Three would-be robbers got more than they bargained for on Saturday evening off Liberty Church Road north of Mocksville.

The owner of the partially furnished unoccupied house was driving by just after 5 p.m. He noticed an unfamiliar vehicle in the driveway, and lights were on inside.

He stopped to investigate.

The Davie Sheriff’s Department reported that a suspect left the house, and the homeowner, standing beside his truck, yelled at the man that he would shoot. That suspect put his hands in the air and said “don’t shoot” and got into a vehicle that had been backed into a carport.

A second man came out of the house with a handgun held above his head, and the homeowner retreated into his truck, reported Sheriff’s Officer Vicki Fields. A third suspect then came out of the house, and all three are in what was described as a white SUV, possibly a Dodge Durango.

The homeowner backs his truck onto Liberty Church Road, and the SUV is driven partially off the road, screeching tires, and shots are fired at the homeowner. The homeowner takes his own rifle and fires two shots at the suspects, Fields reported. He told officers he thought he struck the right front of the SUV with his gunshots.

The suspects in the SUV fired several more shots as the vehicle sped off headed toward Mocksville.

The victim’s description of the suspects was basically three black males in a white SUV.

Sheriff’s Chief J.D. Hartman said investigators aren’t sure if the suspects had broken into any other homes. There was one break-in earlier that same day on the other side of the county that involved a white SUV, he said.

Hartman advises residents to be vigilant, and report suspicious activity. Break-ins often spike at this time of the year, and people are just “crazy,” he said.