Man Shot 8 Times While Checking on Neighbor's Home

Patrick Smith died on Thanksgiving
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 26, 2018 1:29 PM CST
Man Shot 8 Times While Checking on Neighbor's Home
The Smiths are shown in an image from GoFundMe.   (GoFundMe)

A California man who was shot eight times while checking on his neighbor's home took a turn for the worse and died on Thanksgiving. Patrick Smith and his wife were outside their house after a burglary took place nearby on Nov. 14. As police responded, one of the fleeing suspects ran through the Smiths' backyard. A neighbor, concerned at the noises she heard, called the Smiths and asked if Patrick could check her home. As he was doing so, one of the burglary suspects confronted him in the backyard and shot him, per a police report and wife Elizabeth Smith's account on GoFundMe.

Smith was initially "making a miraculous recovery," his wife writes on GoFundMe, where a crowdfunding campaign was initially set up to help with medical expenses. But on Thanksgiving things took an abrupt turn and he ultimately lost consciousness and could not be revived. "We thought he was pulling through, he looked so good for those 8 days. Now, we feel he was hanging on long enough to see all of his friends and family," Elizabeth Smith writes. Police arrested four suspects the day of the burglary, but they are still searching for 18-year-old Leslie Hawkins, who they say shot Smith and then fled the scene. Smith, 41, leaves behind a 5-year-old son, KTLA reports. (Good Samaritan exits car, is immediately killed.)

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