TAMPA, Fla. — A Carrollwood father and husband says he's lucky to be alive after a man tried to break into his Rosemount Drive house over the weekend.
Eric Jaramillo had just gotten home from an appointment around three in the afternoon. He said he checked his mail and then while he was walking to his front door he spotted a man walking up the road. Hillsborough County deputies say that man was 22-year-old Derrick Walker.
Jaramillo said Walker ran up to him as he was walking into his house and Jaramillo slammed the door shut.
"He body checked the door, and tried to open the door," he said. "That's when I stuck my left foot out as a block."
He was able to lock the bottom lock. But, while trying to get the deadbolt locked, he said Walker started shooting. The bullet almost hit Jaramillo's shoulder. He got down and pressed his body up against the door.
He said his wife ran in, "and I started yelling at her don't come near me. I don't know where he's at."
Their 11-year-old daughter was in the bedroom.
"I had no time for emotions," Jaramillo said. "I had no time for feelings. I had to protect my family, my wife and daughter."
JUST FINISHED interviewing Eric jaramillo. He showed us how he protected his family when a man tried to break into his Carrollwood home Saturday, and nearly shot him!@abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/4OD0dy3x68
— JJ Burton TV (@JJBurtonTV) March 25, 2019
Deputies say Walker left and tried to break into another house down the road. They arrested him while they were on the phone with Jaramillo.
Investigators say Walker could be connected to several other crimes in the Carrollwood area, including a robbery that ended with an elderly woman getting shot in the leg Saturday morning.
Jaramillo said his family has not been able to get a full night sleep since the attempt home invasion.
"My life would have changed forever if that bullet had hit me."
He has just one question for the suspect, "what were you thinking?"
