Weird experience re: knock on door last night

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newbie4help

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Sorry for all the threads lately...seems like a lot of random stuff has been happening to me lately. One of the benefits of living in the inner city :p

So let me set the stage... it's about 8 PM. My girlfriend ran to the store to get some food for dinner (late dinner) and I finished lifting weights/working out at home. I always lock the door after she leaves. So I finish working out and go to make a protein shake, and as I'm getting everything ready there's a knock on the door.

I thought it was my gf coming back because sometimes she forgets something. Before I got to the door I shouted "YES?!" No reply. I knew this was weird. I looked out the peephole, and it was ... the best way to describe it is a weird-looking... woman, probably middle aged. I said "who is it?" She gave me a name. I said "what do you want?" All she said was "sorry, wrong place" and walked away. I watched through the peephole as she went to the second floor of my apartments.

I knew this was definitely strange, but thought maybe it was just some local homeless person (I'm in central Austin, lots of weirdos around). I called my gf and confirmed she was at the store, and told her to call me before she got back so I could escort her back in just in case. I also always have my gun on/near me at home now, and it was on the table near the door. I put on my holster since I was done working out, and took the trash out and used that opportunity to see what was up maybe. As I got back from taking trash out I noticed the lady talked to someone on the second floor of my apt. (I'm on the first). I stood in the door and watched her talking to this person and I noticed what seemed like a clipboard she was holding.

Now, here's where it got odd. At this point I assumed it was just a confused homeless person/solicitor coming around. But I was in the kitchen finishing my shake and there's another knock on the door! I look out the peephole, and its her. I say in a very commanding voice 'WHAT DO YOU WANT?" She says "sorry wrong place" and walks away. So if she was soliciting, why would she have gone to second floor, only to *happen* to come right back to my place, the "wrong" address? There are like 50 units in my building, if she had been soliciting it would've taken her much more time to *accidentally* come back to my place.

I made sure all the doors were locked, called my gf to confirm she knew to call me before she got here, and I called my sis who's a cop in APD. she recommend I call APD because there are a lot of transients around. I did, and they said they'd send somebody by to check it out. I escorted the gf back when she called, with no incident.

I never felt "scared" or anything, but it was definitely a weird experience. Am I just being paranoid? How would you have handled this/what would you have thought? I knew it wasn't some scam to lure you out for robbery, since I saw the person on the second floor talking to her for quite a while, and nobody else was around....
 
Duke:

excellent question. I wanted to, the only problem was I wasn't sure which unit it was as it was hard to tell the way I was standing . That would sure clear things up. Maybe I can knock around that area this afternoon and ask....

The thing is, I've sold door-to-door before - you always identify yourself, etc. It was her responses to me that set my "weird" alarm off. She never once said "oh I'm here to do X or sell Y."
 
I had my own experience with a "woman with a clipboard" almost a decade ago in Maryland. She was a Census Worker. I refused to talk to her. She staked out my house, and stalked my family literally for months. I would have reported it as abuse, but I honestly was intrigued. I suspected that the Census likes to have 100% response to their detailed questions (which we need not answer) in certain "sample" neighborhoods, and that since a LOT of feds lived in my neighborhood, she might have had everyone's information but mine. Well, I wasn't going to give it to her. It became a bizarre game of cat and mouse. I'd get home from work, and she'd be waiting at the curb with her clipboard. I'd walk past her, demanding she leave my property. This happened time and again, for months. It was truly the most bizarre interaction with a federal agency I've ever had, and I've had a few doozies. If it WASN'T an actual Census Worker, then I'd be even MORE intrigued.
 
Whoa - duke you know it is census time, right? I wonder if that's what this was?!?! you've got to be kidding me - wouldn't she have announced that's why she was there? They can't be this lame.
 
You handled it pretty well! Do you pack while you lift? I always hate not having my piece on me going to and from the gym. I could surreptitiously slip it into a gym bag, which I tend to keep near me during my sets anyway, but it wouldn't be easy to get it back on and it also wouldn't do me a lot of good there and would be more likely to get stolen.
maybe it was just some local homeless person
Click to expand...

Beware the tendency to rationalize early-on. Not to sound sexist, but in my experience women tend to think of ways a potential threat may not be a threat, and men tend to think of ways a potential threat could turn out to be a real threat. Sometimes in a relationship the man begins to engage in that feminine tendency as well. I'm speaking from experience here. I don't doubt it's a societal rather than genetic thing, and I don't suggest all women or all men are like that. Just throwing an idea out there. Basically, "just a homeless person" doesn't mean anything. Pick the right homeless person and you may have a mentally ill murderer on your hands.
 
I didn't know "professional masseuses" carried clipboards as they went door-to-door :p
 
I had a pair of people back home in maryland in my apartment with clipboards claiming to be magazine surveyors. I chased em out after they gained entry and immediately cased the place only to discover bare walls.

There will NOT be a next time anyone strange at the door gaining entry. Fortunately I had blade on small of back the whole time watching my strange experience.

There will be several other strange knocks in apartment door UNTIL one night....

A snarling rapid yammering dog inside MY apartment at 2 am just coming home from work. I ran down the list of my friends and found one that had a dog in that family. So I stuck hand in there and the dog recognized me and quit hostility and became quite welcoming.

All the neighbors pretty much quit knocking on my door afterwards.

I wish to this day I had a electronic recording of a riled shepard that plays whenever someone knocks or rings doorbell at high volume. But since I dont do apartments anymore.... NOT a problem now.

Anyone with a clipboard can go away, nothing that isnt already public information is welcome to them.
 
Some years ago when we lived in east Austin, our doorbell rang about 2 AM. We were in bed, and I wasn't happy about this. Put on a robe, slipped a pistol in the pocket and went to find out who this was. Looking through the peep hole, I saw a young woman crying and asking for help. There are some hedges near our front door where another person could be hiding, waiting to jump out as soon as I crack that door. So I was concerned. Asked her what was wrong. She said she'd just been raped. Had been going door to door seeking help, but nobody would answer. It all looked pretty real. Since I was armed, I let her in. It was legit. She'd been raped & really needed help.

Tuckerdog1
 
Well, Im happy that she found safe haven. But man those hedges need to be lit up or cut away and gone. It's me thinking.

Let us know how it turns out if they caught the guy or not. Hopefully you did not allow the girl to shower because they would need to do a rape-kit at the hospital.
 
Hungry Seagull,

It was years ago. And we no longer live in that house. Never did find out if the guy was caught.

Tuckerdog1
 
well, from personal experience of a co-worker, opening the door could be REAAAL BAD!.

Anyway my co-workers live with his cousin and the cousin's brother. He (cousin) wasn't the brightest but not someone you would say stupid either. Anyway, he started seeing this girl (not dating, but she just started hanging out with her "friends" around the apartment complex) so he thought she's a resident there as well. The rest of the guys didn't really pay attention because they work during the day. So when he was home alone, this girl rang the doorbell and asked if she could talk to him. He peeped through the hole (good) and saw only the girl, so he opened the door. Immidiately 2 guys came rushing in (they were out of sight, maybe crouching), beat him up, trashed the place, found his hidden money stash (and his brothers' - i think around 500 bux total) and took off. He showed up to work next day with bruises on his face and told us what had happened.

So you were doing the right thing, do not open door to strangers especially if they failed to identify themselves.
 
But I was in the kitchen finishing my shake and there's another knock on the door! I look out the peephole, and its her. I say in a very commanding voice 'WHAT DO YOU WANT?" She says "sorry wrong place" and walks away.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you responded well. The key to de-escalating this situation wasn't guns or ammo, but your street smarts. Criminals "interview" and feel people out (like a dog sniffing). If you open the door for a strange person (in an urban area) and act kind or naive, they think of you as weak- and yes it could have been at very least a shady scam or worse- a decoy for others

When I was in college there was a string of burglaries and violent robberies where a small crew would do the following. Perp A would simply walk into a house (it was an area of all college kids 19-22 yrs old), if he didn't encounter anyone, he would start stealing (Perp B and C would then come in from across the street). If Perp A encountered a group of people, he would "play dumb" and say "oh wow wrong house, I'm looking for Denzel!" If he only ran into one person (a weak guy or a girl) he would overpower them.

Again, regardless if it was a wandering homeless woman, a scam artist, or a decoy for a home invasion- the best course was to show you weren't an "easy mark" (as they say on the streets). Good response with the firm voice. Criminals always move on to easier prey.
 
Good Choice with not opening the door. The even better choice was calling your GF both for her safety and to ensure she didn't allow the random stranger access on her way home either. That's no disrespect to women. That goes for anyone who lives in an Alert Posture. No matter how conscientious or alert you are; you're only as safe as the "weakest link" in your household. Ensuring family/cohabitants lock doors, set alarms and live with a Higher Degree of Situational Awareness is as crucial to your game plan as deciding which HD gun or ammunition you'll carry for self defense is.;)
 
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