A 17-year-old was hospitalized after being shot by a homeowner in Spanish Fort, Alabama, early Saturday morning. Police say the teen allegedly broke into a home on Cason Trace while the family was asleep.
But the teen’s father is speaking out, urging the public to remember there are “two sides to every story.”
According to Spanish Fort Police Chief John Barber, the homeowner’s wife was awakened by the sound of breaking glass around 4 a.m. She alerted her husband, who retrieved a pistol and shot the intruder once in the abdomen.
The homeowner then called 911. Responding officers rendered aid and the teen was airlifted to University Hospital in critical but stable condition.
Investigators believe the teen forced his way in through a front window and appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.
The teen’s father told Fox 10 News the boy had been drinking with friends earlier in the night and may have mistaken the house for his friend’s nearby home.
“He remembers going to his friend’s house, drinking, and leaving in a friend’s car to pick someone else up,” the father said. “After that, he doesn’t remember anything.”
The father said his son doesn’t have a criminal record and insists the teen never intended to break into anyone’s home.
“I feel he was drunk and confused. He thought he was at his friend’s house—and he wasn’t,” the father said.
Police have not announced any charges yet. Investigators are still working to determine exactly what happened that night.
So who’s to blame here? Was it the 17-year-old who, by all accounts, made a dangerous and unlawful mistake?
The homeowner who protected his family in the dead of night?
Or the parent who now pleads confusion over consequences that seem all too predictable?
In a world where seconds matter and intentions can’t be read in the dark, many say responsibility starts at home with mom and dad—long before a window shatters.
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