A couple years ago my brother and I purchased some property at auction. The original owner died and had been leasing it to a third party which is a neighbor of ours. So the bidding was just us two parties and we went higher. Leaving the auction house the third party went nuts and threatened my dad of "trouble." Cussing, screaming, and threatening. This guy is semi-related to the family as it is in small towns. This is farm country and the guy is one of three neighbors in a five mile radius.
That night my dad calls and tells me to grab my guns and get over there because someone was shooting at the house and just drove off. Just as I throw on some cloths and get my brother rolled out we see the neighbor pulling in his yard. We drive by the house and decide to turn around and shine the lights at his house/car to make sure it was the same vehicle Dad had seen. It was the same vehicle and the guy was already standing at the end of his driveway when we got turned around. I wanted to get the hell out of there and my brother persuaded me to go up and talk to him.
Just as we were stopping we saw he had a gun behind his back. We had guns as well but he was in a better position to the rear of the window already and could have easily shot us had I tried to race away. We stopped and proceeded to have a fairly calm conversation where he threatened of "trouble" once again and admitted to being the one shooting.... The conversation ended with him racking a shell in the chamber and waiving it past our heads and firing three rounds in a nice pattern into his mailbox. "I've got guns and this isn't over" as he walked away. At the time we were both just happy to get away without a bullet.
We race home and ditch the pistols for the rifles and shotguns that you really want when it's not for show. Amazing how that 9mm just gets tossed on the bed and forgotten about when your life seems to be in danger and you have a little time to make a choice. By the time we were locked and loaded both of us had hands shaking from adrenaline and were committed to really going to battle. Before we could even leave my dad called us and said that the neighbor had shot out the yard light and that he had called him to say he would shoot him in the head. This was the last thing I needed to be convinced this was real. We jumped in and headed over to my dad's place where we would take up position. It was like a funky dream at this point. We had played out this situation 1000 times as kids running around with BB guns and .22s shooting tin cans, rabbits, birds, etc. Everyone around here can shoot and still he continued to push..
We get to the farm and take up positions. We found a 25-06 casing at the end of the driveway as we pulled in so it was obvious that if he was serious about getting someone it was possible from considerable distance. My step-mom refused to turn out the lights in the house and there are allot of windows in this big farm house.
Shortly after midnight he shows up. He pulls up to where we found the casing and he gets out is looking for it as well. He must of realized he lost one. We kind of thought at that point he was covering his ass and was going home to sleep it off. Nope. He starts shooting again in the air this time. He was sitting on the road maybe 100 yards off and I've got my crosshairs right on his window because it was too dark to see him. My heart was beating so hard I put my finger no where near the trigger because I was afraid I'd accidently fire one off. I was committed totally at this point and decided if a round hit the house or even a round fired in our direction I was putting one in his head...
He came flying in the yard with his car and 20 feet from the door honking his horn. Was trying to get dad to come outside. He had enough guns on him from several directions I almost believe he could feel it. Finally about 3 am things calmed down.
10 am the next morning, expecting an apology, the neighbor calls again. He threatens to shoot dad again. Up to this point we had not called the law. Hoping he would calm down my folks would not allow it. We called the sheriff, he came out, took evidence, and checked everything out to verify we were telling the truth. Dad told him to not pick him up yet and that we would call 911 if he showed up again. Being 20 miles from town and the Sheriffs office I thought this wasn't the greatest idea but my folks still believed he would cool down. I also believed that aside from a 1/2 mile shot he would not be able to get close enough without my brother or I getting him first.
Sunday was a long day. I cleaned my rifles a couple times and kept my spotting scope on his place watching to see if he headed towards the farm. Nothing happened until about 6 pm. Look out my window and there is pickup parked on the grass at the end of my yard. I hit the deck and crawled over to my shotgun and rifle. I glassed the pickup but the sun was behind me and couldn't see through the tinted window. I could see that there was no license plates on the thing. Called Dad and a friend to see if they recognized the pickup and no one did.
I crept out of the house and fired a warning shot with my 12 gauge in the air. I thought for sure he would fly out of there like he was on fire. Nothing. So I'm thinking he's trying to buffalo me and wasn't in the mood to play or be intimidated. I snuck around one of the building on my place and fired some 8 shot down range and hit the pickup right on the tailgate. Switched to my .308 and the pickup never moved. Now I'm sure he's out of the pickup and was using it as a distraction to get me out of the house. Got very paranoid very fast.
I creep down one end of a tree belt and glass every inch of my place. Took me a long time to belly crawl around. Nothing. Dad finally pulls in the driveway and can see no one is in there. He also notices it is one of my friend's parents vehicles. Someone picked him up and he left the damn thing there and didnt tell me. Luckily my friend has a sense of humor and it was an old truck.
The neighbor finally calls a day later and apologizes. Said he was drunk but does not sound the least bit sincere. I figured he would terrorize us by opening gates, shooting cattle, etc but everything calmed right down.
It's all real and happened to us 2.5 years ago. It probably comes across as red necks gone wild and it is. If it were up to me I'd have called the sheriff before I called for backup. In the end the guy calmed down and didn't lose his guns, no jail time, and everyone turned out ok which is what my folks wanted. To me it seems like it was rolling the dice.
What would you have done? What could I have done legally other than calling the sheriff and hiding out?
That night my dad calls and tells me to grab my guns and get over there because someone was shooting at the house and just drove off. Just as I throw on some cloths and get my brother rolled out we see the neighbor pulling in his yard. We drive by the house and decide to turn around and shine the lights at his house/car to make sure it was the same vehicle Dad had seen. It was the same vehicle and the guy was already standing at the end of his driveway when we got turned around. I wanted to get the hell out of there and my brother persuaded me to go up and talk to him.
Just as we were stopping we saw he had a gun behind his back. We had guns as well but he was in a better position to the rear of the window already and could have easily shot us had I tried to race away. We stopped and proceeded to have a fairly calm conversation where he threatened of "trouble" once again and admitted to being the one shooting.... The conversation ended with him racking a shell in the chamber and waiving it past our heads and firing three rounds in a nice pattern into his mailbox. "I've got guns and this isn't over" as he walked away. At the time we were both just happy to get away without a bullet.
We race home and ditch the pistols for the rifles and shotguns that you really want when it's not for show. Amazing how that 9mm just gets tossed on the bed and forgotten about when your life seems to be in danger and you have a little time to make a choice. By the time we were locked and loaded both of us had hands shaking from adrenaline and were committed to really going to battle. Before we could even leave my dad called us and said that the neighbor had shot out the yard light and that he had called him to say he would shoot him in the head. This was the last thing I needed to be convinced this was real. We jumped in and headed over to my dad's place where we would take up position. It was like a funky dream at this point. We had played out this situation 1000 times as kids running around with BB guns and .22s shooting tin cans, rabbits, birds, etc. Everyone around here can shoot and still he continued to push..
We get to the farm and take up positions. We found a 25-06 casing at the end of the driveway as we pulled in so it was obvious that if he was serious about getting someone it was possible from considerable distance. My step-mom refused to turn out the lights in the house and there are allot of windows in this big farm house.
Shortly after midnight he shows up. He pulls up to where we found the casing and he gets out is looking for it as well. He must of realized he lost one. We kind of thought at that point he was covering his ass and was going home to sleep it off. Nope. He starts shooting again in the air this time. He was sitting on the road maybe 100 yards off and I've got my crosshairs right on his window because it was too dark to see him. My heart was beating so hard I put my finger no where near the trigger because I was afraid I'd accidently fire one off. I was committed totally at this point and decided if a round hit the house or even a round fired in our direction I was putting one in his head...
He came flying in the yard with his car and 20 feet from the door honking his horn. Was trying to get dad to come outside. He had enough guns on him from several directions I almost believe he could feel it. Finally about 3 am things calmed down.
10 am the next morning, expecting an apology, the neighbor calls again. He threatens to shoot dad again. Up to this point we had not called the law. Hoping he would calm down my folks would not allow it. We called the sheriff, he came out, took evidence, and checked everything out to verify we were telling the truth. Dad told him to not pick him up yet and that we would call 911 if he showed up again. Being 20 miles from town and the Sheriffs office I thought this wasn't the greatest idea but my folks still believed he would cool down. I also believed that aside from a 1/2 mile shot he would not be able to get close enough without my brother or I getting him first.
Sunday was a long day. I cleaned my rifles a couple times and kept my spotting scope on his place watching to see if he headed towards the farm. Nothing happened until about 6 pm. Look out my window and there is pickup parked on the grass at the end of my yard. I hit the deck and crawled over to my shotgun and rifle. I glassed the pickup but the sun was behind me and couldn't see through the tinted window. I could see that there was no license plates on the thing. Called Dad and a friend to see if they recognized the pickup and no one did.
I crept out of the house and fired a warning shot with my 12 gauge in the air. I thought for sure he would fly out of there like he was on fire. Nothing. So I'm thinking he's trying to buffalo me and wasn't in the mood to play or be intimidated. I snuck around one of the building on my place and fired some 8 shot down range and hit the pickup right on the tailgate. Switched to my .308 and the pickup never moved. Now I'm sure he's out of the pickup and was using it as a distraction to get me out of the house. Got very paranoid very fast.
I creep down one end of a tree belt and glass every inch of my place. Took me a long time to belly crawl around. Nothing. Dad finally pulls in the driveway and can see no one is in there. He also notices it is one of my friend's parents vehicles. Someone picked him up and he left the damn thing there and didnt tell me. Luckily my friend has a sense of humor and it was an old truck.
The neighbor finally calls a day later and apologizes. Said he was drunk but does not sound the least bit sincere. I figured he would terrorize us by opening gates, shooting cattle, etc but everything calmed right down.
It's all real and happened to us 2.5 years ago. It probably comes across as red necks gone wild and it is. If it were up to me I'd have called the sheriff before I called for backup. In the end the guy calmed down and didn't lose his guns, no jail time, and everyone turned out ok which is what my folks wanted. To me it seems like it was rolling the dice.
What would you have done? What could I have done legally other than calling the sheriff and hiding out?
