SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Spartanburg County deputies said two home invasion robbers were shot early Tuesday morning by the homeowner they tried to burglarize.
Deputies said that the men forced their way into the home on Harley Court about 4 a.m.
Lamont Dawkins, the homeowner, said that he heard glass break and someone kicking at his back door.
Dawkins told WYFF News 4 that the men were shouting that they were from the "Spartanburg County Police."
Spartanburg County does not have a police force. Dawkins said that he grabbed a pistol gun and hid behind his refrigerator.
When the men came into the home, Dawkins fired what he says was about five rounds. There was a bullet hole in the fence outside the home.
The men ran away.
"I was scared at first, but now I feel good, I just didn't want nothing to happen to me," Dawkins told WYFF News 4’s Mike McCormick.
Investigators said that Lashawn D. Miller, 22, and Haldane D. Oden, 21, were located a short time later in the emergency room at Mary Black Hospital. Both men had gunshot wounds.
The sheriff's office said that Miller and Oden will be charged with first-degree burglary.
Miller was treated for a gunshot wound to his right arm and was arrested as soon as he was released. He is being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
Oden was still hospitalized Tuesday afternoon with a gunshot wound to the chest. Investigators said that he will be taken into custody as soon as he is released.
Dawkins will face no charges because he sued the weapon to rightfully defend himself.
Master Deputy Tony Ivey said, "(A) homeowner -- someone inside a residence -- can use any type force they feel necessary to protect themselves, up to and including deadly force."
