When three armed crooks decided to do a home invasion in a quiet neighborhood, they woke up a “gangster Asian lady.” That’s when it became a “fatal encounter” for them — and it was all caught on video.
Feng Zhu Chen was living the American dream in Gwinnett County, Georgia when it was interrupted by three armed crooks. Thankfully, the Chinese-American had become the manager at a popular Seafood restaurant in Atlanta and had firearms on hand in case of a robbery at her business or home.
According to WSB-TV, the Asian woman, who was staying in a housemate’s home for work-related reasons, heard the three intruders break into the home around 4 a.m. Seconds after they entered the home, Chen was captured on security camera footage coming out of her bedroom in pajamas with a handgun before firing several shots at the armed suspects.
What caught the eye of video viewers is Chen’s presence of mind. While shooting at the home invaders, she “calmly” called 911 at the same time. According to the Daily Mail, the suspects “met their match” when they encountered the restaurant manager, while another headline referred to her as the “Gangster Asian Lady Who Fought Off Three Armed Burglars While Calling 911.”
Restaurant employee Robert Meija was also staying at the home and first encountered the three men after one held a gun to his head and demanded money. Meija said he was just hoping the slightest noise he made would wake up Chen, who was sleeping in a different room, and wake she did. When Mejia saw she’d already emptied out the bullets in one gun, he figured he’d let her handle it, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “I was in my room and she just started firing,” Meija recalled.
“Incredible footage has been released showing the moment a Georgia woman rushed out of her bed in the middle of the night and opened fire at three armed men who broke into her house, killing one,” Daily Mail reported. “The surveillance footage, released by the Gwinnett County Police Department, shows the intruders – all of whom are carrying guns – bursting through the front door and rummaging through the house in Gwinnett.”
The video shows one of the men jumping through a glass door to get away from the stream of bullets, as drywall debris is seen flying all over the house. However, a third intruder, identified as Antonio Leeks, 28, of Atlanta, was shot and killed in the home invasion. Police found him dead from his injuries in the driveway of the home, it was reported.
The news story reached China, and Feng Zhu Chen described the incident to CCTV News. “I didn’t have any choice so I had to take out the gun I’d hid there,” she said. “Then I loaded my pistol and walked out of my bedroom. I shot at the burglars when I saw them. One of them fled quickly, and another one ran away from the front door. Then I shot again, the one inside my home also broke the glass on the back door and ran away. First I chose to call 911. I called on the phone while I took out the pistol. But my phone call couldn’t get through. So I had to open fire on them while calling 911,” Chen explained.
The brave Chinese-American also described what happened when law enforcement arrived. “Police took off the burglar’s clothes and attempted to resuscitate him for about 15 to 20 minutes, and then they told me they had failed to save him,” she said.
Luckily, the detectives investigating the crime finally caught up with one of the fleeing suspects. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a home invasion suspect caught in a Gwinnett homeowner’s gunfire was arrested. Bernard Little was hit with armed robbery and felony murder charges in the home invasion, according to jail records. Arrest warrants allege Little took a cellphone during the burglary.
Police also confirmed that Feng Zhu Chen will not face charges according to Georgia State Law. “She exercised her right to defend her livelihood and property,” Cpl. Deon Washington with the Gwinnett County Police Department told Channel 2 News. So, the small-statured woman, who became known as the “Gangster Asian Lady,” proved that when criminals come calling, if you can keep calm and have a firearm handy, you have a very good chance of surviving in the situation rather than becoming the victim.
