A teenage girl has died after being mistaken for a burglar in her home by her stepfather.
The 14-year-old girl had snuck out at some point the night before and was sneaking back in around 6 a.m. Her stepfather heard the noises coming from the basement and shot the intruder. KOAA reports that the stepfather then called 911 to report the burglary and to report the burglar had been shot. Police found the teenager in the basement with a chest wound.
A neighbor who lives across the street from the home heard the gunshots that morning. "I heard three bangs," said Jani Harvey notes KRDO. "I assumed it was someone hitting on a car or a garage door or something like that."
She went on to say the noise startled her because the neighborhood itself is very quiet. "I thought it was strange, and I thought it was an odd hour for it to be going on. It's kind of a quiet neighborhood.”
Police are continuing to investigate the incident and do not plan to release the name of the victim or the stepfather.