Self-Defense Story of the Day

We haven’t done one of these for a while, so here goes:

A 12-year-old girl who used her mother’s handgun to shoot an intruder in their home said she is “holding up pretty good” after the confrontation. … Kendra [St. Clair] is a sixth-grader at Calera Elementary, which is on fall break. She was home alone Wednesday when someone banged on the front door. …

About 9:30 a.m., Kendra called to say a man was ringing the doorbell and banging on the door, St. Clair said. She told her daughter to get her .40-caliber Glock and go into the bathroom closet, which has reinforced locks on the door.

Because the TV was on, St. Clair said she thinks Jones [the intruder] knew someone was in the house and went to find her.

“The bathroom light switch makes a noise when you turn it on and Kendra heard it,” St. Clair said. As Jones slowly turned the door knob, Kendra fired the gun and hit him in the upper chest, abdomen region, Golden said.

Jones ran out of the house and was chased down by Bryan County officers, Golden said.

As you might expect, the Daily Mail has a not fully coherent account, with good photos:

Explaining what happened, Kendra told KX11.com: ‘He opened the screen door and started pounding on the door. So I didn’t answer it. And I called my mom. She said to go get the gun and hide in the closet.

‘When I came out after I thought he was gone, he was standing there trying to open the back door. So I got really scared and I called 911.

‘When I was back there (in the closet) on the phone with 911, I heard the bathroom light turn on that was leading to the closet. And when I saw the door handle turn, I shot him. ‘I guess it went through the door, went through him, and went through the wall.’

Hey, it was a .40 caliber bullet. Here is Kendra St. Clair:

The St. Clair home is in a rural area of Oklahoma:

This is where the bullet exited the closet door:

No burglar should ever break into a house without worrying that he won’t come out alive because the owner–or, as in this case, the owner’s kid–has a firearm and knows how to use it. And oh, by the way–my son and I have a lane reserved at our local range at 10:00 tomorrow morning.

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