Homeowner's son fatally shoots three would-be burglars

The 23-year-old son of an Oklahoma homeowner fatally shot three intended burglars Monday, moments after they broke into the house, local authorities said.

Deputies with the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office came to the home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, around 12:30 p.m. after getting reports of shots fired, KTUL-TV reported. When the officers arrived, they found three dead suspects.

Officers found two of the suspects in the kitchen and a third attempted to flee the home, but died in the driveway.

Deputy Nick Mahoney told reporters that the suspects — all three between the ages of 16 and 18 — broke into the house through the back door and, based on a preliminary investigation, clearly had the intent to burglarize the residence.

“They were dressed in black, all had masks on, and all had gloves on,” he said.

But things did not go according to plan for the would-be robbers. Upon entering the home, the suspects encountered the homeowner’s armed 23-year-old son, who also lives there. Mahoney said there was a “short exchange of words, then gunfire happened.”

“Preliminary investigation looks like it was self-defense,” he said.

Two of the suspects, according to investigators, were armed. One suspect had a knife and another had brass knuckles. Mahoney said the homeowner’s son, whose name has not been released, volunteered to give a statement at the sheriff’s office.

“This is very, very unusual for us [in Wagoner County],” Mahoney said. “It’s not something we’re used to.”

According to the sheriff’s office, a fourth suspect, the 21-year-old getaway driver, Elizabeth Marie Rodriguez, turned herself in to the Broken Arrow Police Department several hours after the shooting, claiming to have information.

Wagoner County investigators interviewed Rodriguez and subsequently arrested her on three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree burglary.