I Survived A Home Invasion

[brighamr]

OP - thank you for sharing your experience. It's rare people have an experience such as yours and share it with details (aka girl scream, fear, panic, etc). Including all of these feelings, thoughts, etc lets people know how these situations can really go down.

I haven't had a home invasion, but I've had some other not-so-fun experiences. It takes a real man to be able to look back and see what you could have done better, and what little things (fleeing when unarmed) actually helped the situation.

Thanks again.

 

[btg3]

Great reminder about having a 2nd weapon in the house.

I understood from the OP that the extra weapon was carried in his GF's purse. Having a 2nd weapon in the house, is not always a good idea if it can be found and used against you.

 

[rainbowbob]

Cops said I should have fired through the door.

Is it just me, or was this terrible advice, especially coming from LEOs?

Firing through your front door at someone unseen would be a bad idea - and most likely criminal. Firing through your bedroom door at someone you have seen and know to be an intruder would be OK.

I don't know if it would occur to me to shoot out of a window...but if it caused a neighbor to call 911 with a "shots fired" report - that's a good thing.

The fact that you could take an armed position in the bedroom - and that the perps would have to enter through that narrow "kill-zone" was also a good thing. Sounds like staying behind that closed door and letting them know you are armed is the best tactic of all.

 

[BearArms]

to captmac- good eye, yes it's was actually the older one blued p230, my first gun...looked like a big walther to my uneducated eye...my dad took me to the birmingham gun show previous to all this (mainly due to the escalating violent crime in the early nineties)...he bought us both our first handguns..funny enough, I thought I picked up a 9 mm (that pesky Kurtz right after it meant nothing to a dumb 21 year old)...i loved that little sig .380 so much I saved all summer for a big-boy gun, the beloved sig p229 in .40..the gun shop owner said, "you're screwed now, those sigs will spoil you"...

Dad bought a glock 19, still going strong to this day..

thanks for all the well-wishes...now that I'm older, married, have a one year old daughter, and own my own home on a fixed mortgage , heaven help anybody who makes it past the front door unwelcome...

 

[.455_Hunter]

thanks for all the well-wishes...now that I'm older, married, have a one year old daughter, and own my own home on a fixed mortgage

Just curious:

Is your wife the same woman as the gf in the story?

How did this event effect your relationship with the gf?

I have read that significant emotional events like what happened to you can either bring people closer (lifelong marriage) or break them up (life becomes defined by that one event).

 

[ibm_db2]

"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away..."

That's good one .455_Hunter.

BearArms, Glad it worked out.

 

[Thernlund]

And then the most incredible feeling of “calm” (I don’t know how else to describe it) came over me when I realized there was another handgun in the room

Once I realized I had a manner to defend myself, a calm, businesslike instinct took over, I was not all shaky until afterwards

This is exactly what people mean when they say a gun gives them a feeling of power. Anti's would spin such a statement to sound like someone had a god complex. But it isn't. It isn't a feeling of power over others lives, but rather a power over your own life. When you ran into the room, naked, scared, and panicked, you had a feeling of helplessness and lost control of your senses. I doubt there's a person walking who wouldn't feel the same. But then you realized that you had a tool by which you could now take control of your own destiny.

This should be a lesson to all of us, and "them" too.


-T.

 

[.455_Hunter]

"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away..."

That's good one .455_Hunter.

Sorry. I can't take credit for that one.

The phrase is very popular with the RKBA community!

 

[BearArms]

to .455 Hunter- the gf did not become my wife. She was quite traumatized for several months. Carried that .380 with her everywhere, including the bathroom. I wish I could say all was well with her but she eventually became addicted to drugs/ alcohol and we parted ways. Very sad, she was very close to graduating from Georgia Tech with a polymer chemistry degree. She did go from ambiguous about firearms to being quite supportive directly afterwards. Never thought about correlating her addiction to traumatic events, seemed to be mostly genetic to me (but I'm an emotionally distant dumb male).

 

[.455_Hunter]

Sorry to hear that BearArms. I hope she can recover her life.

I glad that you are doing OK. I too enjoy my fixed mortgage and my 2 yr old boy.

I was 26 when my fiancee and I thought we had somebody in our house. Very scary!

That old colt Police Positive sure was comforting. We still use it as our bedroom gun to this day.

 

[rainbowbob]

When you ran into the room, naked, scared, and panicked, you had a feeling of helplessness and lost control of your senses.

Such a reaction could - and probably would - happen to just about anyone. The subsequent "calm" reaction when you found a gun in your hand is very telling.

As a contrast to this event, a friend of mine and his significant other were in a motel room - naked - when they were invaded by two creepoid zombies. They were held at gun-point and robbed. Fortunately they did not rape the girl - but my friend had some pretty indelicate reactions to the event and apparently had a hard time "manning-up" naked and unarmed. Not too surprising. But his girl never got over his reaction and they broke up soon afterward.

Sometimes I think some women - who say they don't like guns or violence -
are the first to wonder why their man wasn't able to protect them in a bad situation.

We know we are not Superman and require the proper tools to protect them - even if they think we are paranoid to CCW.

My wife doesn't like guns and doesn't think I need to CCW. But the story the OP described - and the one I related about my friend - will not be happening to us if I can help it.

The OP's story is another validation of the idea that entering our home can be potentially dangerous. We are happy to be there after a long day. We feel safe and our guard is down because we are home. Maybe. Entering your own home in condition yellow and CCW is a good practice.

 

[chuwee81]

To quote:"
going in and out of the house is the most vulnerable time" would be correct in most cases.
My wife was held up on a gun point outside her parents' townhome. It was gated too but they followed someone in and just WAITED at the reserve parking spot for a car to pull in. Well, she didn;t know any better and as soon as she got out of the car, he jumped out and asked for her purse. To this day I thank God that he didn;t force her to get in the car and drove away with her. He tossed her purse in a ditch somewhere and a home owner called her phonebook list (got her co-worker) and got her purse recovered. Now she's learning to shoot a handgun with me.

Another story: is actually one of my co-worker's. He knew this girl neighboor at his apartment complex. But boy oh boy is she baaaad. As soon as she thinks she could get his trust, she robbed him. How? Well, she rang his doorbell. My guy looked from the peephole to see who it was, and it was her. Unknown to him was her 2 other "guys" hiding from view. As soon as they heard the lock was unlocked, they stormed in and beat him out and trashed the place, and took his money and his cousin's money. He can't pinpoint who they were and the girl said they're not associated with her and weren't around when she rang the doorbell. Well, they learned the hard way and stocked the house with some self defense utensils (baseball bats, etc) so far.

 

[Sans Authoritas]

Aye, a firearm should give you a calming feeling similar to that which a parachute gives you. And both should be used only in sporting and life-saving emergencies. (Unless, of course, you can find a way to combine sport parachuting and hunting... hmmm.)

-Sans Authoritas

 

[fear-mn]

1st - we are all glad you and your woman are ok. it's too often things go the wrong way. your training, cool head, and instincts carried you and your loved ones through a very dangerous situation. be proud of how you reacted, it isn't easy and not everyone is as capable as you are.

2nd - thank you for sharing the psychological and pysiological aspects of this encounter. it's one thing to hear about them, and a whole nother to experience them. our bodies can play some very strange games when it comes to surviving and it takes a conscience effort to navigate our way through our tangled brain and body during these incidents. the more we know, the better prepared we will be. your story will help others better prepare themselves.

3rd - always remember that not only did you survive, no on got hurt. not only were you and your loved ones safe, you hurt no one in the process. we can all prepare ourselves to use deadly force if needed, but we also have to know it isn't always required. most often the SHOW of force will suffice. as i like to say, "be prepared to pull the trigger, while your finger is off the trigger".

lastly - i personally commend you on a job well done. you achieved the absolute best possible result. your safety and the lack of ANY injuries. it simply cannot get better.

Duane
Instructor - Founder
Firearms Education and Readiness
www.fear-mn.com

 

[vynx]

Good story - tonight I'll keep the Beretta and Smith 649 next to the bed.

 

[bluntweapon]

I spent one night curled up with a razor sharp 18" machete. last thing i remember was stropping it. Must have fallen asleep. I'm just glad i didn't cut off anything important. I think the gun next to the bed would be a better and safer idea.