AUSTIN, Texas — A Liberty Hill man said he did what he could to protect his family after a shirtless man walked onto his property with a machete and tried to break into his house.
The incident happened on Aug. 21, according to the homeowner, who prefered not to share his name.
Surveillance video captured the man in the backyard, where he's seen collapsing onto the grass. He then quickly gets up, starts marching up a staircase, and attempts to open a back door.
"We have no idea who this person is," the homeowner said. "[A] complete stranger just showed up like pure evil, just showing up on our property out of nowhere."
He said he was home with his wife, two children and their nanny. A contractor they had hired for a project was also there when they noticed the individual in the backyard. That's when the homeowner said his survival instincts kicked in.
"I ran upstairs and, luckily, there was a firearm in the house. And I grabbed a nine-millimeter and came downstairs," he said.
Texas has a "Stand Your Ground" law, which means a person is allowed to defend themselves if they feel a threat to their life and safety. Fortunately for this homeowner, he said he didn't have to shoot and police arrived to take the man into custody.
"Thankfully, he chose to just drop the machete and then started backing up and jumped over the fence and started walking around the house," he said. "A few minutes later, the sheriff's department came and took him into custody."
KVUE reached out to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office for more information on the case and the suspect, but we did not hear back. As for the homeowner, he said his family is still reeling from the incident and he plans to upgrade the security around the house.
He only hopes the man in question is kept off the streets, so no one else has to endure what his family went through.
"I have young kids in the house ... I'm just glad he didn't charge at me," the homeowner said. "Just feeling very grateful that it ended the way it did because, yes, it could have been much, much worse."