If you ever happen to be in Anaheim, Calif. and decide to become a home intruder, do yourself a favor and stay away from the home of Jan Cooper. She is not afraid to defend her property.

Brandon Alexander Perez had to learn that lesson the hard way as Cooper, 72, narrowly missed him with a .357-magnum Smith & Wesson revolver as he tried to enter her home on Saturday night.

"Back up! Back up you son of a bitch! Back up! Get out of here! Get the hell out of here!" she shouted to Perez.

Luckily for Perez, Cooper did not hit him, though police have estimate that she missed his head by only a couple of inches. She was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher when the incident occurred.

"You'd better get the police here. I don't know whether I hit him or not. I'm not sure. He's standing at my door, my back door. He's in my yard," she said.

Police heard the gunshot and soon came by to investigate what happened. It did not take them long to find Perez and arrest him on a burglary charge. He has already pleaded not guilty in that case and awaits a court date later this month.

"I am a Christian woman and I'm very proud of it and I don't curse, but after I shot, rage took hold and I just blasted away," she said. "And, in fact, afterwards my husband said, 'I've never heard you talk like that!'"

Though the Coopers may have been surprised by her sudden sailor's mouth, neither one of them was at all surprised to see that she could take quick action. Her husband, who is a WWII veteran now confined to a wheelchair, said that he believed in her all along.

Even if they need to make use of a life alert in case of medical emergencies, the Cooper's sure don't need a security system! 


"I'm not surprised at all, not one bit. I know her capabilities and what she can do if she has to," said her husband Bob Cooper in reaction to the night's events.