It was 12:44am. A woman in a home on Norwich called 911, hysterical, claiming someone had just kicked in the front door.
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Dispatcher: "OK. Who are these people?"
Victim: "We don't know, we don't know. We don't know who they are."
Dispatcher: "OK, did they break in?"
Victim: "Yes, yes, yes. Please hurry up!"
"He saw individuals in ski masks," explained Capt. John Bailey with the Missouri City Police Department. "He saw individuals that had tactical police vests on. They said police on the front of them."
Police say the homeowner put down his gun when the men showed badges of some kind claiming to be officers. When the homeowner came down the stairs, though, he immediately realized they men were not the real deal.
"He looked into the eyes of the suspects and he saw that one of them had a tattoo near his eye," Capt. Bailey said. "He said, 'Uh-oh, this is not right. These are not the police.'"
The homeowner says he tried to run back upstairs but the suspects grabbed him and hit him in the head, investigators say, with the butt of a shotgun. The weapon discharged. The suspects fled. The homeowner, though, was able to get another gun. He opened fire, he says, nearly a dozen times. Some of the shots can even be heard on the 911 call.
An avid hunter, the homeowner told us, "You would think that the one time I go out shooting I would at least hit one."
Nearby residents applaud the homeowner for protecting himself. Neighbor Malcolm Barclay says he is armed should the suspects return.
He said, "They break in, my assumption is they are there to do harm. They will be met appropriately."
Police say the homeowner will face no charges. They are looking for a light colored SUV, possibly a Chevy Tahoe that was seen fleeing from the scene. It may have a shattered back window or damage to one of the turn signals.
Police are looking to see if this home invasion can be connected to two others recently in Fort Bend and Harris counties.
