Crime & Safety

Man Who Attacked Duluth Woman in Home Identified

Gwinnett Police have now identified her assailant. She struggled with knife-wielding attacker, managed to retrieve her pistol and shot him. He died from gunshot wounds at the hospital.

Gwinnett Police have identified the armed intruder who was killed by a Duluth homeowner Wednesday morning.

Israel Perez Puentes, 34, of Alpharetta, was identified by Gwinnett Police as the intruder who was shot and killed by a Duluth woman in an apparent attempted sexual assault.

Police said the incident occurred at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday (May 11) when the attacker entered the home located at 2488 E. Mount Tabor Circle in unincorporated Duluth, while the resident, a 53-year-old woman, was coming out of the shower.

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"She was exiting the shower when the man wielding a [kitchen] knife entered her bathroom," said Gwinnett Police spokesman Cpl. Edwin Ritter.

The woman tried to fight off the man with the shower rod after she had fallen into the bathtub, after which time the man forced her into the bedroom. He apparently was going to sexually assault her, Ritter said.

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During the struggle the unidentified woman told her attacker, "Please don't hurt me, I've got money," according to Ritter.

The woman was able to retrieve her .22-caliber pistol and then shot the man multiple times, according to police. The man left the house through the backdoor and collapsed in the backyard.

He was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville where he later died from his injuries.

The woman was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center in Duluth and was treated for minor injuries, according to Ritter.

"It was apparently a justified use of deadly force. No charges are likely to be filed against the woman," said Ritter.

Ritter said there is no indication that the two knew each other.


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