Woman's son shoots burglar

The story from Thursday in Florida is here:

VERO BEACH — Last week Thomas Thompson II, 24, was charged with taking copper from a Home Depot store.

Early Thursday, the Vero Beach resident was fatally shot breaking into the home of a woman his pregnant girlfriend knew, said Indian River County sheriff's Detective Chris Cassinari.

Around 5:20 a.m. Thompson, armed with two knives, crawled through a window in a small home south of Vero Beach at the intersection of 47th Avenue and First Street Southwest.

A family dog awakened occupant Francis Hornsby, who found an armed man at the foot of her bed when she turned on a light.

Her screams woke her two sons, 19-year-old Austin Hornsby and 20-year-old Robert Hornsby. From what Cassinari surmises, Thompson apparently didn't know the sons were inside the home.

One son scuffled with Thompson. Finally, the other son, "in defense, fired a shotgun, killing the subject," said sheriff's Lt. Leroy Smith. Investigators haven't yet identified which son fired the shotgun. . . .