Abigail Margulis

amargulis@citizen-times.com

WAYNESVILLE - A Waynesville man called 911 and told a dispatcher, "I just shot a guy who broke into my home ... I shot three times ... He's on my kitchen floor bleeding," according to audio from the phone call.

The Haywood County sheriff's office said Kenneth C. Jones, 54, of Canton, had been fatally shot Thursday at a residence on Mica Mine Road, which is off Saunook Road, in Waynesville around 12:45 a.m.

The homeowner, who placed the 911 call, told authorities he knew the man, according to the audio from the sheriff's office. The man called on a landline from a bedroom in his home because he claimed Jones "did something with (his) cellphone."

When the dispatcher answered the phone the man yelled, "Yes, ma'am, sir - home invasion."

He continued to yell and repeated "I shot, I shot my gun three times," about two to three times while the dispatcher asked the man questions about the situation.

About two minutes into the call, the 72-year-old man told the dispatcher he was hard of hearing and needed to put in his hearing aid. He also told the dispatcher he would turn on his exterior lights to his home for authorities. The call lasted about 9 minutes.

As the call continued, the man said Jones had entered his home earlier that night.

"He woke me up," the man said to a Haywood County dispatcher. "I don’t know how he got in my house but he woke me up. Then we sat and talked. I tried to get him to leave but he would not leave. Then I got up and I searched the house and he was sitting in my computer room."

The man said he told Jones to leave.

"That’s when I told him ‘You better get out of here,'" he said. "He did not leave. That's when I told him, 'I’ll call the sheriff’s office.' He did not leave. Then he started fighting me."

The man told the dispatcher he fired his gun three times and guessed he shot Jones twice but knew he hit him at least once.

"He is hit once at least. Bullet came out the center of his back," the man said on the phone.

The shooting had taken place in the kitchen and the man used a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, according to the 911 audio.

"He is bleeding all over my kitchen floor. I had to get him off of me," the man told the dispatcher.

Toward the end of the call, the man told the dispatcher Jones' name and that they were friends. His next comment was "I never shot a man before in my life."

Then the dispatcher told the man a deputy had arrived at his home.

First responders said Jones was dead when they arrived, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

The 72-year-old homeowner claimed Jones was breaking into his home at the time of the shooting, the release states. Upon further investigation, authorities determined there was no forcible entry to the home, and the two men involved in the shooting knew each other.

The sheriff's office continued its investigation throughout the day Thursday.

No charges were filed by Thursday afternoon since the incident remained under investigation, according to spokeswoman Lindsay Regner with the sheriff's office.