Authorities say a 25-year-old New Zealand man flew across the world to break into the home of a 14-year-old girl he met online, but was stopped after he was shot by the 14-year-old's mother.
Sheriff James Agnew of Goochland County, VA, said Monday that Troy George Skinner had traveled thousands of miles, including changing planes three times and taking a Grayhound bus, to make it to the 14-year-old girl's Richmond, VA home.
“This was not random,” Agnew said at a news conference on Monday. “This was not spontaneous. This was something very planned.”
Before Skinner went to the home, police say he stopped off at a Walmart to purchase a pocketknife. When he was arrested, he was also carrying pepper spray, and a roll of duct tape was discovered in his backpack.
Agnew says the 14-year-old met Skinner while on a text-and-voice chat app called Discord, which is used primarily by gamers. The girl had attempted to cut off communication with Skinner, but he persisted sheriff's officials said.
“He was not invited here,” Agnew said. “He was not expected here.”
When Skinner arrived at the door, he told the 14-year-old's mother that he needed help and had been hitchhiking for the last thirty miles. But even though she refused to let him in, that didn't deter the 25-year-old. Agnew says Skinner then went to the rear basement door, and attempted to break it down using a concrete landscaping stone.
The mother says she tried warning Skinner that she was armed with a handgun, but that didn't deter him. After he found himself unable to break down the rear basement door, he returned to the deck, breaking a glass window using the stone.
When Skinner reached into the home to unlatch the bolt and open the door, the mother shot him twice using a .22-caliber handgun, striking him once in the neck.
Skinner tried running away, but wasn't able to get far after collapsing in the front yard. Sheriff deputies found Skinner lying on the ground bleeding. He was taken to a local hospital via MedFlight where Agnew says he is expected to survive.
The New Zealand resident will be charged with breaking and entering with a deadly weapon, with intent to commit a serious felony, Agnew said. The Sheriff refused to speculate on what Skinner had planned to do if he had managed to gain entry to the house.
“All I can say is the manner in which he attempted to enter that home,” he said, “in the face of a firearm pointed at him and the implements we recovered from him — the only inference is that he had very bad intent.”