An individual reportedly engaged with keying cars in Maricopa County, Arizona, was shot by a homeowner in what was reportedly an act of self-defense.

Maricopa Police Department officers received a call about a possible shooting, and when they arrived at the site, they found a person shot in the leg, per a Jan. 2 report from inMaricopa.

Law enforcement officials believe the individual was shot after the resident and a family member discovered damage on two of their vehicles.

They confronted the suspect, who allegedly advanced toward the homeowner while brandishing the knife, prompting the homeowner to fire.

Knife-wielding person advances toward homeowner who complained about car vandalism, cops say. But homeowner is wielding gun. https://t.co/LlI0QkBT0A pic.twitter.com/H1drASE29Q

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) January 5, 2026

Other cars in the area had similar knife damage, according to inMaricopa.

While the person who was shot now faces charges, the homeowner does not, because he appears to have acted in self-defense.

As reported by Blaze Media, several online commenters shared their takeaways from the story.

Many said the homeowner was in the right.

“F’d around and found out,” one user wrote.

“Lucky it was only his leg shot. Just saying. Good for the homeowner!” another remarked.

“I love it! That’s justice!!! He definitely found out!” a third said.

“I mean, torturing my horse would get death — so why wouldn’t touching my vastly improved horse replacement that, at one time, took years of my life to pay for and develop into a usable vehicle?” another commenter noted.

But at least one social media user said the homeowner may not be out of the woods yet.

“Sounds like the criminal deserved it — but will probably still sue homeowner for his injuries,” the user forecasted.

Arizona is a stand-your-ground state, meaning there is no duty to retreat if a person believes he is in imminent danger.

The laws of Arizona say that “a person is justified in threatening or using physical force against another when and to the extent a reasonable person would believe that physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.”

The defense cannot protect against “the threat or use of physical force against another,” or resisting an arrest.

Managing Editor

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