Had a few lessons re-affirmed the other night....

[DGTigers]

The other night I was trying to get to sleep and I decided to get up to get a bottle of water that I had left in the living room right outside of my bedroom. Just as I walked into the living room I noticed that somebody was trying to open the living room window to get in. I hurried back to the bed room and grabbed my trusty Winchester 1300 defender, and told my girlfriend to call 911 because somebody was trying to break in. I announced my presence (exactly as I learned in my CPL class) as loud as I could with the gun pointed towards the window as the man was sticking his head through the window.

The intruder stopped in his tracks as soon as I announced I was going to shoot if he came inside and left. Moments later the doorbell rings and I hear my roommate yelling my name and that it is him. Apparently he came back a couple days early from visiting family and his cell phone was dead. He had forgot his house key apparently and had rang the doorbell a couple times but I had not heard from my bedroom. After I saw who it was and let him in I went to the phone and my girlfriend to explain the situation to the police and tell them that their help was not needed. To my surprise my girlfriend was still waiting for the police to answer the phone!

This entire situation re-affirmed a couple lessons that I already knew. 1.) You need to be able to protect yourself and your loved ones because these situations happen so fast that the police are most likely not going to be able to arrive in time anyway, and 2.) Even at the most stressful/scary of times when you are feeling that it's "Go time" and you may have to fight for your own well being or your families, you need to keep your cool and not be too quick to use force until you know exactly what and who you are looking down the barrel at. I am very grateful of the training that I learned in my CPL course and the emphasis they put on safety in home defense situations as it made my instincts the right ones and helped avoid a terrible accident.

Needless to say that I didn't sleep too much that night as my adrenaline was still really going. I was also very shocked and upset that the police didn't even answer my girlfriend's call. Is it worth talking to someone about the non-response of my 911 call?

Anyway, I'm new to this site but thought if my story helped one person, it'd be worth sharing. Be safe everyone.

-DG

[TailGator]

If you had not been well drilled in the discipline of identifying your target, you would have suffered a great deal, both emotionally and legally - but you did, so well done.

As for dialing 911 and not even getting an answer - yes, I think you should contact whoever needs to know about that to get it fixed - emergency services director, sheriff, county commission, whatever. You might save some lives by complaining about that.

[Dwight55]

DG, . . . if it took that long for me to get a 911 call through, . . . THE NEXT DAY would have found a letter to the editor, . . . a call to each county commissioner, . . . a call to the mayor, . . . a visit to the next city council meeting, . . . and anything else I could have done to make a stink about that garbage.

Somebody would have had to stifle me real good to get me to shut up, . . . heck, . . . my blood pressure is probably up just thinking about that.

Give 'em what for, . . .

May God bless,
Dwight

[ActivShootr]

Did you stop to think that the dispatchers may have busy handling other emergencies? Unless you live in a huge city, your local county or small town dispatch office may only have two or three people working at one time.

Don't get too bent up about it.

[DGTigers]

I assumed they were probably busy with other calls and not on a coffee break, that is the only reason I wasn't down there chewing somebody out first thing in the morning. I just think it shows you that it's an absolute necessity that you are able to protect your family because odds are the authorities will not be able to answer your call and arrive in time if a threat were to present itself.

[OldMarksman]

I met a parole officerr last year who lives in a nearby city (second highest murder rate in the nation). He said he had had to call 911 three times and had been put on hold twice.

[MTMilitiaman]

I got done with college one semester and moved back in with my parents for the summer to begin work for the next year. My bedroom is in the basement, with a window right above the bed. About 3 in the morning I am awakened by whispering outside the window, which then slowly slides open. My heart thumping in my chest, I reach for the .45 at the head of the bed and level it towards the window. Slowly, the curtains part and a head peaks in. It surveys the room, eyes adjusting to the darkness, before focusing on the muzzle aimed at it from about a foot and a half away. I saw the whites of his eyes get really big, then heard the slurred "Please don't shoot me. It's me, Bob. I'm...I'm drunk..."

It just so happened that my arrival home had coincided with my bro's high school prom. He and a friend had stumbled home, completely sloshed. Since my brother and I shared the same room, he left the window unlocked, so he could get in. My parents lock the doors at night and he had obviously been locked out before. It was sobering to me, if not to him at the time, how close I had come to just shooting the first thing through the window. I almost shot my brother.

Identify your target and beyond!

This is why my current bedstand gun wears an Insight M3X.

[Jason607]

You handled it right. You're roomate is an idiot.

About the 911 call, that is unacceptable. Even goverment in many fields are trying to run on skeleton crews. Just wait as goverment gets further bogged down with more roles in our daily lives than ever, we'll see a lot more of this stuff.

[DGTigers]

I totally agree and I think even he will at this point. I don't think he knew that I would react that way because he has never grown up around guns and has no experience handling guns other than what I have taught him around the house. He knows that I have multiple firearms and I have taught him how to move them and use them but he is still extremely naive about guns and not used to thinking about things like that. I'm going to try to get him to go tot he range with me in the coming weeks to learn a lot more about all of my guns and how to use them all, but there is only so much you can do with someone that isn't very interested in them. Nontheless, I think that he will be much more careful in the future about "breaking" into the house as he almost had to get his pants drycleaned the next morning.

[J.Smith]

Related story. The little woman and my daughter live at home with her parents while I'm away at school during the year. Instead of living in the dorms, I rent a townhouse with 2 other guys who are card carrying lefties. They know I have guns in the house and avoid my room like the plague. We also have a couple of guys on GI bills who live a couple units over. So one night I'm sound asleep door locked Colt Government is beside my bed and my 590 loaded chamber empty hanging on a rack behind my headboard. I am shocked out of sleep by my door slamming open and 2 men in masks charging through the door. I grabbed for colt, but somehow proceeded to grab a statue that sits on my side table, and proceeded to leap out of bed. (My roommates understand that at night when my door is locked it means the room is off limits, you can knock, but don't under any circumstances come in unannounced). Doing the only thing I could, I cold cocked the one closest to me in the head with the granite statue that sits on my side table. I dropped the statue and grabbed the gun and leveled it at the other one's head. Immediately they both started screaming stop its a joke. My roommates came running in and flipped on my light switch and sure enough it was the 2 army guys. They had gone out drinking and apparently thought it would be funny to mess with one of my roommates who is a real lefty jerkoff. They had gotten the rooms mixedup and instead of charging into his room, they had charged into mine. The guy I hit with the statue had a bad concussion, and needed 22 stitches to his scalp. I made a point of chewing my roommates about the neccessity of locking the doors when they come in late, and also complained to the property owner and leasing agent. While a joke is funny, two idiots almost died that night.

They also had to pay for my door and doorjamb they broke through.

[orionengnr]

J Smith--
Great story.
Note to self--keep an eye out for a granite statue.

To the OP--
Good job. I agree with the people who say that you should contact city council, mayor's office, Police Chief's office, maybe your local newspaper and/or TV station.

[TailGator]

J. Smith: You have a better sense of humor than me. Forcible entry by masked intruders - they are lucky to be alive, and if on your jury I would have to vote justifiable homicide. Very, very fortunate for you and them that you did not choose to fire, but as you relate the story they did nothing that would have kept you from that decision.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I met a parole officerr last year who lives in a nearby city (second highest murder rate in the nation). He said he had had to call 911 three times and had been put on hold twice.

I've called the police three times in my life, using the general number. All three times were not what I would consider to be emergencies. Teenagers doing brake checks and being generally stupid and once for a VERY minor car accident that kind of thing, just things I thought an officer should check out. All three times I was told "Call 911". I was always taught that 911 was life and death territory, not loud neighbors, not stupid teenagers but house fires, bad car accidents, shootings, robbery in progress, etc.

I think the biggest reason that these cities are having so much trouble with 911 is that they've taught people to call 911 for every little nuisance.

When I call 911 they say "911, what is your emergency." I'd feel pretty stupid saying, "The neighbors dog is loose again." or "Some guy just backed into me in a the WalMart parking lot." but apparently most people don't.

[Doc Intrepid]

911 is something you try to use.

If it works, great.

But don't count on it working. Just leave the phone off the hook while you're on hold. Maybe they will record the sounds of the badguys attacking and the resulting gunshots.

(But don't count on that either...)

Its sort of one of those preliminary steps in your SOP - akin to loading your magazines well in advance.

[jfrey123]

DGTigers: Awesome control on your part! The most important aspect of self defense is to identify your target, and by announcing yourself to the intruder when you had the upper hand, you came out on top by far.


J.Smith: Same rule in my home with my roommates. My bedroom door gets locked when I'm asleep. If someone wants in my room that bad, they're going to make a terrible noise as they enter, which should (hopefully) wake me up. But if I wake up to that sort of noise, the roommates are very clear that it will be "Go time".

So this past April Fool's, my roommate gets the bright idea to prank me at 4 am. I have no idea of his plan, so I'm dead asleep. I awake to a furious pounding against my door, and what to me sounds like someone screaming bloody murder and shouting my nickname "Bob". Instantly after I awake the G17 is in my hands, I'm squared away at my door, and the image I have in my head is that my roommate is on the other side begging for help as someone does something unGodly to him. I close distance to my door, hand makes it to the handle, and right as I'm about to fling it open the commotion shops with him now shouting "April Fool's F---er!!!!"

He had his girlfriend record it, and this is what actually happened: the "screaming" I heard was a handheld airhorn he had purchased. He was sounding off the airhorn in various lengths of blasts, yelling my name, and beating on my door. His goal was to wake me up at a very early hour, nothing more. I did inform him of my reaction (many hours later, after the adrenaline was gone) and made sure he understands that my mind goes to the worst possible scenario first. He knows I carry, knows I eat/breathe/sleep self defense, and understands not to do it again.

[Wildalaska]

The only error you made was confronting the intruder.

Cover, cower, cellphone. You should have stayed in the bedroom.

WildthenyouwouldhavehadthesafeadvatageAlaska ™

[Russ5924]

They were busy, people calling that McDonalds were out of Chicken Mc nuggets. I have called 911 twice and they picked up right away never a problem.

[Rich Miranda]

Did you stop to think that the dispatchers may have busy handling other emergencies? Unless you live in a huge city, your local county or small town dispatch office may only have two or three people working at one time. Don't get too bent up about it.

Even if the above was what did occur that night, I still think he should inform PD of it. Maybe not 'complain', but inform. What if they've been considering adding a dispatcher/operator and his call reaffirms that need? If no one tells them about it, they won't know.

Of course, they can't keep an excessive number of people on duty 'just in case'. But if enough people tell them of excessive wait times, perhaps they'll recognize a problem and address it.

[Rich Miranda]

The only error you made was confronting the intruder.

Cover, cower, cellphone. You should have stayed in the bedroom.

WildthenyouwouldhavehadthesafeadvatageAlaska ™

Not to question your omniscience , but wouldn't cowering encourage further intrusion and almost certainly lead to a confrontation where violence is more likely?

Seems to me he got the 'intruder' to run off well before he was actually inside, and that it was the right thing to do.

[Ian0351]

In the words of a famous American statesman, "A man who sacrifices his liberty for security deserves neither". In this instance the intruder was a person with legal rights to the domicile, however it could just has easily been a home invader, drugged up burglar or serial rapist. "Cower" has never been a word I use regarding the defense of my family, home or country.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Unless you live in a huge city, your local county or small town dispatch office may only have two or three people working at one time.

Do you know WHY they have one or two dispatchers? Because they only have one or two emergencies in a shift, generally. Or maybe 5 or 6, but almost never enough to keep two dispatchers tied up at the same time.

The vast majority of 911 problems I have seen are in large metropolitan areas with God only knows how many dispatchers and the reason they're busy is because of people calling 911 because their neighbors stereo is too loud.

[Wildalaska]

Not to question your omniscience , but wouldn't cowering encourage further intrusion and almost certainly lead to a confrontation where violence is more likely?

Not to question your question, can you see where confrontation could have resulted in the death of an innocent human being

In the words of a famous American statesman, "A man who sacrifices his liberty for security deserves neither"

In the words of another famous American and far more apropos: Testosterone is fleeting, a life sentence is 20 years. Last clear chance saves heartbreak, legal fees and misery. Run thou bravely into the fray, keep thine lawyer on retainer. Me, I cover,cower, cell phone, keeping in mind part of Mao's doctrine: when the enemy advances, withdraw...

WilddefenseisalwaysthebesttacticAlaska ™

[Kyo]

the confrontation saved the guys life. If the OP did not confront, just shot when the guy got near, then we might have a problem. You can't decide what will happen if a different choice is made. You can give an option, but no guarantee. I woulda done the same thing. Not confronting the intruder if it was in fact a real intruder might have also been worse. Once inside, the chances of it getting worse just got much higher. But if you catch a guy with his head in a window or midst break in, you have the advantage.
Mao's doctrine is retarded in this situation. My point is not everything you are taught is applicable in situations just because people say so.
Running and hiding yourself to a point where you have no where to go makes no sense to me. If thats right then im wrong

[Wildalaska]

Not confronting the intruder if it was in fact a real intruder might have also been worse. Once inside, the chances of it getting worse just got much higher. But if you catch a guy with his head in a window or midst break in, you have the advantage.

Really? Are you thinking critically, or just reacting to the word cower? Makes your skin crawl does it? The fact that it is the best possible solution in virtually ALL home defense scenarios...???

While I realize its far more manly to charge bravely into the face of the enemy and confront the scumevilbadanimalskellperp who would dare violate yor home, how would you like to volunteer to show us how that gives you the tactical advantage while considering the following scenario additions:

There is already someone in the house hidden. Your family members are defenseless without you. The lighting is poor and you dont have a flashlight, you are sleepy or hungover. You are backlit and making noise....

Und zo:

Hear noise. Go back to bedroom, grab "trusty" gun.Call 911. Cover and cower in bedroom with gf while shouting: I AM ARMED, I HAVE CALL THE POLICE, LEAVE OR I WILL SHOOT.

Hey dude, wait its me, Phred?

Phred? What the hell..........violins play hosannas and two men embrace, etc.....

As opposed to....Run to window, STOP I AM GONNA SHOOT....intepret motion of dropping back out of window as threat and start pumping slugs....Later outside, you see your FORMER roomate with those big round holes in his chest...

I have said it once and again and again and I will repeat it till you guys start thinking with the big head (or at least just start thinking).....

The best tactical choice you can mke in virtually all circumstances is cover, cower, cell phone.

WildbangbangAlaska ™

[Ian0351]

Cowering generally implies, as Kyo points out, that there are no options/exits left. Mao's doctrine generally leads that, having taken territory, one can tactically retreat to gain a defender's advantage should hostile forces advance. Moving into the house to investigate does not mean that you cannot retreat to a position of relative safety (such as a bedroom or 'safe-room'), but staying in the bedroom from the get-go may make it much harder to advance into the main area of the house... especially important if you have dependents who do not sleep in your room.

Ianthebestdefenseisagoodoffense0351