OAKLAND, Calif. (NewsNation) — A 77-year-old California man is being held on suspicion of murder after police say he shot and killed a suspected burglar trying to break into his home.
While the homeowner remains in police custody, he has not yet been charged with a crime. According to California law, prosecutors have 48 hours to file charges before a suspect must be released from custody.
Alleged attempted burglary
Police say two men and a woman pulled up to the man’s home on the east side of Oakland, a neighborhood that’s been hit hard by crime in recent years, in a stolen vehicle. The alleged burglars made several attempts to get into the home. When nothing was working, they scaled the backyard fence.
That’s when the homeowner shot at them, killing one of the alleged three burglars, according to police.
Police say part of the reason the homeowner was arrested is because he refused to give a statement.
Homeowner’s arrest
“If A shoots B without an explanation, the only thing to do, we can only go with what we have. There was a weapon recovered on scene, thus the individual was taken into custody,” said Frederick Shavies, Oakland Police Department’s acting deputy chief of investigations.
Police have not yet released the name of the victim, looking to notify the family first. They’ve also not publicly named the homeowner.
The homeowner allegedly shot the burglars with a stolen gun.
Shavies confirmed that an investigation into the incident remains ongoing.