MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Cordova man fired a single shot at someone he said was trying to break into his home during the early morning hours on Saturday.

UPDATE: Shelby County Sheriff announced via Twitter the identity of the victim, 25-year-old Joshua Prescott.

The alleged would-be burglar was shot dead. The man who fired the round told us he wasn’t alone inside the home as his 13-year-old son was there as well.

The man added he was simply a dad, defending his child.

“[The] assailant trying to break in, through my bedroom window. And as I as coming around from the kitchen in the room – I seen him,” the man told us, but did not want to be identified.

Around 3:30 in the morning, while inside his home at the Camden Grove Apartments just off North Houston Levee Road in Cordova, he had an unexpected visitor.

“He was trying to take the screen off, to open the actual window,” the man told us.  

Without a second thought, he fired his weapon. “I feared for my life, I have a family to protect,” the man said.

That fear led the Cordova father to fire a single round when the would-be burglar tried to get inside. He said it was for the sole purpose of protecting his teenage son, who was also inside.

“After I called 911 I stayed in the house. So, I don’t know what it was like out here,” the man told us.

Neighbors tell us the police presence is a shock, but not a surprise given recent events.

After detectives wrapped up their investigation, things returned to normal. Neighbors were still out walking their dogs.

However, an air of uneasiness seems to be blowing through the area.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office confirming this is a death investigation, but detectives have not released the name of the person who died.

WREG will update as more information becomes available.