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Home invasion leaves one dead, one injured
By RYAN DAVIS, Times Staff Writer SHADY HILLS -- Three robbers burst into a home Friday evening, pistol-whipped one man and shot and killed another, Pasco sheriff's deputies said. "When the victim was unable to open the personal safe to give them cash, they shot him and fled," sheriff's spokesman John Powers said Friday night. The man killed was John Decker, 35, of Hudson. Friends said he was doing roof work on the home at 17349 Shirla Rae Drive, where the shooting occurred. Friends of Decker said he was a former shrimper who did odd jobs. "He's one of those people who looks rough, but he's not," said John Eaton, who lived next door to the house where Decker was shot. According to deputies, at about 5:25 p.m. three men pulled up to the home in a silver sport utility vehicle. They got out of the SUV,barged into the house and demanded money from Decker and Jack Bean, who lives in the home. "I've never seen them before in my life," Bean said of the three men. "They just hit me over the head with a gun when I didn't sit down like I was supposed to sit down." The robbers then shot Decker after he couldn't open a safe in the house. The three men drove away in the SUV. Decker was taken to Spring Hill Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 7 p.m., Powers said. Bean wasn't seriously injured in the attack. Anyone with information on the shooting was asked to call the Pasco Sheriff's Office at (727) 847-5878. -- Ryan Davis is the police reporter in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is rdavis@sptimes.com.
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From today's Pasco Times |
