News 12 First at Five; July 8, 2009

EDGEFIELD & AIKEN CTY, S.C. --- In the recent weeks, we've seen a big increase in the number of victims getting back at their burglars, including several shootouts. Only on 12, we talk to the most recent victim about his ordeal.

"I asked the fella, are you ready to die," says Billy Williams. He, along with a loaded gun, was ready to fight back against a burglar underneath this Trenton, SC bed.

"I saw a pair of tennis s hoes, white on the bottom and red on the side. And, it stuck out like a sore thumb," says Williams.

The thumb investigators later labeled as Edward Johnson, someone Billy says he knew. "He kept on coming (toward me, with his hands in the air as Billy pointed the gun at him)," says Billy.

Billy then says, the burglar ran back into his room and tried to get out of the home by breaking the glass in the bedroom window. But, he didn't get out. Billy adds, moments before that, the burglar told him that he had a gun. That is when things changed dramatically for Billy. Before that, he says he did not plan on shooting Edward, who he knew from his store.

"When he hit the opening (in his hallway between the bedroom and front room), I tried to shoot him to catch up with him, but I couldn't," says Billy. "I caught up with him, in the wall."

Eventually, investigators caught up with Johnson at a motel on Highway 1 near the bypass in Aiken County Monday afternoon. He is charged with first degree burglary and petty larceny. Investigators are not sure if he had a gun during the burglary, but they do not think he was hit by the shot fired by Billy. We're also told multiple guns were stolen from Billy's home.

Billy says when he moved his bed after the incident, he found a hammer underneath the bed. He says, that was not there before and fears Johnson was going to kill him during the night.

"If someone is going to take advantage of me, I'm not going to go along with that," says Billy. He, though, isn't the only one doing that lately.

In Aiken County, a robbery at Twisters, an ice cream shop in Bath, led to the victim's son shooting at the suspect. Then, just two days later, a hunter who forget some equipment at home, catches a burglar staling guns from his parents home. That also led to a shootout between the hunter and the burglar.

"I think it's just a point where citizens are just fed up," says Capt. Troy Elwell with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. "They're fed up with criminals and they're fed up with the crime and they're starting to fight back."

Billy Williams says he believes the suspect has been in his home before, too. "It's almost unbelievable someones living with you and you don't know it."

That notion is forcing more of us to fight crime, right along with the police.

It is important to note that in South Carolina, you can fight back if, and only if, someone is approaching you or your life is in jeopardy. Otherwise, you might be facing charges on the wrong side of the law.