Police: 74‑Year‑Old Man Justified in Shooting Home Intruder

A 74‑year‑old Idaho man will not face charges after shooting a suspect who was trying to break into his home, according to police.

Cedric Ford and his girlfriend had allegedly been breaking into homes across the area for weeks. But this time, they picked the wrong house. Ring camera footage shows Ford first trying to force the front door, then moving to a window and prying it open.

That’s when the homeowner, 74‑year‑old Donald Bolynn, fired a single round, striking Ford in the chest. Bolynn later told police he didn’t even realize he had hit the intruder. Bolynn suffers from several health issues and had been on alert due to the recent spike in break‑ins around town.

Ford initially tried to claim he’d been shot in a drive‑by. Police didn’t buy it for long.

Investigators say they used a Flock gunshot‑detection system to track gunfire from that morning. The system allowed them to trace the shot back to Bolynn’s home, proving Ford was lying about the drive‑by story.

And this is exactly the debate Americans, and gun owners especially, are going to be having about these surveillance systems. Even if they occasionally help solve crimes, is it worth the mass data collection, the tracking, and the inevitable government abuse that comes with it?

After all, gun‑control advocates constantly argue that if banning certain firearms “saves just one life,” then it’s worth it. Shouldn’t the same scrutiny apply to surveillance tech that tracks every gunshot in a community?

Regardless, good on Mr. Bolynn for exercising his rights. Given his health issues, it’s hard to imagine he would have stood much chance had Ford made it inside.