Homeowner shoots suspected burglar

A Corbin man who was shot Friday morning by a homeowner who reported finding him inside his residence made his first appearance before a judge Monday.

Forty-year-old Otis Kemp pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree burglary, theft by unlawful taking of the value of $500 or more but less than $10,000, first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree fleeing or evading police – on foot, and third-degree terroristic threatening at a video arraignment before Laurel District Court Judge John Chappell.

Kemp is scheduled to return to court July 5 for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to present the case to a Laurel County grand jury.

Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence on Hopewell Road off of Ky. 1223 in north Corbin about 9:55 a.m. after the homeowner reported that he had cause to believe a male subject was inside his home and that the intruder was still inside.

“Deputies received other information that the homeowner had apparently shot the intruder with a shotgun and that the intruder had fled into the woods,” stated Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer.

Acciardo said there had allegedly been some type of scuffle between Kemp and the homeowner and that Kemp had two loaded weapons in his possession that had been stolen from the home when the homeowner fired the blast from the 12-gauge shotgun.

“The shotgun was loaded with birdshot,” Acciardo said adding Kemp was wounded in the chest and face.

When deputies arrived, Kemp had fled the scene. However Sgt. Brett Reeves and Deputy Brandon Broughton located Kemp within a few hundred yards of the scene after a neighborhood dog alerted to the presence of someone in the woods.

Kemp was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center and was released Friday. Upon his release, Kemp was lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Facility where he is being held on a $50,000 cash bond.

Investigators determined that the burglar had kicked in the back door of the residence to gain entry.

Acciardo said no charges will be filed against the homeowner, even though he was outside the residence when he fired the shot, as Kemp was reportedly armed at the time.

The homeowner was not injured.