Man Who Has Shot Two Burglars in Five Years: “I Wish People Would Stop Bothering Me”
Charles Sweeney (2013)
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NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com |

Lightning might not strike the same place twice, but criminals someties do. Shortly after 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning, Charles Sweeney of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was awakened by noises in his bathroom. He grabbed his gun and went to investigate.

As it turned out, a man had broken in through the bathroom window.

“I thought, okay, somebody just broke in,” Sweeney said (as recorded in the video above). I cocked the hammer back so the trigger would be in single action mode, and I just waited for him to come into view… He comes into view, and BLAM! Boy, that nine millimeter is real loud inside the house.”

Sweeney called for police and an ambulance immediately, but the intruder (identified as Donald Stovall) died in Sweeney’s house from a gunshot wound to his chest.

Remarkably, this wasn’t the first time Sweeney was forced to shoot an intruder in the house he’s occupied for over 60 years. Another man, Michael Watts, attempted to burglarize Sweeney’s home in 2013.

Sweeney shot Watts six times, but Watts survived and is currently serving a prison sentence. There’s another video interview of Sweeney from 2013 in which he says, “the next burglar gets the same treatment with a bigger gun”…

NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com |

For now, police seem to think Sweeney was well within his rights to defend himself.

“If you are in your home and you have an intruder come in and you feel that you are in fear of your life or the life of someone else who maybe in your home, you are well within your rights to defend yourself,” said Captain Karen Tipler.

For Sweeney’s part, he says he’d just like to be left alone.

“I wish they’d stop breaking in, and I wish people would stop bothering me. I’ve had a concealed handgun license since the summer of ’96… don’t break into my house! It will end badly. I will defend the place.”

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45 COMMENTS

  1. “the next burglar gets the same treatment with a bigger gun”????

    And the “bigger gun” he chose was a 9mm? Wow! I wonder, was his other gun a .22RF, or did he go with that .9mm the press is always talking about? Perhaps that’s why, this time around, he chose his position carefully… carefully prepared his firearm(which must have been a DA/SA semiauto(one of my choices also, in M92 or S&W 659 flavors)… took careful aim….. and was much more successful this time around.
    This time the perp didn’t manage to escape law enforcement DURING SURGERY, and also this time the homeowner doesn’t need to worry about the perp coming back around for seconds.
    I would say this man evaluated the police in his area, found them vastly wanting, if not outright retarded, and decided in future, he needed to rely on the person best qualified to protect him, and also the most motivated… himself.

  2. Man I’ve been to Tulsa…it seemed like a really nice city. I wonder if our hero lives in a crappy part of town?!? Twice sounds like the ghetto.

    • That’s a weird part of town. Some of the most swanky houses in Tulsa are within a mile, but so is the most rough area in town.

    • “Ghetto” means the residents are similar whether it be race, religion or class. Beverly Hills is a ghetto.

      Where there was relatively low crime in suburban to rural areas the perps are the neighbor kids you knew as they grew up. Now they’re breaking in fueled by drug addiction.

      Any extra emphasis on a particular people or area shows an obsession with “your” people being better than “those” people. Go to church read the Book or get some science and get over it.

      Mankind is naturally tribal but we don’t need it for survival. Expand you idea of tribe to include more people. Once you meet the others you’ll see they want the same things out of life that you do. You will also see that “your” group and “their” group have criminal or spoiled or mentally ill elements. If the “others” disappeared you’d still have your bad actors.

  3. What is wrong with these people? Say nothing to anyone, police, press or friends. It will be used against you at some point. They have the right to remain silent, just not the ability.

    • Although he does have the right to defend his house, an attorney will take this guys “BLAM!” and turn him into a wacko that loves offing innocent people who have done nothing wrong other than mistaking BLAMMO mans house for a friends house.

      Keep your damn mouth SHUT!!!

        • I believe Oklahoma has Castle Doctrine which means you can indeed use lethal force to protect your home. Outside of that particular legal protection, a person breaking into a home cannot reasonably be assumed to be no harm to the resident(s), so even states without Castle Doctrine often fail to convict someone who takes the life of a burglar.

    • I really love that he said straight out exactly what he meant without all the legal pussyfooting. I would never do it, but how dare others who feel exactly the same way but would never speak it chastise one who did and took his own chances. Good on him and to all the good advise good know it all’s, everyone has heard it a hundred times before so your words are just words on a page that bring no value to anyone.

  4. I saw a video interview of the home owner. He and the area did not look up scale.

    He said after he shot the burglar, the burglar said “I’m sorry”, then turned and “I shot him again”.

    My wife and I both were surprised because we took that to mean the burglar turned his back.

    If “he turned”, did the home owner shoot the burglar in the back with the second shot?

    • Did the invader turn away… Or toward, as if to strike or other wise continue. As in, “I’m sorry you shot me and now I’m going to retaliate.”

  5. No issue, surprisingly, in California. There is a presumption of an intent to commit grave bodily injury or death when a stranger enters your home uninvited. As a result, the prosecutor has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the homeowner did NOT act in self-defense. Needless to say, there are few cases.

    • Be careful with the “uninvited” language. It is a very specific kind of uninvited:

      CA Penal Code § 198.5 (2017)

      “Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family or household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has UNLAWFULLY AND FORCIBLY ENTERED THE RESIDENCE and the person using the force KNEW OR HAD REASON TO BELIEVE that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred. As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant or substantial physical injury.”

      The part in CAPS is important!

  6. I’m often amused by the differences in Monday Morning Quarterbacking posts by the various posters from different States. It’s gotten so it’s very predictable what type of State a poster resides in and this thread is no different. 😉

    Where I am, this particular event probably wouldn’t make the Statewide news, although it might be mentioned in the local rags. And it’s a given that no charges against the homeowner would be filed, and any civil suits would be thrown out, if any were brought.

  7. ….. , I found this out, Do Not Wear A Razorback t shirt and go to a convenient store in Tulsa when the high school kids get out. That was one of the scrappiest fights I’ve been in, damned Okie’s tore my shirt . Possum ‘s feet couldn’t run fast enuff

    • Tearing your Razorback shirt is, IMO, grounds for a defensive gun use. I’ll wear mine anywhere I please, particularly Austin. (and College Station, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Oxford, Columbia etc.)

      GO HOGS!

  8. I hope police cleared him before he made that incredibly stupid and moronic statement to the local news. He sounds like one of those guys who bought a gun and wants to shoot someone, as far as his statement goes. Something about him seems off.

    • Yeah but both of those interviews were entertaining as hell.

      Used them as another teaching moment to the kids of keeping their mouths shut.
      But we all had a good laugh.

  9. Well, if word gets around to the criminal class that this guy has removed two of their peers from society, the criminal class might finally leave him alone.

  10. Do you think the home owner should have made a verbal command for the intruder to leave before firing the first shot? I understand and support what this man did, but, I would have, at the very least, shouted at the intruder to leave. If he didn’t, or took a step in my direction, game over, man. I also understand the fact that someone willing to break into someone’s home, is also willing to assault or murder the homeowner. Do these retards honestly think that no one lives in the place they’re busting into. That right there leads me to conclude that they will kill or assault the homeowner if they can. The sister of my ex-girl told me that she would try to talk to the person who had just broken in, in attempt to express sympathy and help them see the error of their actions. I asked her if she planned on doing this before or after he rapes and beats you to death. The look on her face was priceless. Some people honestly are willing to put their trust in the morality and decency of an individual who has neither to begin with. The sooner that poisonous mentaility dies, the better.

    • No.
      I’m not giving away my position so that he can launch lead towards me through drywall walls.
      The criminal will get the message when he “ses the light”.

  11. Poor Donald. He was trying to collect funds to finish his education. He had only completed the first half of his education to become a Criminal Lawyer.

  12. Tax payer relief shot both times!
    This is a gun blog and I would have liked to learn the caliber and type of bullet and model of gun used.
    He states bigger gun the second time.
    Bigger capacity? Caliber? Micro versus full size pistol?

    • Yet another example of “ask and ye shall receive” on this website. Just a couple of days ago I asked: “was his other gun a .22RF, or did he go with that .9mm”?

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