'If you want to break into someone's home, you should expect to be shot': Sheriff warns crooks after homeowner's deadly aim

A Florida man opened fire Thursday night when a pair of masked crooks broke into his home; the homeowner fatally shot one of them, WTVT-TV reported.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred around 9 p.m. in the 6700 block of Hickory Hammock Circle in the Lakewood Ranch area, the station said. Lakewood Ranch is about 30 minutes northeast of Sarasota.

'The homeowner is a hero!'

Sheriff Rick Wells at a Friday morning news conference said the homeowner's surveillance camera detected motion on the side of the home, WTVT said, after which the homeowner saw two masked males, told his wife to find a safe place, and grabbed his gun.

One suspect was shot multiple times and rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he died Friday morning, Wells told the station.

"This is the state of Florida," Wells said, according to WTVT. "If you want to break into someone's home, you should expect to be shot."

The sheriff's office said K9 dogs tracked down the second suspect — Michel Soto-Mella, 39 — a few blocks from the home in question, the station reported.

Wells told WTVT that Soto-Mella, from Chile, was in the United States illegally after his 90-day visa expired in September. The station said no further details on the fatally shot suspect have been released.

"We're trying to get everything that we can from the [surviving] suspect," Wells said, according to the station. "He's being somewhat cooperative, but he's not telling us everything."

How are observers reacting?

As you might expect, commenters under WTVT's Facebook post about the incident are backing the homeowner.

• "The homeowner is a hero!" one commenter wrote.
• "Nice job homeowner," another user noted.
• "One died. Oh well. That’s what you get," another commenter said. "So many rotten people in the world unfortunately."
• "Bye, bye bad guy!" another user exclaimed.
• "Good, one less criminal!" another commenter declared. "Go work hard for what you want in life!"
• "Now THAT’S gun control!" another user stated.

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