LOCKLAND, Ohio -- A Lockland homeowner shot and killed a home invader Tuesday, police said.
Lockland Police Chief James Toles said the shooting happened in the 600 block of Maple Street just before 3 p.m.
Police said they found the man shot in the chest, dead and lying on the floor of the Lockland home when they arrived. A knife and gun were also on the floor, police said.
Witnesses told police that three or four people pulled up to the house in a gold car. When the victim was shot, the others fled.
Lockland police officers investigating the scene.
The man who fired the shot is cooperating with police and called 911.
"I need an ambulance, and I need the police here," he told a 911 operator. "A guy just tried to come in here and cut my throat, and he's dying on the floor."
Investigators said the shooter and victim did not know each other, and Lockland police didn't immediately recognize the victim, either.
Neighbors described the man who fired the shot who was renting the home on Maple Street as "a guy who welcomed everyone" but would defend himself.
"If the guy who (broke in) knew him personally, this wouldn't have happened," said Dwayne Palmore, a neighbor. "He's a defender. He defends his community, he defends himself. What would you do if someone came into your home?"
The case is Lockland's first homicide of 2016, Toles said. Ironically, the chief came to the directly from an anti-violence event.
"I was Downtown at the (John Weld Peck) Federal Building doing anti-gun violence training with a positive cooperation between all the agencies working together to take gun violence off the street," he said. "Unfortunately, I have to come back to the first homicide of Lockland in 2016."
Hours after the shooting, Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece gave the Village of Lockland Police Department commendations for stepping in to assist Lincoln Heights when the Lincoln Heights Police Department was out of commission.
