Fayetteville homeowner shoots suspected burglar

The woman told sheriff's deputies that she was taking a nap in her home on Grape Arbor Drive, east of Fayetteville, Saturday afternoon when she heard glass breaking.

She grabbed the shotgun, police said, went into the kitchen and saw the hand of a man attempting to unlock a window.

She fired a shot when yelling didn't scare them away. The two teens then fled the scene, and the woman called 911 to report the crime, according to investigators.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office later charged Dashawn William Smith, 18, of the 200 block of Ellington Road in Fayetteville, after he was admitted to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center to be treated for a gunshot wound to the chest.

Isaiah Whitty, 16, of the 4300 block of Frontier Avenue, who was also charged, said Smith was shot while playing basketball.

Smith, who was listed in stable condition Wednesday morning, was charged with felony breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit felony breaking and entering.

Whitty, who faces the same charges, was jailed in the Cumberland County Detention Center and later released into his parent's custody on a $5,000 bond.

Investigators said that they do not plan to file any charges against the homeowner.

Under state law, people have the right to use deadly force if they have a reasonable fear of death or serious injury in their homes, on the property immediately around their homes, in their vehicle or in their work places.

The so-called Castle Doctrine presumes that an intruder is there to do harm, and the homeowner is not required to retreat.