ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — It was just after 3 a.m. Thursday
when Keith Fendley undoubtedly sensed an intruder in his home
off W. Jackson St.
Fendley, a registered gun owner in Florida, never planned on
using his weapon for self defense, but he's glad he was prepared.
Before breaking through a screen window, six suspects -- one
being his granddaughter -- cut the circuit breaker in his
garage, cutting off most of the power inside.
"When did you get first the feeling that someone was in your
home?" Channel 3 asked Fendley.
"As soon as they broke through the back door," replied Fendley.
"As soon as I heard the crash, I jumped up and got the gun and I
came right here. And as soon as I got her I just started to
look."
He describes the suspects as being feet from his doorway.
"One of them was saying, 'Put your hands up! Put your hands up!'
so I stepped back and thought 'no way.' That's when I pulled the
trigger," said Fendley.
Fendley gunshot wasn't fatal -- he shot suspect Jamarquez
Cromwell in the chest. He says it wasn't his intention to kill,
but he sees the home invasion as a life or death situation. He
says he was aiming to protect his family at all costs.
"I look at it as, I don't know if anything I own is worth
someone's life, but it's not worth them taking my life either,"
Fendley added.
The six suspects arrested and charged for the home invasion are:
Cynthia Register, 18 (Fendley's granddaughter)
Natalie Gagne, 19
Dominique Gonzalez, 19
Tyari Crear, 18
Clint Hochalter, 17
Jamarquez Cromwell, 19
https://weartv.com/resources/media/69ef4322-a481-4bd7-9ac4-
01d511ca626e-medium16x9_sixarrest.png?1614898758533
Sheriff Chip Simmons said the group of six devised a plan to rob
Fendley for money so they could bail a friend out of jail.
Deputies say Cromwell suffered non life-threatening injuries.
https://weartv.com/news/local/escambia-county-homeowner-recounts-
home-invasion-where-one-suspect-was-shot