Father Of 9-Year Old Shot Dead In Her Home-- I Was Trying To Defend Her

The father of a nine-year-old girl who was shot dead as he grappled with home invaders has spoken out.

Alexandrea Thompson was fatally shot last Wednesday by a bullet which traveled through her father Alex and into her chest, authorities say. 

'I was trying to defend her and defend myself,' said Alex who had been struggling with three gunman who burst into their Mount Auburn house when they opened fire.

Alex Thompson was shot four times but survived.

The heartbroken father told 5 WLWT that the family has been left devastated by the death of their daughter.

'I just want them to catch my daughter's killer. I want to know who did this and why,' Thompson said. 'She's an angel, sweetest thing on earth,' her father said. 'If you met her, she left a print on you. You will always know her and remember her.'

Thompson said that the nightmare began at around 5.30pm last Wednesday when three men came to the door asking for marijuana and money.

When another one his daughters refused and tried to close the door, they barged in, he said.

Thompson was upstairs playing a video game when he heard his daughter cry out

'She was calling me and said, 'daddy,' and I'm like 'what,' and I turn to the other side and I see the guy covering her mouth with a gun to her head,' he said.

Thompson said he saw his moment, and attempted to wrestle the gun out of one of the intruder's hands, hoping that his daughter would run out of the room.

Instead, she ran behind her father, according to her aunt.

'She was behind her dad. She was probably scared,' Alexandrea's aunt told Cincinnati Enquirer. 'She ran behind him instead of running away.'

Thompson was shot in the hand, arm and abdomen, and it's believed the bullet that struck Alexandrea may have gone through her father's body first.

Police said at least three men were seen leaving the home, by witnesses who said they left in a white two-door car that was possibly a convertible.

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