Former Burglar Shot During Robbery Speaks Out

Michael Watts was shot by the same homeowner who shot and killed another burglar in his Tulsa home on Tuesday.

Tulsa Homeowner Describes Shooting, Killing Intruder 

Michael Watts says he used to own a roofing company, was married 28 years and raised five kids. He says then, he suffered a series of terrible losses and fell on hard times, so he sold scrap metal to make ends meet. He says he saw a house that looked abandoned and went inside and came face to face with a man with a gun.

"I said, hey man, my bad, I thought this place was open. My hands was up. I said I'm leaving man. I didn't know anybody lived here. He shot me, boom, right in the heart. I said you shot me. He shot me again in the heart. I said, man, please don't shoot me no more. I was begging. And, he shot me in the leg, then I could tell he wasn't going to stop, so I turned to run and he shot me in the back. I still have that bullet in me, hit my lung and my liver. That one dropped me. He walked up to me and put that barrel to my face and shot me in the head," said Watts.

Watts was in the hospital more than a week with 6 gunshot wounds, did his time in prison and hasn't been in trouble since. He says he never would've gone into the house had he known someone was there.

Lori: "Cause you know, some people are going to say, don't matter, ain't your home, don't go there."
Watts: "I know I was wrong. I wasn't invited into that house."

He says he was shocked by the news the same homeowner, Charles Sweeney, shot and killed a burglar in his home. In his case, Watts thinks Sweeney should've warned him or stopped shooting after the first shot.


Lori: "Some people are not going to be very sympathetic at all."
Watts: "Not gonna be at all."

He says he hopes his story will serve as a warning to others who might think stealing is the right way to make a living.

"If you see an empty house and think about going in there, you might want to think again," said Watts.