Apparent college apartment invasion. Suggestions?

[Bentonville]

Thanks again for the input. I am sure that I come across as an alarmist and for that, I am not ashamed. I can take care of problems in my immediate domain with confidence. The parental desire to take care of a son who is just beginning his independent life does prompt a helpless feeling in me. I respect the experience of the folks on this forum. I have discussed the options, as presented on this thread and other input, with the boys in the apartment as well as parents involved. I plan to install motion detected lights this weekend as well as purchase some pepper spray. I have talked to the boys about the use of a firearms and have even given some basic safety/shooting instruction to all three boys. Thank you again for the input and for empathizing with the situation.

 

[tepin]

I agree with everything boom_boom said. The only way I was able to get my wife to increase situational awareness was to bring crime issues to her attention. Prior, she was clueless. Now she is hooked on the local Facebook near-real-time crime feed so she sees all the garbage that is happening around us. Last month I purchased two more Glocks (staggered the purchases of course) just to stash them is a couple rooms we spend time in. The murder rate in the US might be on the decline but the aggravated assault (AA) rate is increasing and the AA rate is the rate in which people are trying to kill each other.
Good luck.

 

[Bentonville]

Maybe I should start a new thread but I need suggestions about the Fox Labs Pepper Spray. I went to the Fox web site as well as to Amazon. The choices seem to be 5.3 mm, or 1.5 oz, or 4 oz. in Lean Green or 5.3 million SHU or Red Sabre police and Cone or Stream or mist.
Someone with experience and/or knowledge of which is better for personal defense while walking from the parking lot to home or store and defending inside the apartment, please share.

 

[CA Raider]

with the spray - it can be quite effective. but policemen who use it will tell you that it's hard not to wind up with a bit of it in your own eyes. in a close-quarters fight, everyone gets some of it. hopefully the perpetrator gets the most. the tricky thing is that if the spray is used at the door, and the breeze is blowing into the house, a lot of it could blow back in.

another reader here asked a good question. is there something in that house that the bad guys are after. drugs or money? there's often a reason why these things occur. that is worth checking into.

a guard dog might be one of the best deterrents.

CA R

 

[Bentonville]

Honestly, I have never known such straight arrow boys. They are all active in Campus Crusades and participate in Bible studies and such. They are all senior engineering students with no less than a 3.4 gpa each. I have known them all for years so I am certain without a doubt there is nothing attracting the lower element to the apartment. They can't have a dog. I am going to install the lights this weekend. I have two other sons who would have possibly attracted that kind of element. Those two would have enjoyed beating the crap out of anyone trying to get in. This boy is somehow cut out of different cloth. Thanks again for the input. This forum is populated with good folks.

 

[CTGunner]

A few things to consider in addition to a lot of good information already provided. 1. Sometimes looking like a 'straight arrow' in and of itself attracts attention from people who see it as 'weakness' and thus smell a chance to get over. Not saying this necessarily applies here. 2. You mentioned that there are two firearms in the residence. Is anyone else aware of them and/or did anyone advertise this to someone else who may want them, or think there are more there than really are? 3. My personal feeling is that it is nearly impossible to know what friends are in to - if this were to continue I would look for a new place on my own. Best of luck sorting this out.

 

[goon]

Aside from the possibility that this could be a real threat, it's also possible that people could be getting confused and trying to enter what they think is a communal door or thinking that they are at the door of a different apartment. I lived at a building where there were six apartments and the only difference was the letter on the door. It wasn't uncommon for people to show up at my door looking for my neighbors' places. If someone was told by a friend "I live in 6B... let yourself in" they could innocently be trying to get into the wrong place.

I've also seen the thing where roommates turn out to be the exact opposite of what you thought they were. Not saying that's the case but after years in a college town and different roommates several times, that's what I've learned.

 

[tnxdshooter]

Maybe I should start a new thread but I need suggestions about the Fox Labs Pepper Spray. I went to the Fox web site as well as to Amazon. The choices seem to be 5.3 mm, or 1.5 oz, or 4 oz. in Lean Green or 5.3 million SHU or Red Sabre police and Cone or Stream or mist.
Someone with experience and/or knowledge of which is better for personal defense while walking from the parking lot to home or store and defending inside the apartment, please share.

In my line if work we use sabre red. It flat works.

 

[Potatohead]

In the brief time I lived in an apartment, their were several incidents where people would knock on the door, not realizing they were at the wrong apartment. The buildings usually all look alike ya know, and often are numbered out of order or have no numbers on the doors/buildings. You're doing the right thing trying to be proactive for the next occurence but I wouldnt wet my pants yet.

 

[Mainsail]

In the brief time I lived in an apartment, their were several incidents where people would knock on the door, not realizing they were at the wrong apartment.

Same out here. Our buildings have six townhomes in each, and only the building numbers are different. Since there are four buildings on this street, there are four #104s.

Two Decembers ago some halfwit grabbed my door handle and tried to come right in. He would have had a very interesting Christmas day if the door was unlocked. I heard him outside afterward asking his friend why their door was locked. He had the right unit number but wrong building.

 

[tepin]

Maybe they are being targeted because they are "straight arrows"

 

[Bentonville]

I have installed the motion detector lights and purchased two types of pepper spray delivery systems, one in cone mist and one in stream. I also got an inert practice canister of the mist so he can learn the best circumstances in which to use it. A person at Fox Labs wrote to me personally and suggested the mist in circumstances of spraying and fleeing. This person said if someone is trying to catch you, they would have more trouble with the mist causing problems for them whereas the stream could miss the eyes in a fast moving scenario. No one can predict so I got both and let him make the decision. I sincerely appreciate all the input and thought-provoking comments. I have learned a lot here; it's always a good thing to be proactive in thinking through situations, planning for possible events, and having means of self-defense and escape on hand.
Thank you.

 

[HoploDad]

Brinno Digital Peephole Viewer

http://www.brinno.com/html/PHV1325.html

Brinno has a few different versions of this product, including their PHV-MAC which uses a built in motion sensor to take pictures of everyone who comes to your front door.

You can easily twist this thing off and take it with you to your next house or apartment when you move.

 

[Bentonville]

Thanks for the link. I will look into that. I appreciate it.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

At one point in time in my younger years I was on the fence about guns, had nothing against them but wasn't really interested in owning one. In that time my father got me a can of bear mace that I just kept at home.

One drunken night me and my friends were goofing around and someone had an nd with the bear mace and shot me in the face with it. Since them I have been shot by a handgun and comparing the pain associated with each incident (and not based on the threat to life or long lasting consequences) I think I would much rather be shot.

If he's not interested in guns, I would say something along the lines of a tazer or pepper spray may be a good choice on top of whatever other security measures you may come up with. Just remember if you go the mace route, get something along the lines of a gel or a foam, in closed spaces your traditional spray will mess you up just as much as them.