Paula Michelle Locklear (Carroll County Sheriff’s Office)
A 35-year-old woman was shot in the leg by a Virginia homeowner after she allegedly broke into his house naked and attacked him with a frying pan, police said.
Paula Michelle Locklear was taken into custody last week and charged with one count each of felony breaking and entering of an occupied home while armed with a deadly weapon to commit larceny, assault and battery, and intentional damage to property, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Deputies with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on the night of Feb. 26 about a reported shooting at a residence in Austinsville, just under 30 miles from the state’s southern border, according to a police press release.
Upon arriving at the home, first responders located an adult female — later identified as Locklear — suffering from a single gunshot wound to the leg. Emergency Medical Servies (EMS) personnel arrived and transported the woman to a local hospital for medical treatment, police said.
Investigators determined the shooting to be the result of Locklear allegedly breaking into the residence of the homeowner, whose name is not mentioned in the release.
The homeowner told investigators that he heard a noise in the rear of his home and went down to the kitchen to investigate. When he got there, he “observed an unclothed female, who was unknown to the homeowner, coming into the rear door,” the release states. The homeowner told investigators that Locklear then began hitting him with a cast iron fry pan, striking him in the head and the hand.
The homeowner was able to get Locklear out the rear entrance and secure the door, leaving a still-naked Locklear on the back porch, where she began turning off all of the electrical breakers connected to the home, per the release. Then Locklear allegedly “started beating on the kitchen window while yelling at the homeowner to get out of her house or she was going to kill him.”
The homeowner said that Locklear then began “beating on the same door in which she had already previously made entry,” which is when the homeowner “discharged his firearm, striking the female in the lower leg,” the release states.
After she was treated for the gunshot wound, Locklear was transported to the Carroll County Jail where she is currently being held without bond pending her arraignment. It is unclear whether she has an attorney.
The homeowner will not be charged as the Carroll County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office determined the shooting was justified as the homeowner was acting in self-defense.
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