Surprised household finds intruder in home at 6 am — and fights back, Florida cops say

One Florida household went on the offensive during a break-in, including a fight and a fatal shooting of the intruder, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

The 23-year-old suspect died at the scene, the sheriff’s office reported in a news release.

It happened at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10, in a neighborhood of single-family homes near Lynn Haven in the Florida Panhandle. Lynn Haven is about 100 miles southwest of Tallahassee.

“A resident of the home discovered the stranger, a male, within the home,” the sheriff’s office reported.

“Another resident of the home confronted the stranger and an altercation ensued. The stranger was shot.”

Investigators say the fatal shot was fired by “the owner of the residence” as he joined in the confrontation. “The owner did not know (the suspect),” officials said.

An autopsy was to be performed as part of the investigation, officials said.

Details of what the man was doing in the home and how he got inside were not released. The suspect was living in nearby Panama City at the time of the shooting, the Panama City News Herald reports.

This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Surprised household finds intruder in home at 6 am — and fights back, Florida cops say."