Man flies from new Zealand to meet teen; gets shot

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A New Zealand man who was shot while breaking into a woman’s Goochland County home had met her 14-year-old daughter online and suddenly arrived uninvited after methodically planning his trip to the U.S., Goochland’s sheriff said Monday.

The man, Troy George Skinner, 25, was found with duct tape, pepper spray and a camouflage folding clip knife with a 2.75-inch blade, Sheriff James Agnew said during a news briefing at the sheriff’s office. The duct tape and the blade had been purchased from a Walmart on Friday, the day of the attack.

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Agnew said investigators believe Skinner first made contact with the 14-year-old Goochland girl three to four months earlier through Discord, a voice-over-internet application that allows video gamers to communicate via their personal computer or smartphone.

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They thought that was the end of it until they saw him at the back basement door, which is situated under the deck,” Agnew said. After spotting the family inside, Skinner told the mother through the door, “I need some help; I’ve hitchhiked here 30 miles.”

“He got a brick and attempted to break that door down,” the sheriff said. “This 6-foot-1-inch, 275-pound man attempted to violently get inside her house.”

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Skinner then reappeared on the back deck and again tried to get inside by throwing a landscaping brick through a glass door. The mother warned Skinner several times that she had a gun. After he broke the glass, reached inside and attempted to unlatch the door, she fired twice. One round struck him in the neck, the sheriff said.

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