Excellent thread and very informative. I generally agree that the vast majority of home invasions in the US are targeted at people in the drug trade or some other illicit activity. It's occurred to me that one reason is that the victims will be afraid to call the cops.
My incident didn't fit the profile, however. We lived in a fairly nice neighborhood in Las Cruces, NM in the 1990s. Our neighbors across the street moved out and rented out their home. Within a few days of the new tenants moving in, we had an attempted home invasion.
It was definitely scary, and I was in dire fear for my family. It was about 11pm on a weeknight, and I was working in the back of the house, when my wife came to me in a panic, saying that something was going on at our front door. My only handgun was a Taurus 85CH, and I grabbed it and went with her. As we arrived in the living room, we heard pounding on the door and a woman's voice yelling: "Help, help, lemme in!"
We didn't turn on lights. My wife retreated to the back of the house, and I started to dial 911. At that point, two or more large males began trying to kick in our front door. I found that I couldn't dial three numbers on a cordless phone with my left hand (the right held the .38). I finally managed to dial 911 and told them that a group of men was kicking in my front door RIGHT NOW.
I stayed on the line with the dispatch and waited in ambush in the dark hallway. They were kicking a reinforced, steel mesh door in a steel frame, that opened outward. It was secured with a deadbolt. I'm sure the dispatcher could hear the WHAM, WHAM, WHAM of the thug's foot against the door. I was terrified that they would notice that they were standing next to a window that would have been easier to break, and much quieter than their attempts on the door.
The door held, and they left after a few minutes. I never saw their faces, because I was afraid that looking out the window would have brought their attention to it.
The police arrived about 30 minutes after my call. I had little to offer them, as we hadn't ever seen our attackers. We were never asked to file a report.
I suspect our new neighbors ran short of beer or drug money. They evidently didn't pay rent, or messed up the house, as they were evicted and were gone not long after that.
Although no one was hurt, this incident inspired me to start carrying at home (even though CCW was years away in NM). Waiting to ambush someone in the dark is an experience I never want to repeat. Doing it without a firearm would have been several times more terrifying.
Respectfully,
Dirty Bob
