Man shoots out patio door of ex-girlfriend's home after threatening to shoot her, family. But homeowner gets upper hand with his own gun.

There are many ways to handle a break-up — and this certainly was not one of them.

Richland County (South Carolina) Sheriff's deputies said Joseph James Harkless, 21, and a female broke up Saturday, and he threatened to shoot her and her family, WLTX-TV reported.

What happened next?

Then around 7 p.m. Harkless broke into the female's Columbia home by shooting out a back glass patio door, deputies told the station.

But the homeowner had a gun, too. And when he retrieved it, he shot Harkless once in the upper body after Harkless' entrance into the home, officials told WLTX.

With that, Harkless ran off and stole a vehicle from the driveway next door — the vehicle was running and unattended — and drove to a nearby hotel where he asked staff to call 911, the station said.

There were no reports of Harkless' condition, but in the aftermath he was being held in jail on three counts of attempted murder and grand larceny, WLTX said.