Gig Harbor homeowner fatally shoots man who broke into his house

A Gig Harbor [Washington] homeowner fatally shot an intruder Sunday evening, after the man appeared to break into the wrong house, police said.

The incident began shortly after 10 p.m., when the unidentified man drove to an address near the corner of 80th Street Northwest and Rosedale Street, said Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss.

The man drove up into the front yard of the home, broke a window, entered the residence, then began “marching up their stairs.” Asked whether he was armed, Moss said the man “had a large bottle of alcohol with him.”

“The homeowner fired and hit the suspect, who passed away right there,” Moss said. “We believe that the deceased’s family lives just around the corner somewhere, so he broke into the wrong house.”

Moss said that the man was “yelling and screaming at the people inside the house.” He said the homeowner was questioned over the shooting, adding that investigators in the early stages were treating it as an act of self-defense.