Police in Alabama are sorting through a "bizarre" incident in which a homeowner, alerted by his wife, shot an alleged intruder -- only to later learn the "intruder" was in a relationship with the homeowner's wife and had been secretly living in his house.
"I've still yet to figure out how somebody can be staying in your house and you not know it," Mobile County Sheriff's Capt. Paul Burch told TV station FOX 10 News.
"It's somewhat bizarre," he said.
The armed "intruder," Michael Amacker, was shot in the leg and elbow Sunday night at the home in Creola. But Amacker also fired at the homeowner, Frank Reeves, striking him in the chest.
Both men survived their injuries.
Online jail records show that Amacker is being held on charges of attempted murder, possession of a firearm with an altered ID and possession/receiving of a controlled substance.
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At the time of the incident, authorities say that both Amacker and the homeowner's wife, Tracy Reeves, were high on methamphetamines, reports FOX 10. A possible murder-for-hire plot is under investigation, as a potential explanation for why Tracy Reeves told her husband that Amacker was an intruder whom she did not know.
"Another thing with meth," Burch said, according to WKRG, "people that are on meth, not only do they have paranoia, they can't keep their mouth shut. So if there was some kind of diabolical plan, it is very possible Amacker has told some other people."
A neighbor who did not want to be identified told FOX 10 of the Reeves couple: "I just know that they've had some problems in the past."
She added: "Frank is a very calm person. He's very nice. He cuts his grass and does things around the house. There's nothing ever going on over there much, but he is a very good person."
"I hate that it happened to Frank, because he's just not the type of person to be a troublemaker, and I hope he's okay," she said.
Burch said it was Tracy Reeves who alerted her husband to the alleged intruder.
"He got up and armed himself," he told FOX 10. "A shootout ensued; he noticed the suspect was armed as well. They began shooting at one another."
"Mrs. Reeves called her daughter, who lived across the street, or in close proximity. Her and her husband came over and then held Amacker at gunpoint, who was trying to flee the scene, until deputies arrived.
"As we began digging further into the investigation, it was determined that Amacker actually had a relationship with Mrs. Reeves for some period of time," said Burch. "That relationship involved methamphetamine, as well as a relationship. He had actually been staying in one of the rooms within the house for a period of time. She was supplying him with food."
Bottles of urine found in the room where Amacker was staying "indicated he had been in there for a little while," Burch told WKRG.
"It was just a very odd scene," he said, according to FOX 10.
"He was basically staying at the house in a bedroom without the knowledge of Mr. Reeves," he told the station. "It's unclear exactly how long he'd been there, but he was there at least overnight for some period of time."
An attorney for Amacker was not identified in online Mobile County jail records, which did not indicate whether he'd yet entered a plea to the charges against him. No bond was listed.
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