Resident wounds, kills home invaders. Jan. 4--A Southwest Side man shot two men Tuesday night, killing one and wounding another, after a group of men burst into his home and broke down the door to the bedroom where he had been sleeping. The armed invasion is the third time in a week armed men have broken into Southwest Side homes threatening the occupants. In the latest incident, the occupants of the home -- three adults and one child -- were not injured, but concern about possible retaliation from the armed robbers or their friends has the family thinking about moving. Philip M. Mendoza, 22, shot the intruders with a shotgun after they had rushed into the house, forced his family to the floor and attempted to break into the bedroom, said Sgt. James Ogden, a spokesman for the Pima County Sheriff's Department. The day after the shooting, Mendoza said he didn't know why the invaders chose his family's house, but that his mother no longer feels safe there. ''I'm pretty sure we're going to get out of here,'' Mendoza said. ''My mom is scared. My mom is terrified.'' He said people had already driven by his house saying they'd known the men who'd been shot at the home. Anthony Ralph Amavisca, 32, of the 700 block of North San Rafael Avenue, died at the scene and Carlos Jesus Alcaraz, 31, was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Many invasions unreported Tucson police are investigating a possible link between two earlier home invasions -- one that occurred Tuesday morning and one Dec. 27 -- that happened near South Midvale Park and West Drexel roads. Sheriff's Department investigators have not yet determined whether the latest home invasion has anything to do with the previous two. The fatal shooting happened about five miles from the previous two incidents. ''It doesn't look like it is connected, but it's still in the early stages of the investigation,'' Ogden said. Tucson police will work with the Sheriff's Department to see if the crimes are linked, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a police spokesman. He said there hasn't necessarily been a rising trend of home invasions and sometimes the crimes are never reported to police.







By Dale Quinn