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Homeowner shoots intruder

When two intruders start firing, a Clearwater man fires back and hits one in the abdomen.

By SHEELA RAMAN
Published January 9, 2007

CLEARWATER - When two intruders forced their way into Robert Cason's home Sunday night and started shooting, he did not run, nor did he hide.

He got his own pistol and fired back, police said.

Cason, 35, shot Kyrin Stephfon Jones, 16, of Clearwater at least once in the abdomen, police said.

"It was scary," Cason said Monday. "Imagine a guy pointing a gun close to your head."

Cason declined to say anything else because his lawyer had advised him not to talk about the incident until he finishes speaking with detectives.

The intruders came up behind Cason about 9:30 p.m., just after he entered his home at 1186 Palmetto St., and violently pushed their way in, said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.

One fired at least two shots but didn't hit anyone, Shelor said. Cason then retrieved his own gun and fired back, hitting Jones.

The intruders fled. Jones, of the 1600 block of Stevenson Drive, was found soon afterward and flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, Shelor said.

As of Monday afternoon, Jones was in surgery, and no arrests had been made, Shelor said. Detectives planned to interview Jones later in the evening, when he was more lucid.

The case is being investigated as an armed burglary, and police have not established a motive for the invasion, Shelor said.

"The homeowner defended himself," he said. "It has to be absolutely unnerving to have someone fire shots in your house."

Annette Lloyd, 46, who lives two houses away, was eating dinner when she heard the shots, she said. All she saw when she walked outside, she said, were police cars and then a helicopter. She hardly knows Cason.

"I'm definitely scared," Lloyd said. "It's lucky at least it happened at night, but what if it was during the day? You've got a school right around here. There could have been kids around."

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Times staff writer Sheela Raman can be reached at sraman@sptimes.com or 727 445-4158.

[Last modified January 9, 2007, 07:23:32]