An 80-year-old Long Beach homeowner has some choice quotes but no regrets about an alleged botched home burglary that ended in him shooting a woman to death.Retiree Tom Greer said he came home Tuesday night to find out that his upscale Bixby Knolls home was in the midst of being ransacked by a man and woman. Greer told NBC Los Angeles that they both tackled him, threw him to the ground and jumped on top of him. They then proceeded to open his safe containing thousands of dollars right in front of him.
Greer said they didn't appear to be armed, but he went and got his .22-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver. He told NBC: "I come back and they see me with a gun, and they run."
The man escaped but the woman didn't. Greer fired at her in an alley behind his house. "She says, 'Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!' And I shot her anyway," Greer said.
NBC asked him what happened next: "She was dead. I shot her twice, she best be dead ... (The man) had run off and left her." Greer said he had never shot or killed anyone in his life. He added, "I shot her so that's going to leave a message on his mind for the rest of his life."
Greer was treated at a hospital today for a severe shoulder and collarbone injury.
Police told City News Service the woman was in her 20s, and, as Greer said, she was dead at the scene. Long Beach Police are investigating the circumstances, but they haven't arrested anyone including Greer, who copped to the shooting.
Related:
Intruder Shot To Death By 80-Year-Old Homeowner After Pleading For Her Life Identified
