Mother hid from home invader in closet with her baby — then shot thug in the head, police say

A man with a long criminal record faced the ultimate penalty for breaking into the wrong home after discovering an armed mother, according to Illinois police.

The Joliet Police Department said they responded to a residence on Hadrian Drive on the far west side of Joliet at about 10:30 p.m.

The woman told them she had hid in a closet of her bedroom with her child after she heard the sound of a man breaking in. She also had a handgun with her.

Police said they saw signs of forced entry at the home and found an unresponsive man on the second floor with gunshot injuries. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

They found a woman at the home with her baby. The woman told them she had hid in a closet of her bedroom with her child after she heard the sound of a man breaking in. She also had a handgun with her.

When the man entered the bedroom, she shot him in the head.

Police said they found a screwdriver in the man’s possession and that he was wearing gloves at the time of the shooting.

The man was identified as 36-year-old Shelby Hurd of Chicago by the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Hurd had been convicted of burglaries in 2022 and 2023, as well as identity theft and burglary in another county. He had been paroled on Feb. 24.

RELATED: 18-year-old caught on video attempting home invasion later shot and killed a man to steal his car, police say

“The information we have and the evidence found at scene indicates that Hurd was at the home to commit a burglary. What his motive was beyond that and why he chose this residence is still under investigation,” Police Sgt. Dwayne English said, according to Shaw Local.

English said the victim did not know the suspect and that the mother and her child were the only people in the home at the time of the attempted robbery.

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