An elderly man in Aiken County, South Carolina, wasn’t going to sit around while an intruder broke into his house, stole his belongings, and then left without harming him or his wife.
No. The situation required action, and Herbert Parrish intended to provide such action.
Parrish took out a shotgun while the intruder assaulted his 82-year-old Vietnam veteran wife and repeatedly whacked the man over the head.
It was ultimately determined that the culprit was 61-year-old Harold Runnels, and he had a tragic end.
At around 2:15 p.m. on Monday, a burglar broke into a house.
Runnels went up to the couple’s back door and asked Lois Parrish, who was 79 at the time, whether she had seen his chihuahua.
No, I hadn’t, I told him.
Runnels reportedly attacked Lois with a knife as she was shutting the door.
To paraphrase, “I had the impression that we were leaving. And then he’ll steal what he can,” Herbert warned. He wouldn’t have left us alive if he’d gone out that door. That’s how I felt, anyhow.
Taking rapid action, Herbert grabbed the shotgun he kept on the wall next to the entrance and started pounding Runnels with it until he was unconscious.
To paraphrase, “I began striking him in the head with the barrel, and I know I must have struck him at least ten times directly in the face, just as hard as I could strike him,” he added.
Although the house invasion caused injuries to the elderly couple, both are expected to recover completely.
