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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When two or three people wearing ski masks attempted to break into a car at the top of a steep driveway in the foothills Sunday morning, police say a man who lives in the house confronted them. He shot one man multiple times, police say.

Officer Simon Drobik, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said the resident told police that, when he caught the suspects breaking into his car, they pointed a gun at him.

“The homeowner told detectives, ‘I was looking down the barrel of a gun,’ ” Drobik said. ” ‘I was scared. I thought I was going to die.’ ”

By the time police responded to the house on the 13000 block of Sunset Canyon NE, the suspected burglars had fled. Fifteen minutes later, they took the man who was shot to the hospital, then fled. The man, who is in his early 20s, is in stable condition, Drobik said, but he hasn’t told officers his name.

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“The individual at the hospital is not cooperating at all,” he said. “His friends took off after dumping him in front of UNMH.”

Drobik said detectives hope to interview the man after he comes out of surgery.

Police believe the resident acted in self-defense and have not arrested him. Drobik said the District Attorney’s Office could decide to charge him later. They are not identifying him because he is a victim and hasn’t been charged with a crime.

“We never advocate for you to take the law into your own hands,” he said. “In this case, the homeowner felt threatened enough that he took action upon himself to protect himself and his family.”

Jennifer Lewis lives near where the shooting took place. She said she and her husband were sitting at the breakfast table about 9:30 a.m. when they heard several gunshots. When they looked outside, they saw one man lying on the ground and another running.

Lewis said it took several minutes from the time she heard gunshots until the men were able to “get themselves together enough to get away.”

Her husband called 911.

She said it looked as though the suspects were going to leave without their injured cohort.

“Their car was starting to take off, and (the suspect) limped over,” Lewis said. “They started to pull away, but then they stopped so he could jump in and sped away.”

The neighborhood of large houses at the base of the Sandia Mountains is usually very quiet and peaceful, Lewis said.

“It’s weird all of a sudden this happening Sunday morning in broad daylight,” Lewis said.