JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- William West was asleep in his bed when he got an unusual call from his neighbor at 4:30 in the morning.

"I called him back, and he was like, 'Somebody in your house right now. How asleep is you? They in your house right now," West's neighbor said.

That's when West said he got up and armed himself with a 12-gauge shotgun, taking matters into his own hands.

"I didn't really have time to think, you know what I'm saying," West said. "Didn't have time to think to be scared or not. I just know I had to try to protect myself. That's it."

West said he shot the intruder who was later identified as 25-year-old Gerald Wright.

According to the arrest report, Wright came in through West's window armed with a silver handgun and was standing in his living room.

"I couldn't really see because I wear glasses, so I just shot because I had buck shots, and I know they would spread," West said.

According to the report, Wright was able to climb back out and run a couple blocks away, where he was found lying on the ground near the dorms at Edward Waters College.

Five days later, you can still see a trail of blood from the suspect leading from the window down the stairwell.

"I was trying to protect myself," West said. "That's all."

This marks the third incident in the last couple of weeks where victims are no longer waiting for police and instead utilizing Florida's stand-your-ground law.

The law gives victims the right to use deadly force in self-defense situations.

"I don't think it should have to come down to this," West said. "I really don't."