On Wednesday, a Long Beach, California, man stunned audiences watching at home when he matter-of-factly discussed on the local news how he shot and killed a suspected burglar. "She says, 'Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant, I'm going to have a baby,' and I shot her anyway," Tom Greer, 80, told NBC4. "The lady didn't run as fast as the man so I shot her in the back twice. She's dead."
On Thursday, the woman was identified as 28-year-old Andrea Miller of Long Beach. The male suspect, Gus Adams, 26, was booked on a robbery and murder charge, Long Beach police said in a statement. The Los Angeles County coroner's office is scheduled to perform an autopsy on Miller Friday, and will confirm if she was pregnant or not.
Greer said he found the two inside of his home on Tuesday. "When I went in there, they tackled me," he said. "Both of them jumped on top of me." Greer said the pair went to break into his safe, and he took the opportunity to grab his gun. He fired it and the suspects ran, but Greer gave chase and shot Miller with his .22 caliber Smith and Wesson.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Long Beach police are investigating the case to determine if Greer will face charges for the shooting. His estranged wife, Dorothy, said that the house had been burglarized four times in the past, once while she was home. "It's scary," she said. "Either way it goes, it's scary. It was just a bad situation, all the way around." --Catherine Garcia
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.