A teen fatally shot a
masked intruder who broke into his home only to later discover the victim was
his father, officials said.
Malachi Heisler spotted someone pointing a
weapon at his mother when he opened his bedroom door early Tuesday morning,
according to Florida’s Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. The 18-year-old opened
fire after the man turned the weapon toward him, police said.
“It was a standoff between me and him,”
Heisler told NBC affiliate WFLA. “He had his pistol and I had my rifle. A
bullet is a bullet, one shot, you’re dead.”
Police spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda confirmed
to NBC News that the assailant was found with two BB guns.
The man died on the scene and was later
identified as 46-year-old John Heisler, the sheriff’s office said in a
statement. Authorities say John Heisler had tried to break into the St.
Petersburg home his son shared with his sister, mother, and the mother’s
boyfriend just about midnight.
After hearing a loud crash, Malachi Heisler’s
mother Jolene Andrews, 37, who is also the suspect’s ex-girlfriend, went
outside to investigate with her current boyfriend, Alton Pyles. They found the
suspect wearing a ski mask with black tactical gear and retreated back into the
house when he pulled out the weapon.
Authorities say John Heisler followed the
couple into the house, grabbed Andrews and forced her to the ground. Pyles, 47,
called out to her son for help.
“I woke up to my name being called,” Malachi
Heisler told WFLA. “I heard the words ‘Malachi’ and ‘help,’ that’s all I heard
when I woke up.”
Fearing for his life the teen ended up
shooting his father in the upper body, officials said. Heisler’s 13-year-old sister
was also in the home during the incident.
Earlier this year, the children’s mother took
out a restraining order against John Heisler after he was arrested in April and
charged as a felon in possession of firearms, Malachi Heisler told WFLA.
“He wasn’t a good dad, no (expletive) father
of the year awards,” he added.
Police spokeswoman Barreda said that the
incident was still under investigation but that no arrests were made and that
“justifiable homicide” was being
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