Armed And Ready, Tulsa Woman Stops Attempted Burglary

When two crooks broke through a Tulsa woman’s door, she was armed and ready and didn’t hesitate to stop a burglary.

Carmen Smith said she didn’t get hurt because of some quick thinking. She grabbed her gun and fired at the burglars.

She hit her walls instead, but it was enough to scare off three young men around 10:30 Monday morning.

Smith said they came after her fiancé left while she folded laundry.

"I just heard some ‘bamming’ real hard, you know, and they pried the door open and they knocked the window out and my first instinct, just to go run and go get my gun. It was already loaded," she said.

It was already loaded because of what's already happened at Smith's home, near MLK & 56th Street North.

Burglar bars guard the window where thieves broke in and stole cash once before.

Since then, Smith has beefed up her alarm system and her fiancé added the gun - cocked and ready.

"He was coming towards me. You know, like he was going to do something to me, harm me, and I was going to get him before he got me," she said.

The bullets didn't hit the burglars but got them out of her house.

The shots shattered a picture of Smith's family, left a hole in the front door and even hit the abandoned house across the street.

Smith said, "This was my first time ever shooting a gun, and I was scared."

She doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she does want to go to the gun range to become a better shooter.

Smith said Tulsa Police are working to catch the burglars, and commended her for defending herself.

"I'm not trying to kill nobody's child. I don't want that pain on me, you know? And I don't want it on nobody else, but if they coming after me, then I have to do what I have to do; and it's just that simple," Smith said.