PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Deputies said a 67-year-old Florida woman grabbed her gun when she heard her front-door handle jiggle around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Putnam County deputies said she opened the door to check to see if it was her husband getting home from work, but instead a stranger forced himself inside her Interlachen home.
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Deputies said she asked the man, identified as Reginald Best, 64, to leave multiple times. When she saw he had a gun, deputies said she shot him once before calling 911.
First responders transported Best to a nearby hospital where he died.
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Before the shooting, deputies said they receieved several erratic 911 calls from Best and another woman, who told dispatchers Best had jumped out of the window on Silver Lake Drive with a firearm and run down the street.
“It’s unfortunate that Best was struggling with some apparently profound issues and posed a deadly threat to the victim and her family,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said. “She absolutely had the right to defend herself and I’m grateful that her decisive action stopped the threat, and eliminated the risk of further loss of life, making her entire neighborhood safer.”
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