Beatrice Turner traded her shotgun 30 years ago for
a .22-caliber handgun that she keeps in her
bedroom for protection.
Tuesday morning, the 89-year-old woman fired the
weapon for the first time.
An intruder bashed in the front door of Turner's
east-side Des Moines house about 5:30 a.m. Turner
said she yelled at the man, telling him he had the
wrong house and warned him she would shoot if he
came inside.
"He was a big, burly guy," Turner said. "He was
pulling at his shorts and talking crazy. If they stay
outside, OK. But I always said if they come inside,
it's me or them."
Turner fired one shot - and missed. "I squeezed it
again but it didn't go off," she said. "By then he was
pounding on the coffee table."
Turner said the man kept repeating, "It's not
daylight, it's not daylight."
"I told him Jesus and I would go outside with him
and make the daylight come," Turner said.
A neighbor who heard the gunshot called police.
When officers arrived at Turner's house, located
north of Hiatt Middle School, they found Nelson
McAlpine, 37, standing in the front yard. Officers
asked him if he lived there, and he said, 'No.'
McAlpine reportedly told police he had been using
drugs and didn't know where he was, officers said.
McAlpine, who has an extensive police record, was
being held in the Polk County Jail on Tuesday on a
charge of second-degree burglary. Bond was set at
$10,000.
Officials say it is rare that a homeowner actually
fires a gun at an intruder.
Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, who has been in
office for 19 years, said he could probably count on
one hand the number of times a home-owner has
fired a gun at an intruder.
"You have no duty to retreat inside your own home,"
Sarcone said. "Force has to be commensurate with
the threat. What would a reasonable person in her
position do?"
Des Moines Police Sgt. Lori Lavorato issued a
caution about the use of deadly force.
Turner "took the course of action she felt she had
to," Lavorato said. "By no means do we condone
shooting at a burglar. But she could have become a
victim in a situation like that."
In most shootings, police confiscate the gun while
they sort things out. Not on Tuesday. According to
Turner, police helped her reload the handgun and
left it in her possession.
"There were about six officers here," she said. "All of
them were hugging me and telling me how brave I
was."
Later Tuesday, the front and back doors at Turner's
house were replaced.
Advertisement And Turner spent some time learning more about
her gun.
She said she figured out how to fire a second shot.
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