Woman Kills Intruder Who Attacked Her

On Monday morning, Massa Sheridan emerged from her home to drive her 6-year-old son to school before reporting for work at a Marina del Rey real estate agency.

The only evidence that it was not like any other morning was the smattering of blood on the front stoop--and the clutch of neighbors who stood, slack-jawed, as the 26-year-old woman calmly described the harrowing events of Sunday night on Croft Avenue in Ladera Heights.

Sheriff’s investigators said they are equally impressed by the bravery of Sheridan, who shot and killed an intruder who attacked her when she surprised him in her house. The investigation is continuing, but detectives said they are confident that Sheridan acted in self-defense.

Sheridan said the evening began calmly and happily enough, when she joined her boyfriend at the Forum in nearby Inglewood for the basketball playoff game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. She left her date after the game and picked up her son, who was visiting grandparents, before they returned to their home of six weeks.

Heard a ‘Thud’

Sheridan said it was about 11:15 p.m. She had been home for about 20 minutes and was preparing for bed when she heard a “thud.”

Sheridan went to investigate, armed with a .38-caliber revolver she keeps for protection. She became more alarmed when her son told her that his bedroom window was open.

Sheridan, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs about 110 pounds, said she closed the window and turned to search her son’s closet.

“I just heard like a large roar or yell,” she said. “I never saw him or anything. He was all over my shoulders and back.”

The boy watched from his bed and yelled, “Get him, Mom! Get him!” as she struggled with the intruder, Sheridan said.

The man pushed her face down toward the floor, but Sheridan said she held onto the gun, aimed back over her shoulder and fired four shots.

One of the shots hit the 6-foot-tall, 175-pound burglar squarely in the chest, said Sheriff’s Lt. Gil Leslie.

Fired Shot in Air

The man realized he was hurt and ran out the front door, Sheridan said. She chased him to the driveway and fired one more shot into the air--to warn him not to return, she said.

The mortally wounded man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, collapsed on the sidewalk, a few paces away.

Sheridan said she was shaking and still holding the pistol when deputies and paramedics arrived to find the man dead.

Two neighbors on Croft Avenue said they had been victimized recently by burglars. Another said his car was stolen at gunpoint about a year ago. But most agreed that the breezy, well-landscaped unincorporated community was still a safe haven from tougher Los Angeles areas.

“She’s the bravest person,” said a neighbor woman, who asked not to be named.

Another man shook his head and marveled: “I guess it’s a new generation. People learn how to protect themselves.”

Sheridan, who did not want her photo taken, said she just wants her life to get back to normal.

“I could make this my life,” she said. “But I’m not going to.”

She suffered only a bruised lip in the struggle. She said her son did not seem to be disturbed.

“I had never even fired that gun before,” Sheridan said. “I didn’t even know that it worked. I’m just glad that it did.”