To catch a thief.

Ernest Galloway, 77, owns the Oak View Auto Service in High Point, North Carolina. At about 11:20 p.m. on December 29, 2003, someone broke into the business and stole some cash and a few snacks. An employee's son later drove by and noticed that the bay doors of the garage were open. He called his father and Galloway.

When the shop owner and employee arrived with police, they discovered the burglar alarm torn down, all but one phone line cut, filing cabinets destroyed, some windows broken, and a few doors smashed. The crowbar used by the intruder was found under a counter.

Due to the broken windows and damaged doors, Galloway decided to guard the store overnight. First, however, he went home to fetch his .22-caliber rifle, since he thought that there was a remote chance the thief might return.

After police left, Galloway turned off the lights and settled into a front-office chair. He recalled for the January 12 Greensboro News-Record, "I was completely relaxed," figuring that the chance of the thief returning "was 1 in 100." But around 4 a.m., Galloway heard a glass door slide open and saw the silhouette of the returning thief.

Galloway shined a flashlight on the intruder's face and ordered him to raise his hands and not move. At first the man, later identified as Terry Wayne Combs, complied with the shop owner's command. But then Combs lowered his hands and began moving toward Galloway. Galloway told the News-Record, "When I was sitting in the dark, before the guy showed up, I would have said I would have shot him. When I was facing him, looking at him, it was totally different. I couldn't bring myself to shoot." Instead, he fired a warning shot into the floor.

Combs stopped, backed up momentarily, then lunged for the rifle. During the struggle for control of the weapon, the two combatants knocked over tables and chairs as they wrestled to the floor. Eventually, Galloway regained control of the gun and followed as the intruder scurried into a back office. As Galloway dialed 911 on the working phone, however, Combs rushed at him again. Understandably fearing for his life, Galloway fired a second shot that struck Combs in the torso. "He went down on his hands and knees and got right back up," the elderly businessman told the News-Record. "Shooting [him] was a last resort. There was nothing else for me to do. I didn't try to kill him, I just tried to stop him."

As summarized by the News-Record, Combs "clambered out a window and ran across the street with Galloway in pursuit." When police arrived, the wounded thug "was still trying to struggle to his feet and run as officers were forcing him to the ground." Following treatment for his wound at a local hospital, Combs was taken to the High Point jail. Galloway suffered a few cuts and scrapes on his elbows and hands, but was otherwise unharmed.

Combs was charged with two counts of felony breaking and entering and one count of felony larceny. His prior criminal record, spanning two decades, includes convictions for breaking and entering, larceny, forgery and possession of stolen goods. During a May 11 court appearance, he pleaded guilty to all three counts, which were consolidated under a plea bargain agreement that resulted in a sentence of 10 to 12 mouths in prison.

Ernest Galloway, reflecting on his decision to shoot Combs, told the News-Record: "It's a terrible, tough thing to do," but "I felt like I had been pretty much forced to do what I did. When I was on the floor, fighting for the rifle, getting exhausted, I was thinking, maybe I should have shot him [initially, instead of firing a warning shot]. When it was all over, I'm glad I didn't."