Holly MatkinWilmington, NC – A Hanover County sheriff’s detective and mother of three shot a convicted felon who forced his way into her home last week.
The suspect, later identified as 40-year-old Bart Anthony Coniglio, had been chasing his own mother as she ran to the detective’s home for help, WECT reported.
The incident began at approximately 12:42 p.m. on Feb. 24, when Coniglio’s mother called 911 to report her son was trying to break into her home in the 4500-block of Barnards Landing Road, according to the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation (NCBI).
“He’s breaking in my door right now,” the woman told the 911 operator as she ran out her front door, WECT reported.
She sprinted to the home of her neighbor, Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Detective Leyla Davis-Woodhouse, with Coniglio following close behind, according to police.
Investigators said the detective was home with her three children at the time.
The woman was able to get to safety while Det. Davis-Woodhouse confronted the enraged suspect, WECT reported.
“He’s trying to get in her house. She’s fighting with him outside,” Coniglio’s mother told the 911 dispatcher. “She’s trying to get him out of the house…he won’t get out.”
Witnesses said they heard the detective order Coniglio to stay away, and reported she warned him that she would draw her weapon if he came any closer.
“Coniglio then forcibly entered the Davis-Woodhouse’s home where a physical altercation ensued that resulted in the off-duty deputy subsequently shooting Coniglio,” the NCBI said in a press release, according to WECT.
A bystander who heard the shots called 911, as did Det. Davis Woodhouse.
“This man has pushed his way into my house and I shot him twice,” the detective said in the 911 call, according to WECT. “They need to get here now.”
Coniglio was rushed to a local hospital in unknown condition.
Det. Davis-Woodhouse was not injured during the attack, WLOS reported.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Coniglio is a career criminal who has been charged with multiple offenses since 2002, including embezzlement, possession of controlled substances, resisting an officer, and multiple driving while intoxicated arrests, WECT reported.
He’s racked up 63 charges since 1996, six of which involve him assaulting a female, but has yet to spend a single day in prison, according to Star News Online.
He was also facing more than a dozen charges in New Hanover County at the time of the incident, to include domestic violence protective order violation, giving fictitious information to an officer, habitual assault, assault on a female, and probation violation, WECT reported.
The NCBI is handling the ongoing investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
Det. Davis-Woodhouse has been with the HCSO since August of 2014, WECT reported.
She was promoted to the rank of detective less than a month ago.
