Durham County homeowner shoots three break-in suspects

Maj. Paul J. Martin said that the homeowner was awakened around 10:30 a.m by a crash and the sound of breaking glass in his house at 1017 Hamilton Way.

He picked up a pistol and went downstairs where he was confronted by three masked men in "a very small, confined and dark area," Martin said. The homeowner fired multiple shots at the intruders, striking all three. They then ran from the house.

Deputies apprehended one suspect who had been shot at the scene, he said. Two other suspects, who were also wounded, fled the scene but were taken into custody when a getaway driver took them at a local hospital.

The homeowner, who was home alone at the time, was not hurt. His identity has not been released.

Suspects Devine Thorpe, 20, and Gary Brady, Jr., 19, were placed in the Durham County jail Friday under separate $300,000 bonds. Brady suffered a slight wound to his arm but was treated and released.

The other suspects, Omari Mitchell, 20, and Timothy Nelson, 17, remain hospitalized, authorities said.

Harris said that the break-in was random and that the homeowner did not know the suspects. The area has experienced a recent series of break-ins, but it wasn't immediately clear if these suspects were connected to it.

Neighbor Cassie Creevy's home was broken into last week.

"I just stopped having nightmares from having my house broken into. I want to move," Creevy said Friday. 

Creevy said the robbers took cash and jewelry.