Good Guy with a Gun #84: Mountain Home, AR
Original incident: January 23, 2024. Even a small-caliber long gun can be a good defense against a blind-drunk man who's trying to enter your home.
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In Mountain Home, Arkansas, 29-year-old Alex Payton Stoops knocked on a front door late in the evening. The homeowners didn’t recognize him and didn’t answer, so he eventually decided to break through the sliding glass door in the back.
He came in and sat down, saying it was his house.
After a fight, Stoops stepped outside. The homeowner got a .22 rifle and fired two warning shots into the air (don’t do that — bullets come down somewhere), and Stoops followed him back inside. He finally went back outside again when the homeowner shot him in the shoulder.
Then the police arrived. A neighbor told them that Stoops had been staying at her house, and he probably invaded the other home because it looked like hers.
That was a better answer than Stoops could give. The investigator who interviewed him said he was very intoxicated and didn’t remember what happened. Maybe the gunshot wound will serve as a reminder.
Stoops was charged with residential burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, battery, assault and public intoxication. In October 2024, he pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to six years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay $1,100 in victim restitution and to complete a rehabilitation program.
Sources
The radio has all the coverage here.
KTLO 97.9 FM covered the initial incident in January and the sentencing in October.
Ozark Radio News also covered the initial incident.
And that’s all I’ve got.