Neighbors Praise Woman Who Shot Boy

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 30, 2010 3:20PM

As a clearer picture of what happened Tuesday begins to emerge, neighbors are still coming to the defense of Margaret Matthews, the 68-year-old woman who shot and injured a 12-year-old boy who is accused, along with an accomplice, of harassing the woman and vandalizing her home. The account police offered hadn't changed all that much from yesterday. Matthews had returned home from grocery shopping to find her windows broken and saw the two boys running from her house. She called the police but the boys returned, shouting at her and when she went outside, she found them standing on a nearby shed throwing bricks, one of which, she told the Tribune, hit her in the chest. She called police again, got her gun, and fired. Matthews told the Tribune, "There is no explanation for how I felt. I was terrified...The young man hit me in the chest with a brick. After a year of harassment, that was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Neighbors continued to defend Matthews, one saying, "I think she did right. She was just protecting her property." Another said, "They've been terrible to her for over a year. They burned up her barbecue pit and her flower bed. She was protecting herself. These kids came to her yard, jumped her fence and started terrorizing her. She didn't just shoot a kid." Another neighbor told CBS 2 of the boy that was shot: "It's been coming. Somebody was going to either shoot him or kill him." Pastor Major Matthews, Matthews' stepson, added, "All she was trying to do was protect herself and stop the harassment. She don't wish any ill towards this child, and the thing she told me is she thanks God the young man didn't lose his life."

Each of the boys involved was charged with a count of misdemeanor aggravated assault to a senior citizen; Matthews will not be charged in the incident.