'He picked the wrong place to try and break into': 70-year-old, gun-toting homeowner sends lead-powered message to intruder

Steve Huntley, 70, was asleep early Thursday morning when the noises commenced.

Huntley — who lives in the Memphis neighborhood of Nutbush — told WREG-TV the sound was a "bump, bump, bump."

"That’s what got my dogs stirred up,” he added to the station.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Sure enough, Huntley said an intruder was trying to get into his home through a back door — and the elderly homeowner told WREG he stood face-to-face with the intruder.

“I shoved him,” Huntley recounted to the station. “He hit the ground down there. I slammed the door and went in to get my pistol.”

Image source: YouTube screenshot

With that, Huntley added to WREG that upon returning to the face-off spot, he fired a single shot — and the intruder took off running.

“That’s the reason a lot of people are moving out of this neighborhood because of what’s going on,” Huntley added to the station.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

WREG said that a search through Memphis data revealed that police have been called 170 times within the past year about breaking and entering, property crimes, and thefts — all within a half-mile radius of Huntley’s home.

Huntley has a more personal reason to be on guard, the station said, after his son was shot to death in 2016.

Therefore, Huntley told WREG, he's ready to throw down to the death if necessary when others threaten the safety of his loved ones.

“He picked the wrong place to try and break into,” he said of the hapless intruder. “Because my motto is, ‘If you come in here, you are going to meet your maker.'”

Police found the accused intruder a few blocks from Huntley's residence, WREG added, noting that charges against him are still pending.

MPD: Homeowner shoots at would-be burglaryoutu.be

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