Brenda Thompkins awoke early Sunday morning to find a stranger standing near the bed in which she and her ex-husband, Christopher Thompkins, were sleeping on the second floor of his Larimer home. “They shot the wrong guy,” said Brenda Thompkins, 51, of Penn Hills. He didn't want to hurt no cops," she said in a telephone interview. She said he grabbed her gun, not realizing police had already been summoned by their burglar alarm company, and then chased after the intruder down some steps to the home's front door because he was worried about his blind mother, who uses a wheelchair and lives downstairs. She said he retrieved the gun from her purse and left the room. "Christopher was saying, 'My mom, my mom, my mom, my mom,'" said Richmond Thompkins, who was divorced from Thompkins years ago and had reconciled with him but not remarried. “That's all he was worrying about.” 
 
 Brenda Thompkins said she then called 911 and fled onto a roof behind the house, although she said she believes an alarm company first contacted police. Authorities say Jetter-Clark was arrested and charged with criminal trespass after police officers responding... (Associated Press) 
 
 CORRECTS DATE OF INCIDENT TO SUNDAY NOT MONDAY AND JAN. 23 PHOTO TO UNDATED PHOTO - This undated photo provided by the city of Pittsburgh's Department of Public Safety shows Juan Brian Jetter-Clark. The officers involved have been put on leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard practice. “There is an ongoing investigation with oversight of the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office,” she said. Richmond Thompkins said she doesn't believe Thompkins purposely fired at police and believes he would have dropped the gun had officers yelled out to identify themselves. Police removed for evidence a front screen door that had six to eight holes in it. She said it's possible the intruder entered the home because Thompkins recently bought a new car. Court records show Christopher Thompkins was convicted of homicide in connection to a 1994 incident and sentenced to serve seven to 15 years in prison. After getting out of prison, Thompkins worked for a cleaning company and later as a dialysis technician. “He was a good guy, changed his whole life around,” Brenda Thompkins said.
– Police officers responding to a burglar alarm fatally shot a Pittsburgh homeowner, who had grabbed a gun when he spotted an intruder, after shots were fired in their direction as they arrived at his house. Police say they aren't sure who shot at them while they were on Christopher Thompkins' front porch. Ballistic evidence is being reviewed. Thompkins, 57, died in the gunfire before dawn Sunday. Police did not report finding a gun on the intruder, identified as Juan Brian Jeter-Clark, 23. Jeter-Clark was charged with criminal trespass but could face additional counts, the AP reports. Thompkins' ex-wife, Brenda Richmond Thompkins, says she was in bed with him when they spotted an intruder standing nearby. She says he grabbed her gun, not realizing police had already been summoned by their burglar alarm company, and then chased after the intruder down some steps to the home's front door because he was worried about his blind mother, who uses a wheelchair and lives downstairs. "He was just saying, ‘My mom, my mom,'" she says. "That's all he was worrying about." She says she doesn't believe Thompkins purposely fired at police and believes he would have dropped the gun had officers yelled out to identify themselves. "They shot the wrong guy. He didn't want to hurt no cops," she tells the Tribune-Review. "He was trying to save his mother." The two officers involved have been placed on leave while the shooting is investigated.