Image courtesy of Abington PD
A woman's son came to her rescue as an unknown man followed her from the casino and forcefully entered her home
One Abington woman’s son shot at an alleged home robber as he attempted to steal her purse, police said.
According to a press release posted on Sept. 24, just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 23, the Abington Township Police Department said that they were called to a home on the 1800 block of Horace Avenue for the report of a male shot after a home invasion. Accompanying local police, the Cheltenham Township Emergency Medical Service, as well as the Second Alarmers Rescue Squad were also called into assist in medical care, according to Montgomery County Dispatch records.
Police reports state that the responding officers met with the female victim and resident of the home on Horace, who at that time said that an unknown male had entered her home attempting to steal her purse. The woman told police that she’d just returned from a local casino when the invasion occurred, said reports.
Shortly after entering her home, police said the woman reported that the man, later identified as Khabir Shepard, 26, of Newark, N.J., forced his way into the home, pointing a gun at her. Shepard, according to reports, pushed the victim to the ground and then grabbed her purse from the dining room table.
The woman told police that she screamed for her adult son to assist, who at the time was asleep in his bedroom at the rear of the house, reports stated. Hearing her distress, the son retrieved his legally owned firearm and ran to assist his mother, police said. The victim’s son observed Shepard’s firearm and, as police reported, “fearing for his mother’s life” fired two shots at Shepard.
According to reports, the shots struck Shepard in the back and arm as he ran from the home. He later collapsed on their front lawn, said police. Abington Township Police put Shepard into custody, and a handgun was recovered from the front lawn, believed to be the weapon Shepard pointed inside the victim’s home, reports said.
Police said that Shepard followed the woman from the casino as she left, trailing her all the way to her home. Once under arrest, reports stated, Shepard was taken to Abington Hospital for treatment and released. Dispatch reports and radio chatter noted that a tourniquet and cortisone shot were used around 1:04 a.m. at the scene, while treating Shepard, and that Abington Hospital was advised of a Level One Trauma patient coming in, which means he has serious life-threatening conditions.
Shepard is charged with robbery including attempt to inflict serious bodily injury, aggravated assault with attempts to cause serious bodily injury to designated individuals, two counts of simple assault, a count of recklessly endangering another person, burglary, criminal trespassing, theft by unlawful taking, and possession of a firearm when prohibited.
Shepard is being held in County Jail, unable to post a $250,000 monetary bond. He is due to have a preliminary hearing on Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge John D. Kessler.
