Mich. family fends off intruder with samurai sword

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- An attempted break-in to a Michigan home was thwarted by a family's determination and a well-placed samurai sword.

Reese Ward, 11, said he came face-to-face with a monster Tuesday night when a man tried to break into their Battle Creek, Mich. home. The family dog started barking when someone came to the door.

Reese grabbed a decorative samurai sword, laid it next to the door, and asked who it was.

"The man turned around and he saw that the man had a bandana over his face and had a hoodie up over his head," said Sara Ward, Reese's mother. "He realized this was a stranger."

The man tried to force his way inside but Reese slammed the door shut. Sara, who heard the dog barking, said when she ran to see what was going the man kicked the door, breaking the lock.

"Your first instinct is to fight back and protect yourself, protect your family," she said. "So I started pushing back against the door and screaming 'get out, get out.' And at that time he came over to help me. And so he and I were holding the door."

She said the man managed to get his arm through the door and pepper sprayed them both and that's when her oldest son, joined the fight.

"So I ran, grabbed the sword and ran at the guy as fast as I could with full intention of doing as much damage to him as possible," said Skyler Ward.

Sara Ward said the man ran away and the police arrived in minutes.

"We responded and the K-9 attempted a track in the area with negative results," said Battle Creek Police Lieutenant Matthew Robinson.

Sara Ward said they don't know who did this, but she isn't taking any more chances. She bought a gun.

"Don't ever think that you're safe, not for one moment this happened in my home with an aggressive dog and the doors locked," she said.