Florida woman fatally shoots man breaking into house with tire iron, officials say

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida woman shot a man who was trying to break into her house with a tire iron early Saturday morning, investigators said.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the homeowner knew the man she shot. They were part of two couples, two men and two women, who went out earlier in the evening. The four returned to the home around 4 a.m. and an argument started between the man and his girlfriend, WTSP reported.

Investigators said the boyfriend and the other man left when the fight got heated. The boyfriend later decided to return to the home to get his girlfriend. Around 6:40 a.m. he kicked and hit the door, but no one answered. The other man tried to get him to leave but he refused, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The man then grabbed a tire iron and yelled that he was going to break a window and get in, officials said. When no one replied, he started to break a window with the tire iron and was shot by the homeowner. He died at the scene, WTVT reported.

“This is another incident where you just should have left,” Judd said. “But when you came back to the house, that’s not your home and you tried to break in to get a girlfriend who did not want to go with you that was a bad choice and it was the last bad choice he’ll make.”

Judd said the homeowner will not be charged.

“You have a right to protect yourself in your home and be free from home invaders, armed burglars and certainly he was armed with a tire iron making an attempt to come in through the window,” Judd said. “She stopped him. She stopped him permanently.”

The names of the people involved have not yet been released.

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