Man shot, killed after Centerville homeowners report break-in

A man was shot and killed in Centerville on Thursday morning after homeowners reported someone was breaking into their house.

Joseph Gibson, 36, of Centerville was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.

At about 4:55 a.m., a woman in the 9700 block of Sheehan Road called 911 and reported a person was breaking into her home, said Centerville police Officer John Davis.

The woman in the home pleaded with dispatchers to send police.

“Please, please someone’s in our house,” she said.

A gunshot could be heard seconds later in the background. The woman later confirmed to dispatchers that her husband had grabbed his gun.

A man met police at the front door told them he just shot an intruder, according to a press release.

Officers then found a man, later identified as Gibson, lying inside the front door with a gunshot wound to his head. They also found a 40-year-old woman lying facedown in the front yard. She was unresponsive but breathing, according to police.

“We have not been able to ascertain what her involvement is at this point,” Davis said Thursday. “But she was removed by medics to the hospital for issues unrelated to the shooting.”

No other injuries were reported.

“We’re not looking for any suspects,” Davis said. “We have everyone that was involved identified and we’re just working through getting answers to a lot of the questions we have as to what led up to the shooting.”

During the 911 call, the woman told dispatchers she and her husband were in bed when their Ring doorbell camera alerted them that someone was at the door.

“My husband literally jumped out of bed and saw that somebody was trying to break into our house at our front door, like pounding on it,” the woman said.

A family of four lives at the home. Investigators received a search warrant for the house, and a vehicle was towed from the scene.

A neighbor, Kevin Schnabel, said he noticed a car with its lights on parked close to his driveway overnight.

“Might’ve been 2 or 3 a.m. and then it was still there an hour-and-a-half later,” he said. “… The second time I came down and noticed the car was still there I opened my front door so I could see if I could get a better look, but I really couldn’t see anything and I didn’t feel like going and walking up to the car.”

Schnabel said he never heard anything.

“I never heard a gunshot,” he added. “I never heard any noise from a break-in. Nothing.”

Centerville detectives, Tactical Crime Suppression Unit investigators and the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office were called to respond. The incident remains under investigation.