Homeowner shoots intruder wanted by sheriff’s office, police say

BUTLER, Pa. — According to Butler City Police, a man broke into a house where the homeowner held him at gunpoint and eventually shot him.

Channel 11′s Rich Pierce spoke to the homeowner, Jeremy Cox.

“Nothing was really going through my head except for the fact that I didn’t want to kill him, but if I had to kill him, I would,” Cox said.

Police say Nathan Harvey broke through a locked basement door just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“It was a loud bang and a scrape sound. We just kind of looked at each other like, ‘What the hell was that?’” Cox said. He and his girlfriend had just ordered pizza when they heard the noise and went downstairs to investigate.

Cox says Harvey was halfway through the door when he saw him. He grabbed his gun while his girlfriend called 911.

“He said he was hiding from the cops and they were outside,” Cox said. The cops were not outside.

Jeremy says Harvey had a mostly empty liter of vodka with him and appeared intoxicated. He told Harvey to put his hands on the washing machine.

“I took a step back again, he took a step forward. He kept telling me, ‘no, no, no’ then I fired a shot to the side of him to hopefully scare him,” Cox said. “He said ‘no’ and he came forward again. I shot him in his side.”

The bullet grazed Harvey. According to police, he was treated for the wound at Butler Hospital. Jeremy is still thinking about pulling the trigger.

“It is. It’s weighing on me a lot because a lot of people are telling me I should’ve taken his life. Other people are saying ‘you did good’ by not taking his life. It’s kind of eating at me.”

According to Butler Police, Harvey had been wanted by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. He’s facing a felony burglary charge once he’s released from the hospital. Jeremy will likely face no charges.

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