"My hands were just completely covered in blood."
KEARNS - A man wounded by a burglar during a home invasion Thursday morning talked to 2News about the incident -- in which he was shot with his own gun.

Chad Morley said he found the burglar inside of his home at approximately 9:00 a.m. Thursday after noticing some of his property stacked up by a side door.

Morley decided to go inside the house, located near 6000 West Eaton Way, and retrieve his handgun to fend off the intruder. Moments later, the two men started wrestling for control and Morley was eventually shot in the arm.

"We both fought over the gun and he hit me in the head," Morley said. "My hands were just completely covered in blood." (Video)

"We both had a hold of the gun and (he) turned it toward me... and it was so slippery from blood, I couldn't hang on to it," he continued. "Then I saw his finger go to the trigger and... that's when it hit me and knocked me over a loveseat."

Morley said he was over at his father's house nearby when the burglar must have entered. Upon returning, and seeing the items stacked near the door, he said it was clear something was wrong.

"I knew something was going on. I catch shoplifters for a living, so there's a lot of people that would probably like to know a lot about me," Morley said. "So I always carry my gun with me... constantly, it's right by me."

"I didn't waste any time. I just grabbed my gun... I half-cocked it and made sure there was a bullet in the chamber. I was prepared to shoot him," he added.

After the struggle, the burglar managed to get away from the home and flee into the neighborhood. He has not yet been captured.

"In a situation like that, it's either you or them. And people like that don't have a care for anything and would rather steal people's merchandise that they worked their tail off for," Morley said. "They would rather be lazy... and sell it and make their living that way."

Morley received a gunshot wound to the arm and a laceration to his forehead. When asked if he would have handled the situation differently in a do-over, Morley said he probably would have shot first -- and asked questions later.

"Honestly... probably shoot him before he had a chance to take my weapon away and then putting me in 10-times more danger," he said.

"It's not something you want to get in front of a news camera and say, 'oh I should have shot him'... but it could've been a lot worse for me," Morley added.

The burglar is described as a Hispanic man, about 6'0" tall and weighing between 165-175 pounds. Morley said the suspect wore a baseball cap and a blue bandana around the lower part of his face.

Anyone with information in this case is encouraged to contact authorities.
May 8/08