and grabbed at me. I shot him," Mr. Lutz recounted.

Though mortally wounded, the intruder tussled with Mr. Lutz with assistance from the second intruder. The three scuffled on the kitchen floor when the wounded intruder "rolled over dead." The second intruder ran out the front door.

Mr. Lutz called police.

"The police couldn't find the bullet. It went clean through him," Mr. Lutz said. "I hope the police find the other guy."

Lt. Kingston described Mr. Lutz's Jamison Street home as part of a residential neighborhood not known for having problems with crime.

“Their motive is unknown to us. We don’t know if this was a random targeting, if there was something more to this,” said Mr. Lamancusa, who added that there was nothing to suggest a relationship between Mr. Lutz and the intruders.

Mr. Lutz, who lives alone, has been married three times. He has no children. He retired at 60 from the now-closed Armstrong World in Beaver Falls where he labored as a machinist, carpenter, and sheet metal worker. He also was a union officer, he said.