MIDFIELD, Alabama - A man was shot to death Monday night when he broke into a Midfield home, authorities said today.

The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Authorities said police were dispatched to a home in the 900 block of 12th Street on a report of a homeowner who had shot an intruder.

Midfield police Sgt. Jesse Bell said an elderly man was asleep in his bed when he heard a noise and went to investigate. He found an intruder in his home and opened fire with a shotgun. The intruder was pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities have not yet released his name, but said he is believed to be a 34-year-old Midfield man. "Right now our investigation shows they didn't know each other,'' Bell said.

It is the city's third homicide in 2013. The city's first homicide, back on May 9, also involved a homeowner who fatally shot a man during a theft at his home.

In that case, Gregory Scott Dockins, 42, was shot on Midfield's Swann Drive at 2:30 a.m. The homeowner told authorities he found Dockins stealing fishing poles out of his boat. He told him not to move, but Dockins made a swift movement and the homeowner fired a shot. The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justifiable and no charges were filed.

The city's second homicide was announced earlier this week when authorities said the deaths of a couple found in their burning home in August were a murder-suicide. The bodies of William Jason Flowers, 36, and his wife, 32-year-old Jennifer Flowers, were found in a locked bedroom on Aug. 10. Authorities said William Flowers killed his wife, and then himself. They were not able to determine how Jennifer Flowers was killed.