A 13-year-old boy in Phoenix saw his mother freeze as a meth-addled attacker invaded their home. Fearing for the safety of his mother and his four siblings, he took a gun from mom’s hands and shot the intruder, Juan Saavedra, multiple times.
The rounds caused the intruder to reconsider his attack and flee to the front yard where police found him shortly thereafter, leaking all over the lawn.
It happened in a quiet neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Drugs must have addled Mr. Saavedra’s mind as it seems like common knowledge that almost everyone and their dog in the Grand Canyon State owns guns.
![](https://cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Juan-Saavedra.jpg)
It also alarmed neighbors that an ethically-challenged individual would try something so stupid in their neighborhood.
When officers arrived at around 10:13 p.m., they contacted a man in front of a home, later identified as Saavedra.
“As officers approached this male, they observed him to be suffering from apparent gun shot wounds to his abdomen and right arm,” read a portion of the court documents.
Eventually, officers made contact with an alleged victim, who told officers she had received a motion notification on her security system, and then saw Saavedra on her security camera walking around the front of her home.
“The victim stated she exited her residence and gave the defendant several commands to leave the area or he was at risk of being shot, in an attempt to scare him away from the residences front yard area,” read a portion of the court documents. “The victim stated she then ran back inside of her residence, instructing one of her children to close and lock the door behind her. The victim stated as she entered her residence, she began calling police and went to retrieve a firearm in order to protect herself, her husband and five children located inside.”
The alleged victim, according to police, later heard Saavedra bang on a carport door. After she told her children to move away from the area and hide as far away as possible, she heard the glass windowpane of the carport door shatter, and Saavedra’s hand reaching inside.
“The victim stated as she stood with the firearm, she observed the defendants hand came through the now open and broken window, and reached for the doors doorknob in an attempt to open the door,’ read a portion of the statement. “The victim stated at this point her 13-year-old son, seeing that the defendant was attempting to make entry and his mother was not firing the firearm, in fear for the safety of himself and family, took the firearm from his mother and fired the firearm towards the defendant, striking him.”
It’s common for people to “freeze up” when faced with a criminal attack. While they may or may not resemble an elderly Mitch McConnell when it happens, breaking that freeze as quickly as possible allows victims to resist the attack and minimize injuries.
Given what happened, the 13-year-old deserves huge props for seizing the initiative and defending his family from a violent criminal. Hopefully he’ll recover fully from the incident. And let’s hope mom has a backup gun or two as the police no doubt took hers as evidence.
As for Mr. Saavedra, the homeless meth addict, he’ll be facing plenty of criminal charges once he gets out of the hospital.
I guarantee my wife won’t “freeze up”🙄. Neither will I…
I can’t guarantee how either of us would react in an extreme situation.
I’d like to say that I do, but I don’t.
And, you likely never hope you need to find out… 🙁
I guarantee you would explosively soil yourself and sob uncontrollably.
That might be the case, but what leads you to make such an asshole remark? Staying in practice?
Just because you may have reacted that way in a stressful situation, doesn’t mean that anyone else would.
Little ‘cgray’ has been hanging around TTAG off-and-on for at least 10 years now. It’s his standard behavior.
He’s just an asshole literal Leftist Scum ™ who thinks he’s better than we are.
Feel free to kick his tiny nuts up into his throat at any time you like… 🙂
gumball machines are a stressful sitch for that femwee.
jsled’s retarded little brother? Makes sense.
I’ve been in several critical incidents. In one, I can say that I acted as effectively as possible and placed myself in the best position to succeed. In a subsequent one, I vapor locked on a threat- and luckily had someone else there to cover my lapse.
I have no idea why it happened in one incident but not another. I can only say that I wouldn’t guarantee anything.
While the actions of the young man are commendable. The outcome leaves much to be desired.
Indeed, what was the husband doing?
His boyfriend. 🤔
Unlike you snowflake…He was at work.
The young man deserves lots of credit for being brave and handling the situation. Maybe a little firearm training is in order, so there can be a tax payer relief shot should ever one be required in the future.
The Arizona govenor will probably pardon him so he can once again become a threat.
I love a happy ending. The cops should have left him leaking for awhile longer, before field dressing him. That would have been a better ending.
I agree. As we know the blood supply of an addict is contaminated and whole body blood transfusions speed recovery. By reducing his volume of blood the decontamination process is speeded up.
“the homeless meth addict“
Homeless no more …. Unless the State has a Soros DA
and yes, Arizona has a Soros DA, I mean AG!
in order to protect herself, her husband and five children located inside.”
So, where was the HUSBAND when this child was forced into the position of defending himself and his family by a POS dirtbag who will be back on the street before the first dressing change for his well deserved wounds?… In a righteous world that scumbag would have “succumbed” to his wounds enroute to the hospital… Yeah, I said it…
I wondered where the husband was too. Do you need potential explanations? Perhaps he is a cripple. Maybe he’s not mentally competent to handle a firearm. Maybe he works nights, and the family simply decided to take care of business, and allow Dad to sleep. (Hope they had a muffler attached, so it didn’t wake Dad!) Maybe he was in the basement, working on the intruder alarm.
Don’t know what Dad was doing, but obviously, Mom and son didn’t need him!
I do admire a strong woman.
Would be a lot easier to “admire” HER if SHE had taken the shot instead of putting that thirteen year old in that position…
yeah mebbe it didn’t go down that way. better test his hands for powder, jackson.
Maybe a felon.
Five kids? He was probably exhausted.
Interesting that the news story doesn’t say that the woman froze; it says that her son saw that she wasn’t shooting and took the gun from her.
After popping out and raising 5 kids, I imagine *she* was exhausted… 🙂
I kniw a goodly number of women who have borne and are well along in the process of raising up nine, ten, fourteen children and would unquestionably do just fine under such circumstances. Not to slam this one, but five kid Not that big a deal
Walls? Fencing? Iron gates? Iron bars with pointy tips? Everything about this house shouts, “KEEP THE FUCK OUT” Some dumbasses just can’t take a hint…
maybe he was hell bent upon committing suicide by homeowner and now has muffed it big time. Serves him just bout perfectly. dirtbag……….
Illegals: Doing the home invasions Americans won’t do.
Very smart kid, very well-mannered and good kid. Instead of taking a gun to school and killing people, he did the right thing, very, very awesome.
The intruder is lucky that he got shot with a weak caliber round.
He might have succumbed to “multiple shots” from a stronger round.
Quite the colorful outfit he’s wearing in his portrait. Choir robe no doubt.
(chuckle)
If there’s a Soros DA the mom will be charged with child abuse, endangering a minor, and providing a child with a dangerous weapon. The kid will be charged as an adult for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. Both will be imprisoned for life without parole. The illegal alien perp will be granted a $2 mil settlement and given the medal for freedom.
Arizona, Forced entry into an occupied dwelling. Lethal force clearly permitted in any such situation. If the loca Soros pimp charges either the Mum or her Son, he MUST be impeached, recalled, whatever it takes. Not OK at all.
No argument from me. All Soros backed DAs should be recalled and jailed for dereliction of duty, violation of oath, and anything else that can be dreamed up to put them away for good. When the perp becomes the victim, the world becomes a far less appealing place to live.
My mother worked a Bar.
Dad was out of town, he worked construction
We had unwanted late night visitors one time.
Mother was flirtatious as was the normality with working a bar. Did she ask for it?
I was 14?
The front door was kicked in.
All I had was a Ben Pearson bow, a Crossman 760, and a tom cat.
I stuck the arrow into the wall trying for a head shot, # 1 hesitated, I grabbed the tom cat and through it onto the face of #1.
He retreated. I stepped outside and put a pellet into the front window drivers side.
Someone in the car fired a shot and the bullet stuck into a 4×4 porch post above my head.
Mom had called my grandpa and he rolled up with shotgunm. They skedaddle’d before he cut loose.
So I can relate to what this kid went through.
Threw🙂 ,,,threw the cat.
My son had a cat that we called the son of the devil. Big. Coal black and meaner than a pissed off rattle snake. My dil always said she would throw that cat like a bomb and then move in. She liked knives. Still does.
Throwing a cat with a full complement of ‘sharps’ on all four corners in someone’s face is a damn effective weapon… 🙂
yes the cat got thrown through the throne……
Perhaps that would be a fine example of a feliney assault.
Go get ‘im Scratch! Or maybe his name is Scar.
oh you mean a tom cat. cool.
i was thinking fireworks how’d you get it lit.
ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL , AMEN
When you’re a kid it’s easy to be a hero. You have no fear. After all, you’re going to live forever.
yup.
Now wait just a darn cotton pickin’ minute! Far Left True Believer Pr0gre$$ives tell us that we need 200 hours of Seal Team 6 Delta Force Recon Airborne Mossad Samurai Ninja training before we can handle a firearm effectively and responsibly in a stressful situation such as a home invasion. I want an immediate investigation to determine where that 13 year-old’s mom came up with the money to pay for that 200 hours of training!
The kid had seen all four ‘John Wick’ movies, and had taken notes… 🙂
And a real Call Of Duty chairborne ranger.
I met a young lad a few years back who was offered the opportunity to fire a full clip through a milsurp WW II M1 Garand. He was a skinny runt of an eleven year old. He got up grinning like a Cheshire cat from Through the Looking Glass, walked over to his Dad and said Dad, I REALLY want one. Then his 14 year old not very big Sister took HER turn, same response. Then Dad was brave enough to let his Wife try it, and SHE stood up with a big silly grin on HER mug and didn’t say a word. So Dad signed up for CMP and got four good ones. When that little squirt was 14 he was shooting with is Dad at their local range and the men of the club’s rifle competition team got together and asked the Dad if he’d let them recruit his Son. That was done, and the kid went to some matches with the team. By the tome he was sixteen he was always among the three or four top scoring shooters on the team. He helped them win a number of regional competitions in distance shooting with his dead stock CMP M1 Garand. He at first took some scorn for being such a young and skinny runt, but that soon enough changed to an healthy respect once they started counting holes on paper. His team wn, and his scores were amongst the top scores of the entire event. Definitely a young man who knew very well what he was about with a long gun.
Cool.
That musta been one proud Dad.
On a much more serious note, we can point to this event to demonstrate how even a 13 year-old with little-to-no training can deploy a firearm effectively for defense of self and family in the home. And that completely eliminates the validity of Leftist arguments for mandatory training requirements and minimum age (18 to 21) requirements.
“…we can point to this event to demonstrate how even a 13 year-old with little-to-no training can deploy a firearm effectively for defense of self and family in the home.”
There are countless stories of little old ladies using their dead husband’s .38 Special with zero training.
And I consider that a good thing. Revolvers have a proven reputation of being dead-nuts reliable in a high-stress situation.
The original ‘Point-and-click’ interface…
Occasionally I am ask” What kind of gunm should I get?” I ask what kinda gunms have you shuted. If they reply with an answer that shows little familiarity I always suggest a .38 DA Revolving.
After demonstrating how to operate it most of the new owners reply with a ” That’s it, on TV blah blah blah.”
Sometimes it can be to easy, case in point. I recommend a .38 she bought an El Tigre, I remember that because I had never seen that brand before, she needed bullets, I supplied her with some hand loaded wad cutters I had made up.
3 days later at work a co worker ask me ” Did you hear about Mike?”
Why no, why?
” His old lady shot him dead.”
Moral of the story-
Somtimes wife swapping dont turn out so pretty.
and the stupid mandates about “safe” storage. Yeah, “safe and effective” just like certain injection they also mandated, falsely.
Lather rinse repeat. Same old song.WE know what’s best for YOU.. just trust us.
It’s also why I give a bit of an eye-roll to the most intense of gun owners who think you need to spend every weekend at the range and spend thousands of dollars for sometimes-dubious “tactical training” just to be responsible
As long as you have internalized the basic rules of gun safety, you don’t need to be a flannel daddy or something to defend your home and family. Guns are made to be simple (especially modern ones)
My sympathies to the victims. Hopefully it is done.
“The alleged victim”
Never seen it put like that.
A firearm instructor told my wife you might as well not have locks on your door if theyre next to glass
I would disgree. The rcket from the shattering glass accomplishes two things: first, a delay due to being an obstacle. Second, a clear and certain indication of criminal intent, which might be helpful in the ensuing court case.
The best gunfight you will ever be involved in is the one that never happened.
Good advice.
But sometimes you get hungry, and as long as they do not have a firegunm it’s called hunting.
That’s silly. Most people have doors that can be kicked in without much difficulty. Most people have windows, even if they’re not next to the door, which could be accessed by someone from the ground.
Houses generally aren’t castles, security prevents you from being the target of low-hanging fruit burglars as well as causing noise and gaining a little time. If the guy in this story had been able to just open the door and run in, would the kiddo have been able to act? Probably not. That lock might have saved their lives.
Good advice.
But sometimes you get hungry, and as long as they do not have a firegunm it’s called hunting.
Not to drag the comment section into a tangent but I am waiting for this story to be picked up by the feminazis and the soyboys who will decry this as more examples of “toxic masculinity”. I would not be surprised if they try to dox this young man who dared to step up and help defend his family.
Well on that I have to say a big ole ” FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING PU$$IE’S.”
I am a little twisted, and I love the blackness( no Deb , not that kind). There are few ‘Men’ left in America.
I am woman hear me roar.
Watch to Tom Cats go at it, to get to that roaring female. Yeah.
Don’t know sht about skools nowdays, youngest grad in ???? 2003.
Last report Civics ed left out 2A? Wow.
I remember when they was dicking with the ngggr shit when I was in skool.
Shits real funny when it comes to money—–( $$$
$ Power$$$$$) ——-‘
Gorbachev’ was in a pocket. That pocket couldn’t sale Steel but it could sale blood, a war was made.
.
Did I mention the looky wire on my compass broke. Yup cheap sht from Xhina
quote————–It also alarmed neighbors that an ethically-challenged individual would try something so stupid in their neighborhood.———quote
Tell me Boch did you go to school to become a rabid racist or did it come naturally through the upbringing your parents gave you. Every one of your posts are charged with rabid racism.
We never hear the Far Right Racists make a statement like “Ethically Challenged White Man”.
We need a gun control law that prevents people like you from ever owning a firearm. Tell me were you at the Jan 6th attempt to take over the government by force and establish a Trumpite Dictatorship? It would not surprise me if you were there.
My parents had a meth-head kick their door in a few years back. Mom froze up and Dad panicked while trying to dial 911, but my then-15 year old kid bro just grabbed the Maverick I gave him, ran to the doorway, and held the human trash on the floor at gunpoint until the cops showed up to take his sorry ass away.
Little bro explained later that the guy was evidently so loaded that he got confused about where he was and broke into the wrong house. “You’re goddamn right he did” was my response. I was pretty proud of him for that.
Congrats to the young man for keeping his cool and acting appropriately. His family owes him BIG TIME.
The kid did an excellent job protecting his family. Mom needs to get that freezing problem looked into and taken care of. It’s a damn shame the wetback Mexican survived. The wetback should had been sent back to Mexico in a cheap box.
That’s not nice to use that kind of language to describe the poor bullet recipient, even though everybody agrees with you. They should have sent him over to Mayo Clinic to have his organs removed and placed in the transplant bank to save other people’s lives.
Where was the husband?
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