Man Investigating Strange Noise In His House Finds An Unlikely Sight
Paul Mohlman was relaxing at home, watching TV, and enjoying the comfort of solitude. The Tennessee resident was the only one around. He felt calm, serene. Then he heard it: a strange sound coming from the other room. Maybe something fell, was Paul's first thought. Maybe a breeze blew through an open window. Quickly, however, he realized the source of the sound was much more complicated than what he'd anticipated.
The Big Move
Paul Mohlman didn't always live in the South — he was born in New Jersey. However, after graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in engineering, he packed up and made the big move. He had no idea what awaited him there.
An Eerie Occurrence
On a bright winter morning in the last week of November 2019, Paul was resting when he heard a thud coming from his roommate’s bedroom. “It sounded like something fell. Something heavy,” he said. But his roommate wasn’t home.
Something's Not Right
Paul was rightly unsettled by this sound, so he got up to investigate. He opened the door to his roommate’s bedroom and cautiously entered, having no idea about the strange sight that awaited him.
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Sign Of Trouble
Inside the room, he noticed an out-of-place arrangement: there was a pipe that he didn’t recognize laying on the floor. Even more concerning, right beside it was a hole that had been punched straight through to a crawlspace beneath the house.
Worries Heighten
Now Paul was getting really concerned. His heart racing, he peered through the hole and looked into the crawlspace. He was met with the shock of his life.
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The Horrifying Reality
Staring back at him from the hole was a single eye! His worst fears had been realized: there was a person down there. “It was a Caucasian dude. He wasn’t wearing a shirt; had no shoes on,” Paul remarked. He started interrogating him.
Frantic Questioning
“What are you doing down there?" he remembers asking him. "Did the landlord call you? Are you here to work on plumbing?” Then the man replied something incoherent and shifted around. He looked like he was trying to hide. Clearly, he was not the plumber.
A Bold Move
Frustrated with the lack of response, Paul realized the situation was rapidly escalating. He had to take more serious steps to protect himself and his home. Grabbing his .22 caliber firearm, he informed the man that he was in possession of a gun.
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Threats Of Violence
“I let him know that I have a gun," Paul reflected. "And I said ‘I don’t want to shoot you, but what are you doing?’” He called the police, and they arrived quickly. However, even the authorities had a hard time luring the man out of his hiding place.
Confusion Grows
Finally, the cops successfully brought the suspect out of the crawlspace. But Paul was surprised: This suspect wasn't a shirtless white man; he was black and was wearing a shirt, but no pants or shoes.
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The Heat Of The Moment
“At the moment, I sort of forgot about that part and was like, ‘Oh they got the guy. I saw it wrong. They got the guy,’” Paul reported. Soon, he’d be in for an even bigger shock when the man uttered some words that were comprehensible.
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Strange Explanations
The suspect said he’d spilled acid on himself. At first, police were unsure if this was true. But then, outside the house, investigators spotted a pile of random clothes and also a bottle of hydrochloric acid.
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A Short Reprieve
Finally, believing the frightening situation had come to a close, Paul went to get a badly needed drink at a nearby bar. He began chatting with the bartender, telling him about the terrifying ordeal. Then, the bartender revealed an anxiety-inducing piece of information.
Coincidence Or Not?
Paul showed the bartender a photo he’d taken of the man being detained, to which the bartender replied — to Paul’s shock — that he actually recognized the man. He’d seen him hanging around the bar only a night before...but he hadn’t been alone.
Red Flags Raised
To confirm this guy was the same person who’d been sneaking around Paul’s house, the bartender pulled up surveillance footage from that night. The clip showed two people messing around outside the venue: the detained suspect and the white guy he’d seen initially.
Panic Ensuing
All of Paul’s fears from earlier in the traumatic day came rushing back. He hadn’t been wrong before; he should have trusted his instincts. All the alarm bells were raised, and he now had reason to believe that his house hadn’t been cleared of unwanted intruders.
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Given The All Clear?
The homeowner phoned the police for the second time that day. Authorities reviewed the surveillance footage for themselves, then returned to Paul's house to execute a second search. They found the crawlspace, below, to be empty. But this wasn't the end of the fiasco.
Something Awry
Paul went to sleep, still feeling slightly uneasy but still having faith that the officials had done their jobs. Hours later, he woke up feeling unusually cold and went to check out the wires controlling the house’s heat.
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Another Shocking Discovery
To his shock and dismay, he found that the men had cut the wires. He called for emergency repairs in the middle of the night but chose not to file a police report. He didn't think the men belonged in jail, but rather, needed psychiatric help.
Uncertain Conclusions
Police confirmed that the black suspect had been sent to UT Medical Center as a result of his “erratic and unstable” behavior, while the search continued for the white suspect. Still a little unnerved, Paul felt good about the situation.
What Could Have Been
The could have easily escalated to deadly violence had Paul not been careful. Horror stories from those who'd acted rashly when they believed there was an intruder in their home left him him feeling grateful he reacted the way he did. Because just nearby, a woman wasn't so lucky.
Renee Jones
For Renee Jones, an ordinary Friday night turned terrifying when she heard an intruder creeping through her home. Living alone in Girard, Ohio, wasn't exactly the most comforting of situations, as the city is notorious for its high frequency of property-based crimes.
Locked Up Tight
As such, Renee went to great lengths to make sure she was safe and sound in her home each night. She double-checked the locks on the doors and windows before heading up to bed, and motion-sensing lights deterred any would-be burglars from creeping too close.
.38 Special
Just in case, however, Renee also kept one additional line of defense: a .38 special. Under concealed-carry law, Renee had purchased the powerful revolver and always made sure to keep it at her bedside.
A Friday Night in August
So with her home secured and weapon within arm's reach, Renee felt safe as she curled up beneath the covers on Friday, August 30. Unfortunately, this feeling wouldn't last.
Outside
At around 9 pm that evening, Renee was lying in bed when she thought she heard someone walking around outside. Being that the motion lights hadn't tripped, she assumed the noise was probably just the wind.
Clicking Doors
Just moments later, however, she heard the sound again — and this time it came from the front door. Ears perked, Renee listened as the lock clicked and the door slowly creaked open.
In Her Head?
At first Renee was in disbelief, clinging to the hope that this was all a product of her imagination. But as the front door shut and footsteps echoed from below, her worst fear had been realized: there was someone in the house.
Safe Upstairs
Frozen, Renee listened as the intruder crept their way through the home's lower level. "Maybe they won't come upstairs," she thought to herself — until she heard the squeak of a foot on the steps.
Or Not
The intruder quickened their pace up the stairs, sending Renee into a panic. With her phone nowhere in sight, she scrambled through her nightstand and pulled out the revolver.
Bang!
The footsteps reached her bedroom. Renee whirled on her feet, the gun cocked and raised. BANG! The bullet ripped through the intruder's right arm and sent them tumbling to the floor.
The Smoking Gun
Ears ringing, Renee dropped the smoking revolver and watched as the attacker writhed in pain. She'd stop the intruder dead in their tracks, though there was just one problem: they weren't an intruder at all.
Hanna Returns
Instead of an unknown assailant, Renee's 18-year-old daughter Hanna stared up at her in a state of sheer disbelief. Horrified, Renee rushed into the bathroom and grabbed a handful of towels to stop the bleeding.
Witnesses
As Renee tended to her daughter, Hanna's boyfriend burst through the front door. He'd heard the gunshot from his car out front, and after seeing the mess upstairs, he immediately called the police.
Covered In Blood
When law enforcement arrived they found Hanna "covered in blood" and clutching a towel wrapped around her arm. An ambulance arrived moments later and together Renee and Hanna rode to the hospital, both shaken beyond words.
Surgery
Hanna was rushed into surgery, where it was determined that the bullet had fractured her elbow in three places. Using metal plates and screws, doctors repaired her injured arm before allowing her to rest up from the traumatic experience.
She's All Right!
Once the initial commotion passed, Hanna chose to clear the air with her mother about the night of the shooting. Evidently, Hanna had come home from college early and tried to surprise Renee with an unannounced visit.
Investigations
But while an innocent misunderstanding like this would normally be no cause for concern, the fact that Hanna was shot potentially made this a criminal offense. As a result, the Girard Police Department launched an investigation into the matter.
Castle Doctrine
Fortunately for Renee, she was found to be within her rights when it came to firing her weapon. According to the Castle Doctrine, Renee's actions were justified in the context of defending her home.
Proper Precautions!
But the Girard Police Department maintains that this incident could've been avoided if proper precautions were taken. According to GPD Chief John Norman, there's one very simple way to prevent these kind of firearm accidents.
Announce Yourself
"If you realize someone has a gun for protection, and they're not expecting you — announce yourself when you enter the home, or even if you're getting up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night, just announce yourself," he told WFMJ.
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