Father home with kids wrestles intruder, shooting and killing him, police say

DeKalb County police are looking for at least two men who they said stormed into a family’s home as they slept.

It was gun battle that started inside an apartment at Covington Glen apartments around 12:20 a.m. Thursday.

Police told Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach that three men burst into an apartment and got into a struggle with a man who lives in the apartment. His two young children, under the age of 10, along with two other adults, were inside at the time, police said.

Detectives said the suspects started shooting at the man, but he was able to get his own gun and fire back.

The shooting continued outside the apartment, where Gehlbach talked to a neighbor who was just coming home, heard the gunfire and then spotted the suspects.

“Dudes were running and shooting inside the breezeway, so more shots came out, and he let them have it and (the) dude collapsed,” Travis Fletcher said.

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The suspects were wearing masks and gloves and ran out toward the entrance.

One of them collapsed and died in the parking lot, police said.

DeKalb County police said they think the three suspects targeted the apartment for some reason, and that it was not random.

DeKalb police ruled the shooting as justified, but said they are still investigating to determine why the gunmen tried to rob that apartment.

The other adults and children were not hurt, according to police.

Neighbor Travis Fletcher was just getting home and saw the other two suspects run off.

"Don't break into people's houses, stupid. You don't know what you're going to get,” Fletcher said.

Cox Media Group