Victim of Home Invasion Shot During Self-Defense Lesson
80-year-old man says he's "lucky to be alive."
By EDWARD J. CARR
Updated 1:15 PM PST, Sat, Oct 3, 2009
To say it was a rough week for Ralph Needs would be an understatement.
On Sept. 20 the 80-year-old Ohioan was the victim of a brutal home invasion where he was tied up, beaten and pistol-whipped repeatedly, the New York Daily News reported.
The assailants then threatened him with an "electric torture device," according to Needs, and demanded he fork over $20,000. When they plugged the device into the wall, it blew a fuse and the power went out.
Cutting their losses, the robbers left Needs to die in a pool of his own blood while they took his truck, computer and credit cards.
Four days after the incident, Needs wanted to learn a bit more about self-defense and guns with the help of his sons. As one of his sons was loading a 9mm pistol, it went off, hitting Needs in the hand.
Needs now suffers from gunshot wounds to his thumb and pinkie fingers in addition to a broken nose and crushed sinuses.
"I thought I was going to die several times," he said. "I guess I feel lucky to be alive."
First Published: Oct 3, 2009 12:48 PM PST
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