Our Home Invasion 01-03-05

[Curare]

I probably would have incapacitated him when he cleared the door way. I would not have been capable of higher level thinking (will my daughter be emotionally tarnished?) in such an instance. I would only be thinking "end threat now, end threat now".

If you had ordered him to stand there with his hands on his head and not move, he most likely would have tried to escape seeing that you hadn't shot him already. In that case his back would have been to you and would have been a bad shoot, and it's not like you would try to forcible prevent him from egress.

Having him lay on his belly with his hands out may have given you a bit more control/time if you wanted him apprehended.

Tough situation, I'm happy you are safe. Leave the neighborhood.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

That crack-head was just extremely lucky that I did not want my daughters first memory to be that of her father killing an intruder right in front of her.

Obviously you did well enough for that situation as things worked out in your favor, but I got to chuckle at your statement regarding your daughter's first memory. You claim you didn't shoot the intruder because you didn't want her to have that memory. Interesting. You are lucky that your dauther's first memory isn't of of the other intruder shooting your wife or you. I have trouble believing that your failure to shoot the intruder who was entering your home is because of your concern of childhood memories. As the intruder passsed you, you lost sight of his front side from here he might have produced a weapon and at your command he could simply have started shooting. In short, your delay could have been very detrimental.

The danger here is obvious. You have an intruder who just forced his way into the house and your wife and daughter are present in the area with you where they can see you and the intruder. So they are obviously in line-of-sight danger if the intruder started shooting. It was an obvious life or death situation and your concern was not for the lives of you and your family, but for your daughter's memories. I am glad it worked out, but putting the values of memories over that of life just does not make sense.

I am not sure of the concern of your daughter's memories here. Would it be the memory of daddy shooting an intruder (ugly bad memory) or daddy being a hero and shooting the bad man that came to harm the family? In one light, it could be seen negatively, in another, very positively. Neither would be pretty.

At 2 years of age, your daughter isn't going to retain many memories and those she does retain will likely be quite fuzzy.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Guess the problem I'm having with this is the guy is still out there able to prey upon the weak and not so prepared----ie elderly or a single mother.

Heck--he might even come back to your place---now he knows you have a gun to steal---watch your back.

The first shot should have been when he turned to face you---then empty the gun on him----reload and wait for police.

This was an immediate threat to you and you family.

It's good it worked out for you and yours----but in the big picture not so good of a showing.

 

[Puppy]

Your right Double Naught, it was an odd thought to have at the time.

But your assumptions of what could or might have happened did not happen, and I was able to control the situation without using deadly force, but make no mistake about it, I was prepared to kill him without hesitation had he continued his advance or reached into a pocket.

Like I said before, I have been trying not to "monday-morning" the event, prefering to simply believe I did what was neccessary at the time, no more - no less.

The result of which was no-one was injured, no-one was killed, and that is 100% acceptable on this end.

 

[Puppy]

Omaha,

Its not my job to protect society at large.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

What?!?!?!? HUH?!?!?!?!

While I'm not sugesting we go on vigilante lynchmob patrol---

If we as a group don't stand up and do our part in our community---who will???

Things like keeping an eye on your neighbors homes---holding a scumbag for police--watching for things out of place in your daily life---will go a long way in making the whole country a better place.

Nuff said????

 

[The Rabbi]

Like I said before, I have been trying not to "monday-morning" the event, prefering to simply believe I did what was neccessary at the time, no more - no less.

I agree with you. And those attempting to do just that are merely running their mouths. And of those, I suspect the ones most of the "I woulda" school are the ones most likely to have frozen up in the encounter. I know I would not vouch for my own reactions ahead of time.

 

[moa]

Puppy, great job! I doubt if the perp will come back. The business end of .45 is not something he will want to see again.

By the way, when at home I am always armed, both outside and inside, it is always on me or within easy reach.

 

[The Rabbi]

By the way, when at home I am always armed, both outside and inside, it is always on me or within easy reach.

What do you do about going to the can? I dont mean to be crude here but whenever I drop trousers to sit down my gun falls out of the holster, or nearly does.

 

[wardog]

I agree with you. And those attempting to do just that are merely running their mouths. And of those, I suspect the ones most of the "I woulda" school are the ones most likely to have frozen up in the encounter. I know I would not vouch for my own reactions ahead of time.

Exactly. He said he wasn't trying to monday-morning quarterback the thing. I'm sure he can't help going over it in his mind constantly anyway. "What if I had done this, should I have done that."

 

[LiquidTension]

Even having the benefit of hindsight, I gotta say you did a good job.

I also agree with the sentiment that it would have been nice if the guy had suffered a bad fall after leaving your house.

 

[Cosmoline]

Not to start a cartridge war, but my bet is you were very glad to have a .45 in your hands when it hit the fan.

 

[odysseus]

Puppy, just one thing to add to this thread...

I used to live in an area you described, in an apartment complex that had gates and locks (they were a joke). At least I had steel doors and frames. There were all kinds of people knocking or stuff at the door - and even one interesting evening when all power in the area went out for sometime in the area one night (that was interesting).

Anyway - never open your door unless you know who it is and what for. You should have had the discussion through the door or through a peep hole. Also look into a steel door and steel reinforced doorway frames with solid bolted and secure methods to prevent a simple "kick" or rush. Plant very painful and difficult plants under windows and open entry alarms. Light your outside. If you can and can afford too, fence off your property (not chainlink please) and get a dog. See if you can then intercom the entryway at the fence line there. If someone gets through that, they really have shown they are a threat.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

What do you do about going to the can? I dont mean to be crude here but whenever I drop trousers to sit down my gun falls out of the holster, or nearly does.

I usually carry a 1911 in a Yaqui slide. The pistol doesn't fall out of the holster, but the whole rig usually pulls the belt through the belt loops and falls on the floor anyway. So I remove the pistol before unzipping, and lay it on the lip of the bathtub, ahead of me and to my right.

Don't know how I'd handle a home invasion, but any goblin crashing my bathroom door is toast.

 

[Atticus]

I been meaning to install an intercom system at my front door. Your experience is a good motivator for me. Glad it turned out well for you. Hopefully the police will run into that guy before he victimizes too many other folks.

 

[Richard.Howe]

Note to my wife where I copied this thread:

lessons learned:
- ask for identification before opening the door if you don't know them
- do not open the door for anyone you don't know
- know where you can easily find a firearm at any time
- put the small revolver in your back pocket if you *have* to open the door for someone you don't know
- if you have to bring the revo into action, DO NOT HESITATE. If you hesitate, he will get it from you; no doubt about this.
- leave the alarm on if you *have* to open the door
- <cancel> will silence the alarm but leave it active (on our Brinks system)
- make up a fake password for when the alarm company calls. better yet, do not answer the phone.

 

[BamBam-31]

I dunno. In retrospect, Puppy had enough time to hunt down OBL, unearth Saddam's WMD's, and find a cure for cancer. But he and his family are safe, so I guess he did okay....

Good job, Puppy. No one killed or injured, everyone's safe. Optimal outcome, IMHO.

 

[moa]

Rabbi, I lay the piece on the flat sink counter top.

 

[Dain Bramage]

This thread has already covered some of the emotional and legal aspects of the incident. The safety of your family is of paramount importance, and I applaud you for keeping a cool head and acting in their best interests.

However, in the more mundane interests of 24/7 carry, I was wondering what kind of .45 and holster were you carrying, and how the whole thing was working out for you, outside of hitting the unwanted jackpot of SHTF?

 

[ClonaKilty]

Darknight:

... i would inform him that any sudden movement WILL cost him his life...

What if, after you said this, the BG just turned around and walked out anyway. Would you shoot?

No flame, just curious.

 

[OH25shooter]

You showed better restraint than most. Hope a next time never happens. If it does, hold him at gunpoint and have your wife get some duct tape. Tape his hands and feet tight and present him to the police. He's caught...case closed.

 

[Aahzz]

Excellent job, Puppy. You're right, what matters is that your family and home are safe and unharmed. No point in Monday morning quarterbacking.

 

[Rimmer]

First of all, Nice Job Puppy!

Now the question that bothers me... short of shooting, if you held him at gun point until LE arrived, what time would he get for a B&E in your area and we will assume it’s a first offence? How much of your time would be required in his prosecution? If LE indeed would take your firearm in a B&E case how long would they keep it? After the BG is out again will he find you and even the score?

All this boils down to is, short of doing exactly what Puppy did the next real option is to blow Mr BG away.

What say you all? Let him go or empty the mag……..

 

[cookekdjr]

Good job, puppy. I've prosecuted gang rape cases that started off like your case (unfortunately the husband was unarmed when the punks forced themselves in. Once they were inside, one thug branded the husband with an iron while the others took turns raping his wife). We caught the guys on the 3rd house. Once we had a lead on their ID, DNA from the rape kits bit them in the a-- at trial.
I'm glad you had "bubba" with you for protection.
David

 

[P95Carry]

What say you all? Let him go or empty the mag??..

Rimmer - that'll always be a hard call - as ever - circumstances alter events. Superficially, I guess we'd all rather be rid of yet another scumbag but - I think unless the perceived threat level was high enough then the ''empty the mag'' deal could end up being a less than simple expedient - with the possible sequele.