A North Bend man shot and killed an intruder who smashed his way into a Si View residence late Friday, March 30.

According to reports by the King County Sheriff’s Office, the resident, who is 46 years old, and his girlfriend were awakened just before midnight when a man threw a propane tank through their sliding glass door. They live at the 400 block of Orchard Drive.

Reports say that while the residents hid, they could hear the intruder rummaging through their belongings. The male resident warned the intruder several times that he had a gun, but the intruder refused to leave and threatened violence.

According to reports, the residents heard the intruder yelling, “Where are you?  I’m going to kill you!”

The man at the home retrieved a handgun from his nightstand and yelled numerous times , “I have a pistol. Get out of my house!”

The couple locked themselves inside their bedroom, listening as the man kept ransacking the house, yelling that he was coming after them. When the intruder kicked down the door to the bedroom, the man fired at him. Deputies arrived to find the intruder dead on the floor just outside the room.

The shot man had already startled a neighbor prior to the fatal encounter. Just after 11:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, at a residence in the 300 block of Southeast Fifth Street, woman called 911 and said that an unknown man, was pounding on her door and windows yelling to be let in.Sheriff’s deputies arrived, but couldn’t find the man, instead hearing a loud crash and banging sound from the Orchard Drive residence.

The intruder was not known to the couple or to the woman at the home on Fifth Avenue.

By Monday, detectives had learned more about the man, age 30, who was shot. As of press time, his identity had not been released by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The man had reportedly been out drinking that night with friends and family members, and became increasingly aggressive as the night wore on. Starting at a restaurant and comedy club in Kirkland, where the man was admonished by a club employee for his aggressive behavior, the group stopped at a bar in Issaquah for more drinks before returning home.

As the group was driving home, the man became so out of control that he was asked to get out of the car. He was dropped off near Interstate 90 and Bendigo Boulevard, and started walking home. He walked into a convenience store, where a clerk reported that he was verbally aggressive with customers.

Police responded to the store, and to the home on Fifth Avenue, but were not able to find the man before the fatal encounter. The man was not armed.

King County Sheriff’s Sergeant Cindi West calls this a clear case of self defense.

“The resident showed quite a bit of restraint,” she said. He continued to yell at the suspect to leave the house and said he was armed.  The couple even locked themselves in a room to try to avoid a confrontation.  They had no way of knowing if the suspect was armed.  The resident was clearly forced to shoot to defend himself and his girfriend. “

Reports say the King County Medical Examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to find out whether the man was influenced by alcohol or drugs.