This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Homeowners in Millard and Washington counties repelled invaders with firearms this weekend, leaving one attacker dead.
Police say the man who was killed had reportedly forced his way into a Hurricane home to beat the occupant with a metal pipe.
The first attack happened before sunrise in Sugarville, a tiny town in northern Millard County. When a man slinked into the victim's home on Friday about 5 a.m., his entry awakened a woman inside.
The role of victim and attacker then flip-flopped when the woman retrieved a shotgun and chased the man out of the house. As he fled with two others, she reportedly shot at them from a distance. Sheriff Robert Dekker said no one was hurt.
Deputies scoured nearby structures and a field with search dogs Saturday, but didn't find the three men. Investigators say the men were last seen in a dark-colored pickup.
A similar encounter turned deadly in Washington County, where police say two men - who investigators believe meant to harm someone - forced their way into a Hurricane home on Saturday about 6:45 p.m. and assaulted the occupant with a pipe.
The victim was badly beaten before he grabbed a handgun and fatally shot one of the attackers, said Hurricane Police Sgt. Brandon Buell.
The other man fled and remains at large.
Police did not release the names of the people involved in the Hurricane assault.
The investigation is not complete, but Buell said the shooting appears to be self-defense. He declined to say whether the residents in Millard and Washington counties acted appropriately, only that people have the "right to protect themselves from injury or death."