A female intruder learned a painful lesson in Rhawnhurst yesterday: Never wake a sleeping firefighter.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., police said, the burglar forced her way into a handsome corner house on Hoffnagle Street near Frontenac.
The property was the home of Deputy Fire Chief Robert Wilkins, who was apparently sleeping on the second floor when the woman entered.
Awakened by the noise, Wilkins partially made his way downstairs when he spotted the intruder and fired three shots, police said.
The woman, who was not identified by police, was wounded in the leg and abdomen. She was admitted to Aria Health's Torresdale campus in critical condition, cops said.
As of last night, authorities were still referring to the woman as "Jane Doe." The District Attorney's Office was reviewing criminal charges that will likely be filed against her, police said.
Wilkins, a 25-year Fire Department veteran, was not injured during the encounter. He was questioned by detectives after the shooting, and apparently cleared of any wrongdoing.
The Fire Department released a brief statement, acknowledging that one of their members had been involved in a shooting.
A few hours after the violent encounter, yellow police tape crisscrossed the well-manicured lawn in front of Wilkins' house as crime-scene investigators dusted his shattered screen door.
An investigator said it appeared the screen door may have been unlocked when the intruder arrived.
She apparently used her shoulder to force open the locked inside door, the investigator added.
A handful of neighbors gathered near Wilkins' single home and quietly eyeballed the crime scene.
Walt Henik described Wilkins as a nice guy who owns a small snow plow. "He plows the whole neighborhood," he said.
Little more than a year ago, Henik said, his home was among five in Rhawnhurst that was burglarized.
Another neighbor, John Kline, said the woman who forced her way into Wilkins' house "probably thought nobody was home, because it was the middle of the day."
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