An 81-year-old Mississippi man was shot and killed with his own pistol after an intruder broke into his home early on Thursday morning, authorities said.
Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said Eric Basco forced his way into the home of Bobby McGill at around 4 a.m. while McGill and his wife, Peggy, were asleep. The sheriff said McGill fought back, and during the struggle Basco grabbed a pistol McGill kept in a chest at the foot of his bed. Basco then shot McGill multiple times, killing him.
Peggy McGill managed to escape the house and called 911, telling dispatchers that someone had come into the home and attacked her husband, Edwards said.
The sheriff said Basco then went into a bathroom and shot himself. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Edwards said investigators believe the break-in was likely a burglary attempt. He said Basco had no criminal history other than minor traffic violations and that there was, in his words, “something mentally wrong with him or something that altered his thinking.”
Investigators also recovered a video from the evening before the shooting that appeared to show Basco walking down a road about 1.5 miles from the McGill home, throwing his hands in the air and screaming what sounded like “God is dead,” the sheriff said.
Edwards noted that a cross and a sign reading “Jesus is Lord” stood in the McGills’ yard. He said he had wondered whether the display had drawn Basco to the house, while stressing that he could not be sure it played any part in the attack.
The sheriff described Bobby and Peggy McGill as “very good citizens.” McGill’s granddaughter paid tribute to him in a Facebook post, writing that her grandfather had loved the Lord above all else and his family with his whole heart, and that he had led his life as an example of faith.
The details of the case were reported by Fox News Digital, quoting Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards.
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