A gun used by a woman defending herself and her children

[DagoRed]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/woman-hiding-kids-shoots-intruder/nTm7s/

Updated: 10:08 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, 2013 | Posted: 3:25 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, 2013
Woman hiding with kids shoots intruder
Kerry Kavanaugh, WSB-TV
Police investigate a home invasion in Walton County

Deputies arrested 32-year-old Atlanta resident Paul Slater in connection with the break-in. He was most recently released from jail in August.
View Larger

Deputies found this SUV in a wooded area at the end of the subdivision.
View Larger

The victim's husband,Donnie Herman, said he's proud of his wife. He was on the phone with her as the intruder broke in.

LOGANVILLE, Ga. — A woman hiding in her attic with children shot an intruder multiple times before fleeing to safety Friday.

The incident happened at a home on Henderson Ridge Lane in Loganville around 1 p.m. The woman was working in an upstairs office when she spotted a strange man outside a window, according to Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman. He said she took her 9-year-old twins to a crawlspace before the man broke in using a crowbar.

But the man eventually found the family.

"The perpetrator opens that door. Of course, at that time he's staring at her, her two children and a .38 revolver," Chapman told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh.

The woman then shot him five times, but he survived, Chapman said. He said the woman ran out of bullets but threatened to shoot the intruder if he moved.

"She's standing over him, and she realizes she's fired all six rounds. And the guy's telling her to quit shooting," Chapman said.

The woman ran to a neighbor's home with her children. The intruder attempted to flee in his car but crashed into a wooded area and collapsed in a nearby driveway, Chapman said.

Deputies arrested 32-year-old Atlanta resident Paul Slater in connection with the crime. Chapman said they found him on the ground saying, "Help me. I'm close to dying." Slater was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center for treatment. Chapman said Slater was shot in the face and neck.

In February, Slater was arrested on simple battery charges, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. He has been arrested six other times in the county since 2008.

Kavanaugh was the first reporter at the scene as deputies investigated. The victim's husband told Kavanaugh he's proud of his wife. He was on the phone with her as the intruder broke in.

"My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do as responsible, prepared gun owner," Donnie Herman said.

He said he's thankful for his family's safety.

"Her life is saved, and her kids' life is saved, and that's all I'd like to say," Herman said.
Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri learned from Chapman late Friday night that slater has been placed on a ventilator and suffers from punctured lungs, a punctured liver and a punctured stomach.

He said if Slater survives the night, doctors will try to operate in the morning to repair the damage.

Chapman said Slater has four exit wounds.

Slater is currently being charged with burglary.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Good for her! Glad to see at least one news channel out there will put out a POSITIVE story on firearms.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Glad it worked out for her and her kids. BTW, this is a prime example of why we need hi capacity firearms.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Seems she managed to stop the threat reasonably well with what she had... a speedloader on hand would have probably been a comfort to her though.

A far better outcome than that in another story on the same page...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/police-hiding-woman-shot-during-fairburn-burglary/nTmk3/

Posted: 6:06 a.m. Friday, Jan. 4, 2013
Woman OK after being shot several times by home invaders

By Tom Jones
FAIRBURN, Ga. — A relative of the woman who was shot several times after she ran and hid from home invaders said she is doing OK.

But Otis Burden is hurting and angry over how the burglars were heartless to shoot a defenseless woman.

"It just tears me up that they did this to her," Burden said.

Burden said he is hurt over what he calls the senseless, heartless actions of home invaders who shot his niece multiple times after she ran and hid from them.
///snip

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

BTW, this is a prime example of why we need hi capacity firearms.

Absolutely true. It's nice to know that I could fire just as many rounds as her and still have two thirds of my ammunition ready to go, no reloading required.

Never overestimate your own accuracy or the effect pistol rounds will have on a bad guy, especially under stress. She's very lucky most of her rounds hit the intruder at all. Her hits were above average and it still didn't actually stop him. Another 12 rounds in a magazine would have been a real comfort.

 

[cane]

Why was she on the phone to her husband instead of calling 911?

 

[TrickyDick]

The woman then shot him five times, but he survived

And they say we don't need more than 10 rounds.... imagine if there had been at least 2 perps..

 

[Blackstone]

Glad it worked out for her and her kids. BTW, this is a prime example of why we need hi capacity firearms.

You mean standard capacity magazines

 

[kgpcr]

I wish it would have been a .357 mag! I aplaud her actions!

 

[WardenWolf]

She did good, almost perfect. However, another take on the story leaves me with something to add:

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/mother-of-two-surprises-burglar-with-five-gunshots/nTnGR/

The Loganville mother of two assumed the knocks on her front door Friday afternoon were from a solicitor.

“Don’t answer,” she yelled to her 9-year-old twins playing downstairs.

When the visitor began repeatedly ringing the doorbell, she called her husband at work.

“Get the kids and hide,” he told his wife.

This is why you should always answer the door. It may be a potential burglar checking to see if anyone is home before breaking in. This guy clearly probed the house before entering and didn't think anyone was home. Had the mother simply asked "Who is it?", he would have probably found another target.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Um, yes - I meant to say standard capacity magazines. <twenty lashes!>

 

[OH_Spartan]

The accounts don't give specifics beyond a six round 38 so we don't know if it was a+p hollow points, etc. however, five shots to the face at point blank range and he lives. This gives me pause to trust this caliber. How can anyone survive 5 shots to the head with a 38?

 

[9mmepiphany]

Within reason, shot placement is always more important than caliber...the story doesn't go into where on the head and neck the suspect was hit

 

[Firefightermdc]

Within reason, shot placement is always more important than caliber...the story doesn't go into where on the head and neck the suspect was hit

Agreed on first statement. However, look at the anatomy of the head and neck. Highly vascular and subject to massive bleeding from trauma. Carotid artery bleed or jugular vein should bleed out in 2 min or less (almost 5l of blood) if itbhits there. Head? Idk if a human skull would do much to a bullet traveling over 800fps. Its all possible but with a bigger bullet, you will produce a bigger hole given you strike in the same place, which lends itself to stopping the threat faster.
This going back to first statement. 5 holes w a .38 are better than none with a .45. Ill stick to bigger calibers and prepare with more training

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dirtengineer]

She hit 5/6! Way better than the average cop...

 

[tuj]

I saw this story and the only thing I could think is 'man, I'm glad I have 15 rounds of 9mm +p'. She did great, but it really makes one consider if one chooses to use a revolver, one should perhaps practice speedloading and keep a loader ready and on hand.

 

[beeb173]

i don't think this is an indictment of the .38 special. on the contrary, she was able to put the bullets where she needed and more importantly stopped the threat. limited ammo capacity is another argument though. she's lucky it was just one guy.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by dirtengineer: She hit 5/6! Way better than the average cop...

Dirt, almost every policeman I know can shoot better than I can--at the range and in training. They train, they practice, they compete, and they take very seriously both the importance of making effective hits and that of not hitting bystanders.

In a real use of force encounter? I don't know. I've never had to shoot in one.

Posted by beeb173: she's lucky it was just one guy.

My thoughts exactly. Our news reports are replete with accounts of bank robberies that apparently involve a single suspect, but burglaries and home invasions almost always seem to involve two or more.

 

[Isaac-1]

Has anyone heard if this guy survived, last update I saw said they would operate in the morning if he made it through the night?

 

[Buford57]

The story does mention hits to the head and neck, but also punctured lungs, stomach and liver and 4 exit wounds. It appears she shot him in the torso as well, unless the head shots migrated extremely.

A poll of those critiquing her marksmanship, choice of firearm or ammunition: will all those who have survived such an encounter somewhere other than a video game please raise your hand? Those who have done an after-action on such a shooting? Anyone? Beuller?

 

[9mmepiphany]

It would make sense that she was shooting at him at a downward angle, as they had hidden in the attic

 

[OH_Spartan]

Buford, I was not indicting her. I know lots of people that trust a 38 with their life. This story made me second guess doing so myself. I have never been in a life or death situation and pray I never will. However, if I am I know training will feed instinct. It is better to discuss here than regret later. It is better to glean lessons learned from stories with happy endings than suffer a bad ending yourself.

After reading this story, I am questioning whether to equip myself or my wife with a 38. Or just make sure we have the right ammo. Or practice shot placement from weird body positions and angles.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Well if ensconced in an attic I feel a 12 gauge is the answer.

She emptied her gun at one man. If he had a FRIEND with him it might have turned out different.

But with a 12 shottie, one shot with a decent (not perfect) hit would have disabled him and left her with plenty of ammo. That or she had a, hahaha, 'assault pistol' is those idiots in D.C. keep saying.

My wife was a ER1 nurse as well as CVOR nurse and she has always said that people shot with .22s, 25s, and .32s many times walked in. And the caliber went up so did less and less of them walk in. Those hit with a 12 gauge virtually always had to be carried in!

Yes shot placement is key, and a good well designed bullet helps. But a well aimed 12 gauge does the trick quite reliably.

Deaf

 

[Fred Fuller]

9-1-1 tape, with husband on the phone to dispatch:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/georgia-home-invasion-911-call-shes-shooting-18165611

Most recent report is that the suspect is still alive and on a vent...

 

[Sergei Mosin]

From the description of the invader's injuries, the lady's shot placement was as good as one could hope for - five hits out of six rounds fired, all of them head or torso hits. That there was adequate penetration is evident. I don't think there's any reason to indict the .38 Special as insufficient based on the result of this shooting.

There is an element of chance in any shooting. (The classic example is the unfortunate Trooper Coates, killed by a single .22 when his opponent survived four .357s to the torso.) It just happened that none of the lady's rounds struck the heart or central nervous system of the invader to cause an immediate and permanent stop. They didn't miss by much, and they could just as easily have all struck one of those organs - but that would have been random chance, too. Nobody has that kind of combat accuracy.