Gun-wielding homeowner wastes no time after he says burglar kicked in his door at midnight, ran toward him when told to stop

A North Carolina homeowner told WRAL-TV he was in his bathroom getting ready for bed around midnight Wednesday when he heard someone kick in the door of his home in southeast Raleigh.

The homeowner told the station that when he got to the living room, the intruder was standing there.

'If somebody breaks in your home, you have to protect yourself.'

"I had my gun, and I was telling him to get down! Get down! Or get out! Then he just ran to me," the homeowner, who didn't want to be identified, told WRAL.

With that, the homeowner fired shots, the station said.

When Raleigh police arrived at the scene on Rose Lane, they found 26-year-old Christian Beasley with a gunshot wound, WRAL reported.

Police told the station that Beasley was taken to a trauma center and was stable — and that after he's released from the trauma center, he'll be processed on charges of first-degree burglary and damage to property.

RELATED: Gun-wielding male kicks down door of home, opens fire at homeowner. But his target is armed too.

The homeowners told WRAL that they had no choice but to defend themselves and their home.

"If somebody breaks in your home, you have to protect yourself," the homeowner's wife added to the station. "And that's what he did. He had to protect us. We did not know what he was going to do."

Police told WRAL the homeowner will not face charges at this time but that the incident is under investigation. The station added that forensics investigators gathered evidence at the front door and inside the house.

WRAL said its Breaking News Tracker captured video of people coming out of the house, adding that they got in the back of police cruisers but did not appear to be under arrest.

Commenters on WRAL's Facebook post about the shooting seemed completely on the homeowner's side:

• "Lookie there ... the burglar found the consequences of his actions," one commenter said.
• "The homeowner deserves a medal!" another user declared. "Every home should be protected like this!"
• "I'd done the same thing," another commenter wrote. "Let someone try and break into my house."
• "It’s about time these criminals got it," another user stated.
• "Sorry to hear he was taken to a trauma center, should have been taken to a morgue," another commenter said.
• "America's fighting back!!!" another user exclaimed.

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