Did an elderly man kill two thieves inside his home and is he now being sued by their families for $1 million in damages? No, that's not true: This story is made up, designed to get social media engagement by causing outrage. There is no real incident matching the provided details. The video is illustrated with clips drawn from a variety of unrelated events. There was a case in California in 2012 where 90-year-old Jay Leone shot Samuel Cutrufelli, a home invader trying to rob him. Cutrufelli later filed suit claiming that Jay Leone negligently shot him.
The fake story appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by @pinkpanther29184 on Dec. 12, 2025. It was captioned with these hashtags:
#news #breakingnews #court #usa #fyp
The text captioning on the video reads:
A 90-YEAR-OLD MAN KILLED TWO THIEVES INSIDE HIS HOME - NOW THEIR FAMILIES WANT ŞI MILLION IN DAMAGES
This is a screenshot of the video:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from tiktok.com/@pinkpanther29184/video/7583097011939872030.)
The video opens with a scene of two people in hoodie sweatshirts on a porch and then cuts at 5 seconds to an emotional woman testifying. The dubbed voiceover says:
If you hadn't fought back my son would still be alive. He only wanted to rob you and you killed him! You're gonna pay for that!
On Nov. 14, 2025 Lead Stories debunked (archived here) a similar video on Instagram. This one claimed a veteran was charged with murder after he killed three teens who were attempting to rob him. The video began with footage of another emotional woman testifying. That dubbed voiceover says:
My son only tried to rob you, and you took his life! That was an abuse of force -- you must pay for this!
At that time, Lead Stories noted a similar mashup video (archived here) posted by Cops Camera USA on Facebook. This one claimed an elderly man living alone killed three teens who were attempting a home invasion and now the teens' parents are suing him. That video (below right) featured the same footage as in the @pinkpanther29184 video (below left) of the emotional woman and the same voiceover quote. Lead Stories was not able to identify the source of this footage, but clearly it has been repurposed from its original context.
(Image Source: Lead Stories composite image with screenshots from tiktok.com/@pinkpanther29184/video/7583097011939872030 and facebook.com/reel/1157014392692297.)
In the Cops Camera USA video, after the clip of the emotional woman, there is a clip of a judge in black robes angrily responding to her. He shouts back:
Shut up! The one who should pay for that is you!
The audio track of the judge shouting "Shut up" is in the @pinkpanther video as well, at 14 seconds. The audio plays over footage of unrelated courtroom commotion. The original footage was posted on YouTube on Jan. 28, 2025, and the commotion was triggered by the defendant muttering, "I hope y'all happy." The scene appears at 3 minutes, 55 seconds in the 11Alive video titled, "Commotion in Gwinnett courtroom after defendant makes startling comment following sentencing".
At 23 seconds in the @pinkpanther video the AI-generated voiceover says this happened in a small town in Ohio, just as the video cuts to a clip of a police officer speaking at a press briefing in Plano, Texas -- the name of the town visible on the backdrop (below left). The video clip was taken from a July 19, 2025 press briefing posted by WFAA on YouTube (archived here) titled, "UPDATE: Plano homicide suspect killed in officer-involved shooting" (below right).
(Image Source: Lead Stories composite image with screenshots from tiktok.com/@pinkpanther29184/video/7583097011939872030 and youtube.com/watch?v=2auks0Ehbvs.)
There is a true event which matches the "home invader sues the crime victim who shot him" theme of the ragebait posts, but it does not match any of the specific details other than the age of the elderly victim. On Oct. 24, 2012 cbsnews.com reported (archived here), "Marin Homeowner Sued By Alleged Burglar Who Shot Him In Face".
The Marin Independent Journal reported Wednesday that Samuel Cutrufelli filed the suit claiming 90-year-old Jay Leone negligently shot him.
Cutrufelli is charged with two counts of attempted murder after Leone was shot in the face on Jan. 3. Police said Cutrufelli was wounded when Leone returned fire.
An April 19, 2013 cbsnews.com article (archived here) reported on the sentencing of Cutrufelli, "Man Who Shot Greenbrae 90-Year-Old Gets Life In Prison".
