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TULSA, OKLA. — A Tulsa homeowner had seconds to make a life-or-death decision early Monday when a burglar kicked in his front door and ended up standing inside his living room.

Gavin Bogle told News On 6 he was upstairs playing video games just before midnight Sunday when his surveillance cameras alerted him to a man peeking through his windows. He grabbed his gun and headed downstairs.

By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, the intruder had already kicked the door in. The two men were face to face.

Bogle said he gave a verbal command. The intruder ignored it.

“He just stared at me like it didn’t matter,” Bogle said.

Then the man started reaching for something. Bogle fired once, striking him in the chest.

Police identified the intruder as Alvin Basham. After he was hit, Basham stumbled back, tried to pull the door shut and ran.

Officers found him down the road, bleeding. Tulsa Police say Basham was immediately confrontational. They deployed pepper balls and a K9 before getting him into custody. Police say he punched the K9, bit one officer, scratched another and spat in a third officer’s face.

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This was not Basham’s first break-in. Records show he was released from prison nine months ago after serving four years for burglary and assaulting officers. Police say his 2021 case involved trying to force his way into a home with a woman and her baby inside. When officers arrested him then, he was carrying the window screens from her house.

Basham remains hospitalized and will be booked into jail once released.

Bogle said he bought the gun hoping he would never need it. Now he is glad he had it.

“I genuinely never hope that anybody has to experience this,” he said.

A man kicked in his door, refused a command and reached for something in the dark. That is the exact moment a firearm exists for. Bogle did not go looking for a fight. It came through his front door, and he was ready to protect his family.