Boulder Man Shoots Intruder Originally Thought To Be A Raccoon

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A Boulder man shot an intruder who he claims walked into his home while he and his wife were asleep.

Police in Boulder are investigating the shooting and why the woman was in the home in the first place.

Police said the woman entered the home just before 3:30 a.m. in the 400 block of College Avenue in Boulder. That's when the man and woman who live in the home, a husband and wife, were awakened by a noise which they originally thought was a raccoon outside their exterior bedroom door.

The screen door was closed but not locked.

When the woman realized the noise was not a raccoon, but someone who had opened the door and entered the bedroom, both she and her husband shouted for the intruder to get out.

The homeowners then told police they continued to shout to warn the intruder to leave. The man shouted that he had a gun and would use it if the intruder didn't leave immediately.

The intruder kept walking through the bedroom toward the couple. They could see a light the intruder was carrying as the intruder continued toward the bed.

The husband and wife told police the intruder would not acknowledge their demands to leave. That's when the husband fired one shot towards the light and heard what sounded like something falling to the floor.

When the husband turned on the light, the couple saw an unknown woman on the floor with a gunshot wound to her hip. That's when the couple called 911.

The intruder was taken to the hospital where her injuries do not appear to be life threatening. Police have yet to call her a suspect and haven't released her identification.

"When we finish this investigation it will be up to the (district attorney's) office to decide whether there are any charges," Kim Kobel with Boulder police said.

Until the case is handed over to the district attorney it won't be clear if it will fall under Colorado's Make My Day law.

Police haven't said if there had been previous intrusions in the neighborhood.