A suspected burglar gets more than he bargains for after a Hopkins homeowner decides to defend his turf with force. It happened just after 10:00 Thursday morning on Air Base Road. One suspect is in the hospital with a gunshot wound and deputies say there could be another on the run. If there is one man says he'll be ready.

The homeowner says he feared for his life Thursday morning when he looked out his window and saw a man wearing gloves, climbing his fence.

"I thought they might come in here and kill me."

So he grabbed his gun, went outside and started shooting. Before he even pulled the trigger, the homeowner says the suspected crook was heading back to his car yelling, "go, go, go."

"The victim fired several shots. He hit the suspect one time in the upper body," says Lieutenant Chris Cowan.

Cowan says the victim told deputies there was a second suspect.

Helicopters, K-9 units and deputies searched the Hopkins area Thursday afternoon trying to see if a criminal was on the run. Investigators didn't find anything and say that means there wasn't a second suspect or he was long gone.

A scenario neighbors find alarming. They say, "It's scary but you learn to live with it."

"You got to defend yourself because there's bad people out there," says the victim.

At this point the shooter doesn't face any charges pending an investigation.

Deputies say the suspect is at Palmetto Health Richland in critical condition. They are still looking into the possibility that another person is on the run. WACH FOX News will continue to follow this story and keep you updated.

In the meantime, if you have have any information about this case call crimestoppers at 1-888- CRIME -SC.