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Old January 30, 2014, 04:00 PM   #51
FireForged
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I'm not sure that "suspect" is the correct term at this point as no crime has been committed
oh for petes sake.. lets take a step away from semantics for a second. If some guy is running around my backyard at 4am, I [suspect] he is up to no good, I suspect he is someone uninvited and a unwanted trespasser on my property, I suspect he has unlawful intent and until I know differently.. he is a suspect. It doesn't make a hill of beans difference if a crime has been committed or not, his actions under the circumstances deem him a suspect trespasser until he is an obvious offender or until I decide he is neither.
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Old February 1, 2014, 10:07 AM   #52
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I'd call 911 and obtain a position downstairs where I could watch both points of entry to the house, 590A1 in hand. My dog would be going crazy, so anyone jiggling the handle or attempting to ram on the door would clearly be up to no good (and probably has a death wish.)

If it seems that there are multiple people trying to gain access from both doors, I'm going to retreat to the basement and seal up in my "gun room"...AR15 will be then be retrieved. Wait on the cavalry from there. Unless glass is broken and door is about to be breached, I can't imagine a situation where I would fire through the door.
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Old February 6, 2014, 07:42 AM   #53
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The presence of a stranger near my front, or patio door, at night? Sounds like a 911 call, then a couple of alarm siren tweak's! That is loud.

Would not be too hard to kick my front door in, my first sight of your head coming up the stairs? Would have my TruGlo sights superimposed on it.

The Police announce their Office, and reason to be in a premises, very loudly, and a lot! So no mistakes in that case.
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Old February 8, 2014, 02:06 AM   #54
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Calling the police is all fine and dandy but where I live if the cops are in a hurry its a good 20-25 min before they can get to my spot. I do occasionally get knocks late at night. Only house for miles and live near a very scenic overlook with a steep drive up to the overlook. Because its so far out cell coverage is very spotty but from our bedroom (or any other room on the second floor) we usually get 2 bars. Usually its just someone asking to use the LAN line or where they can find cell service.

What we do is I grab a pistol and my wife grabs the marlin (357 magnum carbine) and the cell phone and then I talk over the intercom (it was popular in the 1980s when the house was built to have an intercom). If they need to use the LAN line I have a wireless phone I can hand though the mail slot. But usually I just tell them there is cell service about 200 yards down the road and they leave. Pretty much everyone these days has a cell phone. If I called the cops every time someone came knocking at night the cops may not be in such a hurry to get out here next time.

I also have 2 dogs. One is a rottweiler and the other is a minpin. The rottweiler is protective but sleeps heavy the minpin cant help but bark and that wakes up the rottweiler any time someone is around the house. I think its a good combination. They sleep on the main floor. I have also added one of those steel mesh doors to both the front and back door. They are pretty strong and its one more door to go through. But in all honesty the windows would be the weak spot but our bedroom and all our guns are on the second floor.
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Old February 10, 2014, 05:47 PM   #55
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Hindsight is that I personally would went and opened the door or went out another door, came around and found out what was going on. (Armed of course). They could of sincerely needed help.
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Old February 10, 2014, 06:48 PM   #56
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Someone running in your backyard may not have ill intent. He may have been being chased by someone(s) who did have ill intent. They could be a teenager just running around and knocking trash cans over and such. It could be someone who just escaped from being kidnapped. There are multiple possibilities.

Here in my state, there was a recent case where a woman entered a house late at night, and a man fired a shot at the door. The woman was struck and did live. The man was her grandfather, and she had been staying with him for awhile. He had fired in the dark.

Now, that said, I used to live a rural area and I recall one instance where the police where called about persons coming onto the property looking for someone who lived there, he wasn't there. It took the police 45 minutes to arrive. There is a reason everyone in that area kept a shotgun on deck.
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Old February 14, 2014, 12:20 AM   #57
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I would answer the door. Not everyone is out to get you. Someone banging on your door at 4am probably isn't trying to rob you. I would most definitely have a round chambered and my gun in my hand, but 99/100 it is someone in dire need of help.
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Old February 14, 2014, 10:03 AM   #58
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Everyone is assuming that you can't identify the person on the other side of the door, and saying that shooting through a door is highly irresponsible. I'd like to point out that a lot of doors, especially a lot of back doors and side doors, have large window panes in them, and therefore it's possible you could identify the target and what is beyond it.

That being said, unless the person is clearly trying to break in or is armed and appears to have ill intent, shooting through the door is still a bad idea from a legal and moral standpoint.

If someone was banging on my door at 4am, I'd prepare for ill intent (get my gun and have my wife with phone in hand ready to call 911), but before calling the police, I'd check to find out what the situation was. That includes going to a location where I can see what's going on, and verbally challenging the person at the door to find out who they are and what they wanted.

However, I don't think you'd want to stand close to and in line with the door (in case they were armed and had no compunction against firing through a door), and I don't think you'd want to illuminate yourself by turning the lights on until you had a better understanding of whether the individual outside might have intent to harm you.

I also prefer not to advertise that I have a weapon. While that might discourage the average bad guy, some might just alter their tactics to be prepared to deal with an armed person. I would instead say that the police have been called (whether we'd called them yet or not).

I don't believe in calling the police until I've determined that there is a need. Too much of that can lead to the situation of Peter and the Wolf.
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Old February 14, 2014, 11:42 AM   #59
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I don't believe in calling the police until I've determined that there is a need
This reminds me of a movie scene where 3 badguys break all the glass out of 2 large windows with baseball bats, yank the curtin and rod off the wall enter the home and knock over a lamp... all while the home owner is standing in a hallway 4 feet away with a golfclub saying "hello?...Hello? who's there?

I think common sense is about all a person needs but calling for help should probably happen sooner rather than later and if its a false alarm.. oh well, honest mistake.
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Old February 14, 2014, 03:37 PM   #60
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Re calling 911 in this situation

What is the downside? If it is a bad guy, help is on the way for me. If it is a good guy in need, help is on the way for them. Make the call.
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Old March 18, 2014, 01:37 AM   #61
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I'd say gather the family in a safe location, armed, and call the police. Shooting through the door is a terrible idea legally and you're destroying your own property at that. I'd call my area semi rural, very similar to the description, and what I said is precisely what I'd do, although it's just me and my wife, no kids.
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Old March 18, 2014, 03:32 AM   #62
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Depends, if it is loud knocking, I will have my wife call 911 while I try to find out what they need. If it is loud "kicking down the door", I will have my wife call 911 while I cock the hammer and prepare to make a decision in the split second after the door opens.
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Old March 18, 2014, 04:26 PM   #63
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Get an alarm system that enables you from inside to sound a large and obnoxious horn and turns out outside lights.

It may or may not call the cops automatically as you set it up.

But:

1. Tells a BG that you are aware. Thus, they may go away.
2. It can call the cops. Some folks say - Blah, blah - the cops are 1/2 hour away. So start them rolling and it establishes you felt under threat. Give them a head start on saving you if needed.
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Old March 18, 2014, 06:47 PM   #64
Angelo Demuerte
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When I was a teenager, my sibling, who is much younger than me, had a minor physical altercation with a neighbor child. When the mother found out, she came to the back door. When I opened the door, we spoke for a brief moment, and then she attempted to storm past me in an effort to enter the house.

I stood in her way and when she tried to push me out of the way, I gave her a shove that tossed her a few feet away. I told her to get off the property and she said that she didn't have to, I replied that she was on private property and if she didn't leave I would call the police. I did not call the police, and instead, the police showed up at MY door about 5 minutes later.

When I didn't call the police, the person who tried to illegally enter a house with the stated intent of assaulting a child, did call the police. She called the police and claimed that she had knocked on the door and I assaulted here when I opened the door. She was known in the area as a crackhead, but the police were at MY house. Hindsight is 20/20, and that is why we can learn from the past, if I had immediately called the police and said that the next door neighbor was trying to break into my house and I was afraid she was going to come back, the police would most likely have responded to her house instead of mine.

Call the police. Whatever action you take, call the police if you can. The police are not very likely to assume you are crying wolf, they get these types of calls on a regular basis and they know it happens. Now, if you are calling every time the wind blows something against your house, that's a different story.

Get the first report in before they do.
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Old March 19, 2014, 10:21 AM   #65
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This happened three years ago. Three older teens knocked on this fellows door and wanted to use his inside phone because they said they were lost. He came out and gave them his cell phone. Then immediately he was shot in the head. A very sad story, fellow was about 55 years of age. They caught the teens about six months later. You try to be mister nice guy and then get whacked.
What would you have done in this situation????????????
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Old March 19, 2014, 07:53 PM   #66
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i would take my shotgun and fire up in the air as advised by vice president biden
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Old March 19, 2014, 08:34 PM   #67
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In the case of the three older teen shooting...MAY have done the same thing. Although it sounds like a very lame & suspicious reason to use a phone ??? Someone that has intent to immediately shoot you will most likely do so. Everyone has cell phones and men do not usually stop for directions,,, especially coming to someone's door!! Huge Red Flag!!
Its easy to 2nd guess woulda-coulda-shoulda.
I can remember when hitch hiking was common and not fearful for either party.
Back to OP, I would have most likely came out another door with gun & light in hand to observe without being seen first.
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Old March 20, 2014, 03:58 AM   #68
edfrompa
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That was their intent, to kill someone! Just a couple of teens seeking a thrill. And it didn't matter who it was. Be cautious, and be armed, plus break out the 12 gauge.
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Old March 20, 2014, 07:56 PM   #69
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Quote:
Someone running in your backyard may not have ill intent
This right, he might not... but under the circumstance and considering that he is on my property uninvited at 4am, I consider him a very suspicious trespasser and will let the Sheriff handle it.
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Old March 20, 2014, 09:45 PM   #70
Angelo Demuerte
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That quoted text does not say they aren't suspicious, just that they may not have ill intent. Not saying don't have your weapon in hand, not saying don't call the police. Force should be used judiciously.
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Old April 6, 2014, 09:49 PM   #71
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That quoted text does not say they aren't suspicious, just that they may not have ill intent. Not saying don't have your weapon in hand, not saying don't call the police. Force should be used judiciously.
March 20, 2014 07:56 PM
He seems to take issue with the fact that the rest of us consider running around in the backyard at 4am suspicious and worthy of calling the police. I think [if] he has issue with that determination then he must be leaning toward not taking action. My inclination would be to stay indoors, call the police, pay close attention and prepare myself to fight if he makes it inside.

I intend to err on the side of caution when it comes to my personal safety and honestly, I dont really consider too deeping into [why] a person is in my backyard at 4am. The fact that he is there is indicative of a problem that can likely be better addressed by the Police than by me.
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Old April 7, 2014, 07:19 AM   #72
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You may not use deadly force just because you are in danger or even if you reasonably fear that your life is in danger. In most states, you must have a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury. In most metropolitan areas your life is in in danger whenever you get on a freeway, but not imminent danger.

Whether or not your you held such a fear and if it was reasonable is a question of fact. If at 3 in the morning the person is on the other side of a door chambering a round and taking a stance to kick in your door, all of which you saw on a security monitor, I think law enforcement and a jury might buy justifiable homicide. If you didn't know that they were chambering a round or were even armed or that they were preparing to kick in the door, you may need a good criminal defense attorney.
The first paragraph was good, if a bit overly specific for this discussion, but then you lost it in the 2nd paragraph. "Taking a stance" to kick a door is hardly imminent danger. Plus either way, you are probably going to need a good criminal defense attorney as a matter of SOP for a self defense shooting.
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Old April 7, 2014, 03:45 PM   #73
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Originally Posted by kenpomace View Post
We got this email in our intranet for our neighborhood. We live in a semi rural area where houses are on min 1 acre and lots of woods out here.



Suspect banging on back door at 4am this morning...



Someone was setting off our back yard motion detector lights multiple times, banging on our back door several times.



PD and nearby family was called to assist.

Family saw a grey primer Honda Prelude sitting on Galley.



If anyone knows anything please let us know.

Be safe.





Some of the comments I've seen from other neighbors were like shoot thru door then call police.

DO NOT shoot through the door. Even if you have a castle doctrine protected state you still could lose a court case. And god forbid you shoot an officer or someone else who was at that back door informing you they just arrested or caught someone back there.

Personally...I would call the police and get my family and self in a covered position in the home and be ready for anyone kicking in the door. Your biggest advantage is that they are outside and you are inside. You can cut off lights and aim lights at them. That means they can't see you and you can see them. Plus you are armed and they may not know it.

Me? I have dogs. But I want lights outside and I would still call the cops.
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Old April 7, 2014, 05:11 PM   #74
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Posted by Garycw: Hindsight is that I personally would went and opened the door or went out another door, came around and found out what was going on. (Armed of course).
The former makes you very vulnerable to frontal attack, and the latter puts you at risk of ambush.

Stay indoors in a safe place.
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Old April 7, 2014, 07:53 PM   #75
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Be aware of your surroundings I live on a dirt road with seven families on the road 1 way in 1 way out I am next to the last house. My closest neighbor is 268 yards straight down the mountain, next closest is over 1,000 yards. I do not get 04:00 knocks at my doors. I do have cameras to show all around my house from any TV in my house including the front and back doors. I would call 911 just to have legal record of what is going on but waiting till they arrive is not much of an option because of their travel time to get to my house. My next call would be to the neighbor closest to alert them if time allows. Then deal with what has to be as needed. I love the advantages of living where I can have my own shooting range in my front yard, my horses, don't have to hear what my neighbors The disadvantage is no immediate emergency help available and I accept that as part of where I chose to live. Spend more time preparing and if need be more money to lessen the chances it happening again.
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