Home invasions in Dayton and Columbus end badly - for the perpetrators

The Hamilton Journal-News is reporting that one suspected home invader is dead and another injured after the two men were shot by a resident who was trying to defend himself in Butler County's Hanover Twp.

From the article:

The shooting at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 8, left two men with multiple gunshot wounds, identified Monday as Steven Deshaun Davis, 23, of Middletown, and John Eric Robinson, 27, of Lebanon.

Davis was pronounced dead at University Hosptial in Cincinnati, where Robinson remained a patient Monday.

Early Sunday, the two men allegedly broke into the home of Gregory K. Gabbard, 38, in the 1100 block of Beissinger Road, to rob him.

"We believe the (resident) knew at least one of them," said Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer of Butler County Sheriff's Office.

Robinson faces charges that likely will include aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, Dwyer said.

Dwyer said Gabbard was compliant with the intruders, but that he "felt imminent danger coming his way." That's when Gabbard went to another room and returned with a 7.62 mm caliber semi-automatic rifle.

Dwyer said one of the suspects fired at least one round from a small caliber handgun before it jammed.

"It was a fluid, volatile crime scene," Dwyer said. "Gabbard's version lines up forensically."

...Outside the house, red footprints and drops of blood could be seen by the stairs and basement door.

Both Davis and Robinson have criminal records through Butler County Common Pleas Court. Davis was charged in 2004, at age 17, for attempted burglary. Robinson has seven closed cases, ranging from drug trafficking to carrying a concealed weapon.

According to news coverage of the same incident by The Cincinnati Enquirer, the men were wearing masks when they entered the home, and one of the men pistol-whipped Gabbard.

From The Enquirer

In a call to 911 around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Gabbard tells a dispatcher in a hushed, urgent tone: "I was beaten up at gunpoint. I shot both of them, both the robbers."

Then he tells the dispatcher he could hear sounds indicating both men were still alive.

"Please hurry – you'll have to kick the door in...they'll shoot me, please hurry," Gabbard said.

According to the article, no charges are expected to be filed against Mr. Gabbard.

In a separate home invasion incident last week in Columbus, a man shot a would-be robber on Thursday with his own gun, after he arrived home to find two men robbing his home and children.

From Columbus' CBS affiliate, WBNS 10TV:

Two teens and a toddler were inside at 10 a.m. when two men entered a home on Gerbert Street on the north side, 10TV's Tino Ramos reported.

A 17-year-old, a 15-year-old and a child who is under a year old were inside when the men attempted to rob them. They were stopped when the children's parents suddenly came home.

The children's father struggled with one of the robbers, grabbed his gun, and shot him, Ramos reported.

The robber who was shot fled down the street and collapsed about seven houses away, Ramos reported.

Police said the robber was trying to get rid of the clothes he was wearing while he was running down the street, and dropped several items along the way.

Police were still searching for the second robber, Ramos reported.

The children inside the home were not hurt.

Under Ohio's Castle Doctrine law, if someone unlawfully enters an occupied home or temporary habitation, or occupied car, citizens have an initial presumption that they may act in self defense, and will not be second-guessed by the State.