A Madison man went to his gun safe and retrieved a gun after he heard a burglar attempting to enter his home early Friday morning.

Joel Despain, a spokesperson with the Madison Police Department, said it happened at a home on N. Bassett Street just after 1:30 a.m. When the burglar’s upper body was inside the victim’s windows, the 28-year-old man pointed his gun at the would-be intruder and told him to leave. The victim’s partner, a 32-year-old Madison woman, said she was calling the police. The stranger took off running. Officers determined he had cut a screen in an attempt to get inside.

Despain said two young children, a 5-year-old and 6-year-old boy, were asleep inside the home. They didn’t awaken during the incident.

The suspect is described as a white man in his 20’s with an athletic/slender build. He has shoulder-length dirty blonde hair parted down the middle. He was wearing a gray zip-up hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information is being asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at (608) 266-6014.