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Tulsa County, OK (KJRH) — A Berryhill homeowner was shot and killed in his front yard by a teen trying to break into his truck, according to the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Before 3 a.m., deputies said a suspect attempted to break into a truck parked in a driveway on West 43rd Street near South 43rd West Avenue. When the homeowner, who has been identified 38-year-old Staijeck Helm, heard the car alarm, deputies said he went outside to confront the burglar and he was shot and killed. The suspect took off.
Deputies said Helm, his wife and three juvenile children were home when it happened.
Neighbors heard gunshots and the car alarm and ran outside. Doug Scott was one of them.
Scott said when he got outside, he saw a flashlight in his neighbor’s front yard and heard someone screaming, “He was shot.”
“In this area, we all try to look out for each other and help each other and this is just very very tragic and surprising to me that something went this far over somebody trying to break into somebody’s car,” Scott said.
Scott said the family has lived in the home for at least 10 years and described Helm as extremely hardworking.
“People, not just here in our area, everywhere are sick of people trying to take everything they want from hardworking people that have a family to support and goes out and buys things and someone feels like they have the right to come in and take them,” Scott said.
Investigators do not have a name for the suspect yet but said he is described to them as a skinny white teen male riding a bike. They are asking people in the area to check their security cameras for anything that might help them find the suspect.
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