ARLINGTON, Texas -- A woman found evidence on her porch that someone might have broken into her house when she let her dogs out for a walk early Wednesday morning. The woman's granddaughter also said she heard noises from inside the house.

Susan Gaylord Buxton, 66, retrieved her .38 caliber handgun and searched her house. She found a man hiding in a closet, covered by a coat.

The man, 22-year-old Christopher Lessner, lunged for the gun, and, police said, Buxton shot him once in the leg. She fired a second shot, which missed, according to police.

"She had let her dogs out to go to the bathroom and noticed there were muddy footprints leading into her house," said Doug Depoma, with the Arlington Police Department. The woman "searched her house and located him inside a closet near the front door."

Buxton, who has a license for the weapon, said she feared for her safety and that of her 28-year-old granddaughter.

"He was 6 feet tall," she said. "He could have done something horrible my granddaughter and me. That's exactly the reason you need to learn how to handle (a firearm) and keep it with you."

Arlington police attempted to pull over Lessner near Interstate 30 and Fielder Road in briefly after 11 p.m. Tuesday. Lessner drove the car to a dead-end road and fled into a nearby neighborhood.

Police began canvassing the neighborhood near the 1700 block of Northhaven Court on foot as well as by air.

At about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a 911 call of a shooting at a residence. The homeowner told police she found someone hiding in her house and shot him in the leg.

Lessner ran from the woman's house and was found at about 3 a.m. a few houses away hiding underneath a patio deck, police said.

He was arrested and transported to an area hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound.

Buxton was not injured in the incident.

Arlington police said Lessner is expected to be charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. Buxton was not expected to face charges.