A St. Louis couple faced a harrowing encounter after waking up to a home intruder. The incident, which occurred in the Penrose neighborhood, has left the community shaken but grateful that the victims emerged unscathed.

The incident began when a man and his girlfriend woke up to find that an intruder had entered the home. Luckily, the man was armed and was able to use his firearm to protect himself and his girlfriend.

Police said the 37-year-old man and his 36-year-old girlfriend were asleep in their bed. They woke up to find the woman's ex-boyfriend standing over them with a gun pointed at her current boyfriend. The man grabbed his own gun and shot the suspect multiple times.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and the man who shot him was taken into police custody. Both guns were recovered at the scene. Police released the suspect's name Saturday. He was John Bernard, 37, and he lived in the 3700 block of Cottage Avenue.

Police said in an afternoon update that the man who shot him acted in self-defense and the shooting appeared to be a "justifiable homicide."

The shooter was initially taken into custody but was later released. Law enforcement is not seeking to charge him with a crime.

The incident has resonated with members of the local community, who indicated that the neighborhood does not have as high a crime rate as most other neighborhoods in the area. Roosevelt Buck, a resident who lives across the street from where the shooting took place, told reporters that “our houses don’t get broken into” but that they have “elements that come into our neighborhood and not that often.”

TK King, another neighbor, indicated that he does not want people to lose their lives but acknowledged the necessity in this situation.

"I don't like for people to lose their life period... But at the same time, because of the circumstances, I understand it," neighbor TK King said.

"And that's why you shouldn't be going to no one else's house trying to break in and everything because you never know what's going to be on the other side of that door," neighbor Nicole Jefferson added.

This incident, like so many others, illustrates the importance of gun ownership. The anti-gunner lobby will claim that having a firearm places you in more danger. The reality is that you are more likely to use a firearm to defend your life than to victimize someone else.

I’ve been writing on many of these stories over the past few months. Quite a few have taken place in neighborhoods without high crime rates. This goes to show that no matter where you live, you have to be ready to protect yourself. Having a gun is the best way to increase your chances of surviving this type of encounter.