Alphecca

Neighbor Shoots Killer

From the Norwalk Advocate (CT):

BRISTOL, Conn. -- A Bristol man was arrested Saturday in the fatal attack on a city woman.

Michael Foster, 37, faces several charges including assault, burglary, assault of a person over 60 and possession of a pistol without a permit. Selina Brewster, 36, died in the attack.

Police said Brewster ran screaming into a neighbor's home early Friday morning and was followed by a crow-bar wielding man, later identified as Foster. He allegedly beat Brewster until Victor Ventrello shot him in the head with a .22-caliber rifle he keeps in a closet, police said.

Brewster, a nurse, died on the Ventrellos' floor after fleeing. Police said Foster also beat Brewster's live-in boyfriend, identified as David Fongemie by the Hartford Courant.

Foster was airlifted to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center with gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder. He was arrested just before 2 p.m. Saturday.

"We couldn't hold the door closed. He got into the foyer and started beating her with a crowbar," Victor Ventrello, 66, told the Courant in a phone interview from a relative's house Friday afternoon. He said the attacker hit his wife in the arm with the crowbar.

Owning a firearm is not just about protecting yourself, your home and family, it's also about being able to come to a neighbor's aid. In this case, it was too late and Brewster died from her wounds but the principle still stands.