Medford Homeowner Shoots Intruder Who Broke In While Family Was Home

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MEDFORD, ORE. — A homeowner opened fire on a man trying to break into his house Sunday night while his family was still inside, and the suspect ended up in custody with a gunshot wound.

As reported by KOBI5 (NBC5), the Medford Police Department responded to a reported burglary in progress on the 800 block of Gilman Road at about 10:47 p.m. on June 21. The caller told dispatch that someone was trying to force entry and that the homeowner had fired shots.

The family inside got out safely and met responding officers at a spot away from the house. Officers then set up a perimeter.

With help from drone operators, police located and made contact with the suspect, 21‑year‑old Nathan Roberson, who was still inside the residence. Roberson was found with a gunshot wound.

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He was taken into custody without further incident and brought to a local hospital for treatment. He remains in police custody while being treated. According to MPD, Roberson is from out of state and had been staying at a nearby hotel.

Roberson has not been formally charged. MPD says the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case for charges, and the investigation is ongoing.

Here is the part that matters to me. A family was asleep in their own home when a stranger tried to force his way in. The threat in that moment is not to the furniture or the television. It is to the people inside. When seconds count, police are minutes away, and the only person standing between an intruder and that family was the homeowner. He got his family out and he had the means to answer the threat himself. That is exactly why I carry, and exactly why I keep a firearm within reach at home. I have a 10 year old in the house, so mine stays in a quick access safe on the nightstand, locked but ready in seconds. Secured and accessible are not opposites, and at 10:47 at night you want both.