HOLLY HILL – A security alarm went off at a Holly Hill accountant’s residence in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, rousing the sleeping homeowner who grabbed his gunshot, confronted an intruder standing in his doorway and shot the burglar in the shoulder.

L. Glenn Littlejohn, 71, of 1244 Peake St. interrupted the suspect, Roosevelt Elmore Jr., at around 4:55 a.m. as Elmore stood in the doorway of Littlejohn’s home, according to police.

Holly Hill Police Chief Robert Wunderlich said an unarmed Elmore allegedly forced his way though a doorway into the kitchen of the victim’s home.

Littlejohn, after being awakened by the alarm, “grabbed his shotgun, went out the back door and went around to the side of the house where the suspect made entrance and confronted the suspect in the doorway,” Wunderlich said.

He said Littlejohn shot Elmore in his right shoulder with a 12-gauge shotgun. The wounded Elmore fled the scene, and Littlejohn called 911, the chief said.

Moments later, Wunderlich said, a 30-year-old male resident of Gilmore Avenue called law enforcement after observing a man with a gunshot wound standing on his front porch.

Wunderlich said the suspect ran nearly 300 yards from Littlejohn’s house before arriving at the Gilmore Avenue residence. Holly Hill officers were able to follow a trail of blood in tracing Elmore’s escape route from Peake Street to Gilmore Avenue, he said.

“He (Elmore) had several pellet punctures in the upper shoulder area,” Wunderlich said.

Officers recovered one spent three-inch shotgun cartridge from the scene. Sgt. Andy Myers said an unspent cartridge could contain 15 pellets. Wunderlich said Elmore had 14 puncture wounds. However, he said some of the wounds may be the result of shotgun pellets exiting the suspect’s body.

Emergency crews responded and transported Elmore by helicopter to the Medical University of South Carolina, where he underwent surgery on his shoulder, Wunderlich said. He said Elmore’s injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening.

Elmore was charged with felony first degree burglary, Wunderlich said. If convicted, he could face from 15 years to life in prison, the police chief said.

Wunderlich said Elmore is also a “person of interest” in three previous reported burglaries at Littlejohn’s home in recent months – on Dec. 24, 2008, March 5 and April 10.

Wunderlich said Elmore’s criminal rap sheet is lengthy, including convictions for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, burglary and forgery.

The Times and Democrat attempted to contact Littlejohn; however, he was meeting with a client in Charleston at press time.

T&D Correspondent Martha Rose Brown can be reached by e-mail at marfawose@aol.com.

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