Homeowner, 79, Shoots Intruder with Warning Shot

(Hickory, North Carolina) A 23-year-old man, Derek Scott Frenceschini, was shot in the head after breaking into a Hickory home. According to Hickory Police Lt. Hank Guess, 79-year-old homeowner Dwight Cook was watching television about 10:15PM when he heard his sliding glass doors break.

Cook sent his wife to a neighbor's for safety and went to investigate, Guess said.

"He tried to throw a big flowerpot into the (glass) door ... but it bounced off, so he grabbed a rock and broke the door with that," Cook said. "He came in and I saw him go into the spare bedroom.

"I went to get my .22 caliber gun that I keep in the hallway. I had it in my hand, and I asked him what he was doing. He turned around, and I saw that he had something in his hand. I didn't know what it was, so I fired a warning shot up into the ceiling," Cook said.

The bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and part of it hit the intruder in the forehead, Guess said. The suspect fell onto the bed, and Cook held the gun on him while he called 911.

Frenceschini was treated for a gunshot wound to the skull and booked on felony first-degree burglary.