New Hampshire Self-Defense: Elderly Woman Shoots Alleged Would-be Robber :: 01/06/2016

MANCHESTER, NH - While the nation is in the midst of a debate about gun ownership, with the president issuing Executive Order actions to limit access to weapons, and women in New Hampshire pushing for a restoration of rights to access permits without police approval, at least one elderly woman is thankful she was armed after shooting a would-be robber last night.

According to Manchester Police, officers were sent to a Queen City apartment building after Michael Bontaites, 23, of no fixed address, was shot in the chest by a 65-year-old woman with a conceal carry permit.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Manchester Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

The woman alleged that last night around 11:30 p.m., she stopped at the Mobil on the Run on South Willow Street after work. When she headed back onto South Willow Street, a dark colored sedan was behind her vehicle and following her.

As the woman entered her apartment complex on South Porter Street, she attempted to find a vacant spot near her building and the sedan parked near her vehicle. As she exited her vehicle to head to her apartment, “She immediately heard a vehicle door close and a person quickly walking up behind her,” according to Lt. Brian O’Keefe of the Manchester Police Department.

“She looked and observed a white male with a dark hooded sweatshirt quickly approach her, run past her, and immediately block her path,” O’Keefe stated in a press release. “The male then reached out and attempted to grab her.”

The woman withdrew her handgun from her pocket and shot the man – later identified as Bontaites – in the chest once, at close range, and then ran inside her apartment building and called 911.

“The victim, who is described as 4-feet, 11-inches (tall and) 105 lbs. was in fear for her safety,” O’Keefe said. “The victim, who has a valid concealed carry gun permit, fired one round to stop the attack before seeking a safe zone inside of the building.”

Bontaites, according to police, is 5-feet, 11-inches tall, and weighs around 200 lbs., according to the department’s information on file due to previous criminal actions including reckless conduct, driving charges, drugs, and criminal threatening.

After being shot, Bontaites “fell to the ground” and a woman from inside the sedan reportedly got out, picked him up off the ground, placed him in the car, and drove him to Elliot Hospital. Police located him and the woman from the car in the emergency room where he was being treated.

Bontaites was charged with felony robbery and arraigned at the hospital at just after noon on Jan. 5, 2016, and held on $5,000 cash bail. He’ll be back in court on Jan. 14.

O’Keefe noted that detectives are currently trying to determine if the woman who assisted Bontaites will also face criminal charges.

http://patch.com/new-hampshire/londonderry/elderly-woman-shoots-alleged-would-be-robber-0