Bump...do you investigate?

[Justin]

I have always been of the opinion that doing a one-man house clearing job is really, really freakin' stupid. Better to hole up and wait for either
A)The cavalry to arrive.
or
B)Mssr. Goblin to come into my room where he can be properly identified and dealt with.

However, I've always had this nagging, well, 'what if' situation sitting in the back of my head.
(I apologize if I stray too far from the topic at hand.)
Let's pretend that you are in a situation where you and you're SO aren't the only ones in the house.
For the sake of argument, let's say that you have to kids, each with their own bedroom.
Now, what do you do when you hear that sound?
Do you still hole up?
Or do you go on an expedition to extract the children and bring them to the safe room?
If so, it seems that would play havoc with the 'wait and see' approach.
What would you do? Go get your kids, or hunker down and hope that they are ok?

If you do opt to get the kids, what do you do? How do you go about getting them up and moving them safely and quickly?

[fix]

Go get the kids. Loved ones are worth the risk. Take a handgun though, not a long gun.

[HKguy9]

OK every time you hear the dishes fall down from the stack because you piled 'em up too high, are ya gonna hole up in your safe room, turn off all the lights, round up the kids send out the dog, etc.? Just wondering.

[Master Blaster]

Easy I open the gate and let the DOG investigate, if I hear a commotion I follow to rescue her The sheltie designator has identified tresspassers and pinpointed their position. If everything is fine she comes back wagging her tail.

[jmlv]

is there really anything left to do but call the ambulance? Particurly with a 50 lb pitbull doing an assist? Both my dogs have free roam of the house(I live alone) mostly spend their nights in my bedroom but do "tours" through out the night. I actually feel sorry for whoever trys it. There's nothing like being attacked by a dog as large as a small blackbear (Saint Bernard 36" at the shoulder 125lb) and a small but VERY strong & fast buzzsaw (50lb pitbull)helping out? If theres anything left to do the 38 and the 12 gage should take care of it.

[F350Lawman]

oops---old thread nevermind

[LAK]

In these kind of scenarios SWAT training could be considered somewhat moot since the letter "T" stands for Team; in the case of an individual effort the skills involved are perhaps then more akin to those employed by a hunter albeit in an artificial setting - stealth and sensory interpretation.

Planning and preparation are very important; a good dog (not necessarily a big dog either) and or a home that is impossible to gain entry into without making alot of noise, and with some delay, are advantageous.

[indigo-357]

Special Weapons And Tactics.

Regards,

Indigo

[BillCA]

I'm in a townhome so things that go "bump" could be a nearby neighbor doing something late at night. Regardless, the square footage here is pretty small and simple to check out. The hallway is 10 feet long and I have a clear view from the master bedroom to the spare room/home office. And there's plenty of glass facing the relatively secure back yard.

Weapon of choice is usually a .357 revolver with WW-Silvertip JHPs and a sure-fire. Check front windows & door, check sliding glass door to backyard, go back to bed. If someone really is coming in the window, it's 5.8 yards from hall to far window. Less to the front door or other window. If he's already inside I expect I'll need a lot of carpet shampoo.

My neighbors have the right idea. They have a 110 pound Rottwieler who sleeps at the end of the hallway near the kids' room.

[Derius_T]

If the SECOND sound I hear after the 'bump' isn't the sound of my two chows eating the BG, its time for some new dogs.....

But I do have kids, sleeping on the opposite end of the house from us, so I would ALWAYS investigate, cuz dogs CAN be delt with silently.....

But I guess if someone has the skill and determination to defeat my alarm system and my two dogs WITHOUT alerting me while doing it, I'm probably in serious trouble.....

[Nimitz87]

just curious Derius_T how would one take out 2 dogs silently while breaking in at the same time?.... not saying it cant be done but wondering how

[faraway]

Yeesh, the places some must live in...
Anyway, the dogs have the 3am visitor shift.

[Avizpls]

Do I investigate? I was left with this choice last night actually.

Not only did I hear the bump, and kinda woke up, but the light int he room next to mine kicked on, which never happens. (I should mention, Im 21 and am home from college living in the basement at my folks) so anyways, I jump up in bed when I hear that, and I peer out the room-to-room window, and I see a black man, with his pants nearly around his ankles. This isnt right in my mind. So I look around my room, considering options. I looked at he pistol, but thought, what if we know him? Its odd for him to turn on the lights. I pick up pistol. I'd rather avoid shooting someone if they are drunk and wandered in here out of stupidity, even in they did mean to rob us. I grab the mag lite. so here I am at my door way with my pistol to my one side, and the lite in the other hand, hearing the man to my left. To my right, I hear footsteps coming down the steps. So I step back in my room a bit, ready to aim at the bottom of the steps. Its my sister, who doesnt live at home. So I motion to her to stop, I point down the hall, and mouth "who is that" she smiles, I feel like an ass, I go back to bed. Apperently its her waste of flesh boy friend. Should'a just.....nevermind


But, yes. I investigate.

[Avizpls]

Originally Posted by bogie

She says it was the fastest she'd EVER see someone disengage from combat, hit the floor, grab a rifle, insert a magazine, chamber a round, and belly crawl through a door...

How many times has this scenario happend to her? haha, sorry, I just noticed that and couldnt resist.

[LAK]

Indigo,

While the T in the acronym does stand for tactics, it is bound in the team concept. Beyond specialized knowledge and tasks within such units, the individual skills are not especially unique. This is not to say that anyone with this kind of training does not have an advantage over people with no training, but the applicable skills in the context of this thread are not exclusive to them, and can be learned by anyone with the will to do so.

[PsychoSword]

Everytime I hear a bump in the night I manage to put a few holes in my furnace. My carbon monoxide detector keeps going off, but I don't know why. I just changed the battery.

[yorec]

Nimitz87 - I can think of a couple of chemical methods (easily obtained tools and chemicals) but don't like to elaborate. Not that I think anyone here would actually take the method and use it on a neighbor's dog... But I won't elaborate.

I always check bumps - dogs aren't fool proof and kids comonly sleep closer to the front door than I. I won't leave well enough alone.

[Derius_T]

Nimitz87, well there are several methods that come to mind for dealing with
dogs with a minimum of fuss or noise, BUT, I don't think discussing them would be appropriate.

But like I said if someone has the SKILL and the KNOWLEDGE to professionally infiltrate my home, they are probably professionals or military, and my butt is in trouble. Not that anyone would ever really have to worry about a highly trained professional or military person comming after them....but hey it could happen.....

[Hunter Rose]

Derius_T: just because someone's highly trained doen't mean they can't go either criminal or crazy...

[riverkeeper]

the bedroom IS the saferoom - a metal bar will secure the door.

The 44 is on my side and the 38 on hers. If it is for real - we bar the door, take serious cover and call 911 on the cell.

I've done some really really stupid things in my life ... but looking for a perp in the dark will not be one of them.

If there were kids - it would be different.

Our place is very tough to get into.

[northern edge]

Although I do the "snap-awake, grip gun" drill almost weekly, I rarely actually get up. I usually just lay there and listen to the tone and intensity of the dogs, let my ears and eyes get used to the night, and wait.

If I went prowling around every time I heard a bump in the night I wouldnt get any sleep. Plus your much more vunerable moving around instead of using the safe room technique as suggested.

[Chiram2003]

Strange that I come across this thread now.

It's midnight, raining horrendously, and everyone but me is asleep. I heard some rustling in the bushes outside my window. I remembered that there have been some burglaries in the area lately, so I got suspicious. I grabbed the Glock and called the PD. The dispatcher advised that she would "get someone over [here] as soon as possible." I asked how long that could be and she said, "Probably about 15 minutes." (atleast she was truthful?) I picked up the agitator lead for the Shepherd and proceeded out the back door, being the furthest away from the window. Dog started pulling and barking. Glock in hand, we walked to the fence furthest from the window, going around to the front of the house, thusforth leaving suspected perp and dog between me and the 6' chainlink. Car pulls up as I round the corner, headlights off. Saw the reflection of the streetlight down the road on the car and it's a squad car. Luckily a friend of mine. We went around the corner to clear the area. And what do we find? A deer bedding down under the azalias (sp?).

So, was I overly cautious? He didn't think so. Got a few strange looks from the neighbors as three other squad cars pulled up (15 minutes my rear end. It has been no more than 2 minutes thusfar). Funny that they didn't perk up to the barking? Nah, they're used to him (guess that's what I get for adopting a biter). Anyway, I heard a noise, I remembered what had been happening lately, and I took action. Yes, I called the police first. That was the main thing.

And before anyone asks "Well if you were up, why wouldn't a perp realize your light is on?" Black-out curtains. I work nights, mostly, so I use a black-out curtain to keep the bedroom dark while I sleep.

Just my two cents.

Edit: The only reason I *DID* run this is because my neice, sister, and brother-in-law are here. Theyre sleeping in the bedroom across the hall, so their window is right up from mine. If they hadn't been here, I would have barricaded in the bathroom and waited for LEOs.

[LAK]

Riverkeeper

The 44 is on my side and the 38 on hers. If it is for real - we bar the door, take serious cover and call 911 on the cell.

The door is barred, you have your .44 in one hand, cell in the other. The cell rings several minutes later; it is the local investigative, reporting and custodial agency who say they have arrived, are parked just off your property and waiting for you to come to the door, unlock it for them, so they can "investigate" the noise and activity you reported to them inside your home. Now what is your next move?

[Lawyer Daggit]

Upon hearing the noise time to get the family together and find out what they heard.

Subject to where I was I would not run out to investigate- your right- IT IS a crappy proposition- clearing buildings is very dangerous and if you investigate and shoot someone you don't want to be tried yourself.

Subject to what the family tell you call the Cops. Take a defensive position- if your defensive position with your family init gets attacked if you are genuinely concerned for your welfare or theres you are morally justified in shooting.

Problem is if you go after someone Courts tend not to regard that as self defence.

Over the last century there has been a marked shift in the approach adopted by courts- protection of property is not now viewed as grounds to kill a person, it needs to be protection of the person from attack, and it is a bit hard to maintain a self defence argument if you have hunted the perp.

Sorry a lot of you won't like what I have written. I don't like it either, but this is what people pushing victim rights etc have done to the world.

[mvpel]

That's the nice thing about having a dog - she's very smart about discerning the proper response to a noise in the night. If someone pulls into our driveway, she'll bark. If someone is skulking around the house, she'll bark and growl. If someone she doesn't recognize walks in to a dark house, she'll stand silently in the dark until she recognizes them.

She's not an attack dog - she backs away growling from unfriendly strangers - but that's what the Glock is for.

However if a burglar was a dog lover, and gave her some turkey pepperoni, she'd be nosing up underneath their arm and licking their face as they knelt to unbolt the safe.