Home invasion. (Exercising the Right).

In October of last year, Medgar and Marsha Flowers moved into their rented one-story brick home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At about 11:30 p.m. on January 2nd, Mr. Flowers was watching television as his wife was preparing a late dinner when someone knocked on their front door. When Mrs. Flowers opened the door, two armed men barged in. One fired a number of shots into a coffee table and a living room wall. Mrs. Flowers ran Out the front door, followed by the gun-wielding intruder, who fired at her several times. One bullet grazed her neck, leaving a non-life-threatening gash. Her assailant then opted to flee rather than return to the house.

Mr. Flowers grabbed the other intruder, later identified as 26-year-old Joseph Going. Flowers estimates that the ensuing struggle lasted for about 15 minutes, during which time Going strove to draw a gun from his jacket pocket while Flowers fought to stop him. Flowers was also simultaneously trying to reach his own handgun on a nearby coffee table.

Eventually, Flowers was able to reach his gun and fire about a dozen shots at Going. "I didn't even know if I had hit him," Flowers told the Baton Rouge Advocate. "There was no blood, and he never fell. It was like I hadn't shot him."

But he had, numerous times. Mortally wounded, Going nevertheless kept fighting, and when he tried to hit Flowers with a glass bottle, the latter began beating him with the gun. Eventually, Going murmured "All right, you got me," and stumbled out of the house. He collapsed in a nearby yard and died shortly thereafter at a local medical center.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Flowers had been knocking on the doors of several neighboring homes. When no one would let her inside, she implored them to at least call the police, which someone did. "I can't blame them for not opening their doors," she told the Advocate. "They didn't know whom I had behind me."

On January 7th, police arrested Jacob Armstead, 20, for attempted armed robbery and aggravated burglary. He is believed to have driven Going and the other home invader to the Flowers residence. Authorities also issued a warrant for Chadsten Curtis, 23, thought to be the one who fired the shot that grazed Mrs. Flowers. In addition to attempted armed robbery and aggravated burglary, he is accused of attempted second-degree murder. The police concluded that Mr. Flowers had acted in self-defense.

The couple now plans to move, since 26 hours after their harrowing experience, at around 1:30 a.m. on January 4th, someone fired a dozen shots into their home during a drive-by shooting. Mr. Flowers told police that he fired back, though it is not known if any of the bullets found their mark since the culprits remain at large. Neither he nor his wife were injured.