Franklin Schrout, pictured above, chose to invade one too many homes in his criminal career. It happend about 1:30 a.m. on Friday in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Schrout broke into the home of an 81-year-old man and his disabled sister, wearing all black and a skull mask.
Once inside, Schrout demanded money. The homeowner said he didn’t have any in the house. That was when Schrout and the 81-year-old started fighting.
On or in the man’s nightstand was a .22 caliber handgun, one the homeowner had never fired. It had been there for over 30 years. You have to assume the ammo was just as superannuated.
The 81-year-old was able to grab a .22-caliber gun during a struggle with Schrout and fired one shot, police said.
Schrout ran out of the house and the 81-year-old’s bedridden sister called 911, police said.
When police arrived at the home, they found Schrout dead outside.
The 81-year-old told police that he had never fired the gun before and that it had been sitting in his nightstand for 30 years. He also said he wished he had been stronger so that he could have fought off Schrout without having to shoot him.
A few more details from cbslocal.com:
The homeowner picked up a .22 caliber gun, which he had nearby and fired one round. It hit Schrout in the abdomen.
Lt. Kolencik told KDKA-TV’s Ralph Iannotti, “The [unidentified] homeowner advised [us] that he had the gun for over 30 years sitting on his nightstand and has never fired the weapon… and uses it today and it saved his life.”
So Schrout was struck once in the gut with a .22 round. It was probably a 40 grain bullet traveling about 800 feet per second.
The .22 caliber is consistently underrated by the un-informed. A great many people and large animals have been killed with the caliber. It wouldn’t be my first choice as a defensive handgun, but it’s far better than not having a gun at all.
Under the kind firearm storage laws in places such as San Francisco, the victim’s firearm in this case would have been stored illegally. If laws like that had been on the books in Pennsylvania, the homeowner either wouldn’t have had quick access to his gun or would now be facing criminal charges. Instead, he and his sister are safe and a career criminal has been retired. And so it goes.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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