WOODBINE, Md. — A Howard County man shot and killed an intruder who tried to break into his Woodbine home.
Howard County Police said the shooting happened early Sunday morning just after 1:00 a.m. Detectives say 46-year-old Gerardo Alberto Espinoza, who was wearing no shirt or shoes, started banging on the front door of a home in the 14000 block of Carriage Mill Road, waking up the homeowners.
Charles Dorsey, 56, and his wife told police that they went down stairs and started yelling at the man to leave. When Espinoza continued trying to enter the home, Dorsey shot him.
Neighbors say Espinoza had been staying at a friend’s house just a few doors down from the Dorsey's.
The district's county councilman David Yungmann lived in the neighborhood and said everyone is still processing what happened overnight.
“As we’ve unfortunately come to expect in these circumstances, too many people rush to judge or celebrate a situation without facts or perspective. Instead let’s extend support to the Dorsey family, who are kind and generous friends and neighbors, as well as the children, family and friends of Mr. Espinoza. A life has been lost and many others are forever changed," said Yungmann.
Detectives are now trying to figure out why Espinoza was trying to get into their home.
"If he was there mistakenly, if he was there with a motive or purpose; those are the things that our detectives are looking into now," said Howard County Police Department spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn.
Howard County Police are talking to the homeowners. No charges have been filed at this time, and police say it's too early in the investigation to know if any will.
