Thursday, June 02, 2005

The defender


(Left) James A. Hodges, 63, looks through the newly-replaced window of his home in Beaumont on Thursday, June 2, 2005. On Wednesday, he awoke to the crash of someone breaking into his home. The 36-year resident of the home fired two shots from a .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol out the window. One bullet lodged into a tree outside his window, the other bullet couldn't be traced after it left the bedroom.

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

(Below) Hodges points to one bullet hole in a tree outside his bedroom window. Although two bullets grazed the window frame within an inch of one another while he was defending himself against intruders, only one bullet hit the tree.


Deadline pop quiz: Where in the AP Stylebook can a journalist find the guidelines to write the type of gun used?
The answer is in the comments section.

9 comments:

Mark M. Hancock said...

The answer is "weapons." In this case, it was specifically a "pistol," which has a sub-head under weapons. Because the diameter of the inside of the gun barrel was known, the sub-head "caliber" also needed to be checked.

Bryon Houlgrave said...

Nice work. I like the reflection in the first image. You mentioned a couple of times the second bullet wasn't found. Are you leading us to believe it might be lodged someplace else, like the hindquarters of a would-be burglar? ;-)

CarmenSisson said...

Typo alert.... "On Wednesday, he was awoken..." :-)

I am liking these AP pop quizzes. Makes me realize how much I have forgotten.

Mark M. Hancock said...

It's not a reflection. The subject and strobe are inside the house, and I'm outside. I need some walkie-talkies for situations like this. It was hard to focus because the trees were reflecting on the window, and he was in darkness. It didn't help to only have 20 minutes before my next shoot.

Bryon Houlgrave said...

My apologies, Mark.

Caleb said...

You also have his age listed as 36 the second time. "The 36-year resident..."

Mark M. Hancock said...

No apology needed Bryon. I was just yappin'. :-)

Caleb, are you having a dyslectic moment or pulling my leg?

Caleb said...

Opps, I was having a not reading carefully moment! I see my error!

Mark M. Hancock said...

Originally posted June 6, 2005.