A Naperville school was placed on lockdown Monday morning after a burglar escaped from a home owner who fired shots at him.

69-year-old Richard Niemiec says he fired eight shots from his 9 millimeter pistol.

The would-be burglar escaped out the back door leaving behind frosty footprints but no blood.

For a few hours, the nearby Steeple Run Elementary School was on lockdown.

The military vet says he owes his life to his silky terrier named Bruiser.  The dog woke him up just before 6 a.m.

In seconds, Niemiec heard a noise, got his gun, confronted the man and started firing.

A quiet subdivision in unincorporated Naperville woke up to the commotion that followed.

Police have no one in custody.