A 79-year-old military veteran who shot and killed a naked intruder early Friday morning during an attempted burglary in a Studio City neighborhood said he is feeling good and recovering from injuries suffered in the violent altercation.
George Karkoc, a Vietnam veteran, remains hospitalized in Mission Hills with broken bones following the deadly altercation that unfolded near Tujunga Avenue and Sarah Street. His son, Taras Karkoc, said his father faces a long road recovery after he was attacked by a man who entered a neighbor’s residence.
“I’m just happy it turned out the way it did,” George Karkoc said. “I’m really grateful for that.”
Karkoc, a duplex landlord, heard screaming coming from outside a home on his property Friday morning in the San Fernando Valley community, called 911 and confronted the naked intruder, the LAPD said. Two women were inside the house, located southwest of the 170-101/134 freeway interchange, during the break-in, police said.
In the ensuing struggle, the veteran’s legs were broken when he was body-slammed by the intruder, Capt. Warner Castillo told NBC4 Investigates.
“The witnesses said the suspect basically lifted up the 79-year-old and body-slammed him to the ground on the driveway, which is concrete,” Castillo said.
Taras Karkoc said the injuries will take time to heal, requiring about six weeks before he can put weight on his legs.
“His (fibula) and tibia and right ankle. And, then shattering his hip and his femur on his left side,” Taras Karkoc said, describing the injuries. “He’s got pins and rods up and down his legs in his hip, in his femur, and his ankle. So it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”
Karkoc said he tried to speak with the man and convince him to leave.
“All we are saying is, ‘Please leave, please leave,’” he said. “He jumps on top of me and forces me down. I couldn’t handle the weight. He had his legs wrapped around me somehow, and his arms, I couldn’t move and all that weight, I just collapsed with him on top of me.”
During the struggle, the veteran opened fire, striking the intruder in the chest before another gunshot struck the man in the head, police said.
Karkoc said the first two rounds struck the man in his upper body and a third struck him in the head.
“I wanted to make sure he wasn’t alive,” Karkoc said. “I shot him in the head. And, then I knew he was safe. And, everybody else was safe.”
The intruder died at the scene.
Castillo said there did not appear to be any type of relationship between the intruder and the people inside the house.
Before the deadly altercation, security camera video from an apartment complex showed the man with no clothes walking on a sidewalk across the street from the property where the shooting occurred. He can be heard yelling as he approached an apartment security gate before turning around and walking across the street.
On Wednesday in the western San Fernando Valley, former Lakers player Christian Wood fired several rounds during an attempted home invasion in Sherman Oaks, LAPD told NBC4 Investigates. Wood, who was inside the two-story house, confronted the would-be burglars before running outside and firing 3 to 4 rounds at the ground, police said.
The intruders were scared off.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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