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A 79-year-old Vietnam veteran is being hailed as a hero after he shot and killed a naked intruder who allegedly broke into his female tenant’s Los Angeles home last week.
George Karkoc is now recovering in the hospital with two broken legs and a shattered hip after confronting the bare prowler outside the Studio City home when he heard the young woman screaming for help around 7 a.m. last Friday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, multiple outlets reported.
“I knew that if I didn’t take care of him, I had no clue what he was gonna do or was capable of doing,” the quick-thinking vet told FOX 11 Los Angeles from his bed at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills.
Surveillance footage captured the nude suspect screaming and tearing down lawn signs while wandering through the neighborhood prior to the alleged break-in.
Karkoc said he warned the trespasser that he was armed and had called the police, then tried to get him to leave, but the situation escalated when the unclothed man body-slammed him to the ground.
“All we are saying is, ‘Please leave, please leave,” Karkoc told NBC 4 Los Angeles.
“He jumps on top of me and forces me down. I couldn’t handle the weight. He had his legs wrapped around me somehow, and his arms, I couldn’t move and all that weight, I just collapsed with him on top of me.”
During the violent struggle, Karkoc managed to reach for his gun and blasted the intruder in the chest before firing off another round in the man’s head, police said, the outlet reported.
The unidentified perp was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I wasn’t thinking about myself,” he told CBS News.
“I was thinking about taking care of the problem. After 28 years of not using [my gun], I didn’t think I’d have to, but that’s why I had it, because you never know.”
The fearless landlord was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery, but his family said it will likely be a long and painful road to recovery, according to a GoFundMe.
Neighbors are hailing Karkoc as a hero, and local police even visited him in the hospital on Veterans Day.
But the landlord remained modest amid the attention, saying he jumped into action that day because it was the right thing to do.
“I kind of disregard it, but I don’t consider myself a hero,” he told FOX 11.
“You know, it’s a situation where I was fortunate enough to do the right thing. I’m just thankful that I’m alive, and that the situation got taken care of.”
English (US)