PA Bill Number: HB469
Title: Amending the act of August 5, 1977 (P.L.181, No.47), entitled "An act providing for the acceptance by the Governor of jurisdiction relinquished by ...
Description: Amending the act of August 5, 1977 (P.L.181, No.47), entitled "An act providing for the acceptance by the Governor of jurisdiction relinq ...
Last Action: Laid on the table
Last Action Date: Dec 15, 2025
North Carolina Self-Defense: North Carolina homeowner with gun confronts suspect with ax :: 11/18/2019
BURLINGTON, N.C. - A homeowner with a shotgun has fended off a man who police say tried to break into the home using an ax.
[ALSO READ: Statesville homeowner holds suspect at gunpoint after break-in, deputies say]
A news release from Burlington police says the suspect identified as 29-year-old William Lawrence Cowan tried to enter the house through a back door on Sunday morning, with an ax that belonged to the homeowner.
Police say the homeowner pointed the shotgun at Cowan, causing him to leave the ax behind and run away from the house. Cowan was arrested two blocks away without incident.
Cowan is charged with “break or enter a building with the intent to commit felony/larceny.” He’s being held in the Alamance County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond. It’s unclear whether he had an attorney who could speak for him.
