74-Year-Old Man Guarding House Kills Newsboy

INDIANAPOLIS — A man guarding his house from vandals fatally shot a newspaper carrier making a predawn delivery today as the teen-ager’s mother waited in a nearby van.

Nokomis Woodrow Toombs, 74, was charged with murder in the shotgun death of Scott (Patrick) Lawson, 16, a junior at Chatard High School, police said.

Toombs said he did not realize the teen-ager at his door was a carrier for the Indianapolis Star, police said.

Toombs told police he was up all night protecting his home, which he said had been the target of vandals in recent weeks. His wife, Isabelle, 76, was asleep when the shooting occurred.

“When the kid started to put the paper inside the breezeway door, Mr. Toombs fired a shot with his 16-gauge shotgun through the living room window and screen,” homicide Detective Norman Matthews said. “The victim was struck in the center of his chest and fell.”