Tampa Woman Shoots Grandson, Thought He Was An Intruder


A Tampa woman shot her 7 year old grandson Tuesday morning because she thought he was an intruder. This case of mistaken identity ended in an even bigger mistake.

Linda Maddox was sleeping and had a chair propped against the door to deter potential threats to her and twin grandsons Tyler and his brother Tyrique. Apparently the precaution backfired when Tyler went wandering and moved the chair, which scraped against the wooden floor. It was about an hour after midnight, the lights were off, nobody else was home, and the grandmother made a quick assumption. She grabbed a.22 caliber pistol from under the bed and fired it toward the door, according to the Sheriff’s official statement.

A literal shot in the dark ended up being a bad decision.

The bullet hit Tyler Maddox in his upper body, which instantly started him screaming. This was when Linda, 63, realized her error.

Linda Maddox had accidentally shot her own grandson after going out of her way to protect him.

The Tampa woman hadn’t killed him thankfully, but he was seriously injured.

The incident happened at 6505 Alta Monte Drive after the father of the twins, Reginald Maddox, had left for work. The father works for the Post Office and had left the twins in the care of their grandmother for the night as he had to work the graveyard/early morning shift.

The investigation is still underway and no arrests seem to have been made in this case of potentially fatal mistaken identity.

At 7AM, four cars were parked in the driveway, and when asked for statements, the man who answered the door gave no comment.

The house belongs to Linda Maddox, who has lived there since 1986 and probably knows her way around the house better than anyone else in the family.

The Tampa woman’s grandson Tyler is in critical but stable condition at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

[image via icollector]

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