Preparedness in the wee hours

[Murdock]

My community is a rural one of about 385 souls. The year-round population hasn't changed much since the town was incorporated in 1835, as 385 people lived here then, too. In summer this number expands greatly, but year-round we have only about 125 households. Like many places, drugs are a growing threat. Locally a dime bag of heroin costs less than a six-pack of beer.

Last week a fatal shooting occurred at 2:00 am, very close to my own home, but the home owner was prepared.

A pair of would-be robbers lured a neighbor outside of his home, then attacked him.

The full article can be read at the Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

[Edit: Here's the link to the actual, updated story. --Capt Charlie]

http://www.bangordailynews.com/story...hooting,161986

The police indicate that the female was the one who lured the home owner outside, then maced him. Her male companion then began beating him "with a metal object." Clearly, he objected. The female was able to get the wounded male into a vehicle and they departed the scene. The male BG expired shortly thereafter. The autopsy revealed that the decedent was wearing an empty holster.

The victim was able to get inside and wash his face prior to calling 911, according to another news account in the same periodical. Interestingly, both the victim and the perpetrators called 911. The lesson seems to be that you have to get your coherent story to the police first, as advocated by a number of defensive tactics trainers (e.g.; Ayoob, Suarez).

Also, it would seem (in hindsight, of course) that if the homeowner was sufficiently suspicious that he took the precaution of arming himself, a call to law enforcement may have been prudent prior to stepping outside.

Law enforcement (in this case the Maine State Police) seemed to to a superb job of keeping a lid on their investigation until they had the circumstances clearly outlined. They did not drag the homeowner's name through the mud, and it was only publicly revealed when the court document was filed, which strongly suggests a justifiable shooting.

It is anticipated that the female will be charged with felony murder at some point, given the circumstances. She and her expired boyfriend are suspected in a number of recent area home invasions and burglaries.

Law enforcement or EMS can be as much as 30 minutes away out here, and much longer than that in winter. Many local residents are freaked out, as most of us haven't locked our doors in years.

Crime is everywhere, folks. Stay in condition yellow.

[booker_t]

Murdock, FYSA it is copyright infringement to copy & paste an entire article into a message board or some other medium. I suggest editing to include a headline, perhaps a sentence or two (considered "fair use"), and then a link to the full article.

Regarding the content, indeed, criminals are clever and will find ways to get into your house. Be wary of strangers, situations are not always as they appear.

[Murdock]

Thanks. Should have put quotations around the few lines I did use. I have deleted them. The rest of the words are all mine.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Been there on the late night female at the door. Wah, wah. Then called me a vulgar name for a coward who wouldn't open the door for a girl.

Then, heard her say - He won't open the door - to someone.

Before my gun days - still wouldn't have opened it.

[cracked91]

According to the article (and related articles) the couple had robbed an 80 year old woman earlier that night, and had cut her phone line before robbing her.

Also, from reading some of the commentary, it was said that that area of Eastbrook did not have cell service.

While I think handled himself very well, I think a smoother course of action would have been to stay locked up and call the police. Commentary also suggested that the police would be 20-45 minutes away in that area. Tough luck if your stranded. Thats the chance you take when traveling at 2am. But had his landline been cut, he would have known right away that something was wrong.

Both parties did call 911, so he obviously did have phone service.

Taking on an armed BG after recieving a facefull of pepper spray does say alot about his tactical preparedness, but had they gone the easy route and replaced the pepper spray with the .38 to begin with, things would have been very different.

[Doc Intrepid]

Wanted to thank you for posting that link.

While I might generally be somewhat suspicious of anyone showing up at my door late at night, with the icy winter weather we've been having in my region this year if a woman showed up at my door after dark, told me her kids were in the car and she'd slid off the road, being aware the roads are icy here I likely would have not questioned her story...particularly if kids were claimed to be stuck in winter weather. I would have responded also.

With regard to this comment, however,...

Originally Posted by Murdock

"Also, it would seem (in hindsight, of course) that if the homeowner was sufficiently suspicious that he took the precaution of arming himself, a call to law enforcement may have been prudent prior to stepping outside."

...I routinely slip a handgun into my pocket if I need to go out at night, so in this case, believing I was responding to a woman and kids stuck in the snow, I would have following my normal routine. I probably would not have called the police before heading out, either. Probably makes me the same sort of victim, but calling the police before going out to help someone who slid off the road would not have crossed my mind.



It might cross my mind in the future, however, so thanks for posting the link.

Doc

[markj]

No one ever knocks on my door at night, I do shower too. When I do go out at night to investigate (I live on a farm) I have a 45 in the pocket, never know what nocturnal delights are awaiting.

[Murdock]

The evening of the shooting we were having a very nasty storm, so the woman's ploy was plausible. Most rural Mainers tend to want to respond to a need for help, and the BG's were counting on that, I'm sure.

We are only a couple of homes up from the site of the shooting, but far enough away not have heard the gunfire on a stormy night. Gunfire late at night is not unusual here. Sometimes it's pest shooting, sometimes (January and February) coyote hunting at night is legal. Sometimes it's poaching. And sometimes I suspect Jethro has had a few and is showing off his new Hi-cap 9mm to a buddy in his backyard. I've called the local game warden if I suspect poaching, but otherwise have let it go. The response time for an LEO to check out an event that is long past is usually too long to bother with.

I too have had strangers come to my home who requested entry to use the phone, alleging a vehicle breakdown of some sort. Not unusual out here. I refused entry, but let them stand on my porch and use my cordless house phone. My 1911 had come to the door with me, but remained out of sight.

There is not much stranger-on-stranger crime in rural Maine, but a significant number of homicides have occurred when a home owner has returned to find people ransacking his or her house and gotten brushed aside with a knife or some other weapon as the BG's tried to get away. I carry daily, and always make sure I arrive at home armed and alert if we've been away.

We are seriously in the boonies, and except for the paved road by the house you can go in any other direction for up to 8 to 17 miles without crossing another paved road. One year my neighbor had 3 armed men come to his home very late at night. Turns out they were deer hunters who had been lost and wandering for about 2 days. He didn't let them in either, under the circumstances, but directed them to a another town resident who was a deputy sheriff, who took care of them.

Rural bliss. But hey; we're still a free state.

[AK103K]

Dont people keep dogs anymore?

If anyone comes to our door (or even around the yard) they get met with two 125+ pound Rottweilers, that are happy to be your friend, or enemy, your choice. Good or bad, dont ever raise your voice, especially if "Mom" is around.

We're rural too. No real close neighbors, no cell coverage, no 911, no quick police response, unless a Trooper happens to be close by. I wear a pistol all the time anyway, so having to go look for one isnt an issue. We get a number of people each year that have had wrecks out at the road and found their cell phones dont work. They usually come running up the drive in a panic with their phones waving in their hands. You just have to use your judgment and do what you can, be it phone, help, or what ever. Still, its nice to know the dogs, as well as other family members have you covered.

[Onward Allusion]

I think you just validated the percentages and the forum members from the "answering the door armed" thread. I also think it made some of the folks who refer to those who carry at home as "paranoid" think twice.

I'm glad the home owner was not seriously hurt or killed.

Murdock
Preparedness in the wee hours
My community is a rural one of about 385 souls.<SNIP>
Last week a fatal shooting occurred at 2:00 am, very close to my own home, but the home owner was prepared.

A pair of would-be robbers lured a neighbor outside of his home, then attacked him.

[Doug S]

This is an interesting topic. I've only had one similiar situation, and it is difficult to know how you will respond, if you've never thought about it, or never found yourself in this situation. I was wakened up at 4a.m. after feeling a thud. The lights in the house were all surging, and I could hear someone pounding on my door. I live in a split entry home, and I can speak to someone on my porch by turning on the porch light and speaking to the person through a window. Turned out to be our "paper boy", who claimed that a deer had run in front of him, causing hm to swerve off of our short dead-end street with 25mph speed limtis, and in the process he had taken out our electrical entry. Although I didn't know him, I did allow him in to make some calls. I armed myself beforehand, and kept my distance from him while he was in the house. Still a very unnerving experience, and one that caused me to put much more thought into how I would handle such situations in the future. Fortunately, it hasn't happened since. I don't think I would open the door again, unless it was someone that I clearly know and trust. Otherwise I will speak to them from the window, with my firearm in hand and offer to make a call for them. That said, we finally have at least minimal cell coverage, so that someone should be able to make a call for themselves.

[markj]

Most rural Mainers tend to want to respond to a need for help, and the BG's were counting on that, I'm sure.

As is the case in most American rural settings. I have pulled many a car out of the ditch on a wintery night.

I was hunting years ago, some fool shot my radiator. I had 2 gallons of water for my dogs, I put it in and ran to teh nearest farmhouse. Lady answered and let me use her outside fawcett to fill up the radiator and all the spare containers with water, went to town and put in a bunch of sealer and limper on home. Wasnt for her I would still be out there 35 years later

Dogs and motion lights work well in a rural area.

[aarondhgraham]

Several years back, before I had a cell phone,,,
My old beater car broke down late at night,,,
I had no choice but to knock on a door.

It was about 9:30-ish and after I knocked I backed away from the door,,,
I kept my hands visible and tried to look harmless.

Have you ever had a double-barrel 12 gauge pointed at you?,,,
It looked like I was staring down two pieces of 4" pipe,,,
I swear I could see the crimp on the shells.

I didn't even ask if I could come in to use a phone,,,
I simply asked them to call and give directions to my wife.

They said they would so I left very quickly,,,
I spent most of the night freezing in the back of my car.

So while it's easy to imagine the fear a homeowner might face,,,
Try thinking about it from the other side as well.

Chills go up my spine just remembering those barrels pointed at my face!

Aarond

[ncpatriot]

Tough issue. Most of us want to be good neighbors & good Samaritans. We can't let fear turn us into cold, heartless hermits. But we also have to watch out for ourselves. There are wolves out there waiting to devour the meek. We should set up our homes in ways we can talk without opening the door. Intercoms are a good option, one could give us a phone # to call on their behalf. We could then decide after the call if the person may be OK to let in from the cold. Someone showing up with a kid is most likely OK, I don't recall any crimes in this area with anyone using kids as a cover. I always have my gun in hand going to door at night, in some cases I won't hesitate for it to be seen, if a door next to a window.

I sometimes get night calls for service work. Gun stays on me then. Hasn't happened yet in my trade, but tow drivers have been called out on phony calls that were traps. I don't know of a tow driver that doesn't carry.

[ncpatriot]

P. S.

I did some work for a customer with a camera/speaker mounted outside, high on a wall. She could monitor that part of the yard from a small screen inside, about size of small laptop computer. She could yell through the speaker to "get out of my yard". Camera gave a good panoramic view. I'm thinking of something like this, when I get some extra money again. Mounted properly, could see the entire porch & surrounding area to spot anyone hiding.

[markj]

Motion sensored sprinklers is on my list of must haves for HD

[KingEdward]

thanks for sharing.

"stay in condition yellow"

good reminder especially for this time of year.

[Duxman]

A few years ago I had a young hispanic male knock on my door looking for a party. I was alone at the time and the house was dark. I informed him that there was no party here and to move on.

(I was armed with a 40SW P99 at that time). He walked to his car and drove off. I thought it was strange as we live in a family oriented neighborhood - mostly couples with children. None of which were old enough to throw a house party.

Anyway - this incident made me think that it was a good idea not to open the door. Thanks.

[rantingredneck]

Originally Posted by Glenn E. Meyer

Been there on the late night female at the door. Wah, wah. Then called me a vulgar name for a coward who wouldn't open the door for a girl.

Yep, that's one of the oldest tricks in the book and was attempted on our home when I was a teenager. I went to the door and looked through the peephole to find a distressed looking young woman there begging to be let inside to use the phone. She kept looking to her left. I walked to a nearby window and peeked out the edge of the curtain to find 2 men crouched by the porch. My grandfather shortly had a 12 ga in hand and we shouted loudly through the door that the police were en route.

The latest one for me was back in the summer. A fellow knocked on the door one Sunday afternoon. Well dressed selling "cleaning products". I opened the main door about 5 inches with my foot behind it. My SP101 was in a holster on a shelf over my chair. My wife looked out the window and saw the two guys in the van and got up and grabbed it and had things covered. I had a folding knife in my hand behind the door as that was all I had on me. I had taken my gun off when we got home from church (stupid). The fellow wanted to come inside to demonstrate this lovely hand vac he had that would "work wonders on our carpet for spills and such" (we don't have carpet). The fellow wasn't bright enough to cut off the cord to said hand vac as it was dangling in plain sight. I sorta kinda wondered how he was going to plug that 12v DC plug into my 110v AC outlets.......... I also sorta kinda wondered at the intentions of the two other fellows in the van parked in my driveway.

I told the fellow at the door that we had no carpet and he had to be one of the dumbest attempted home invaders I'd ever met and that I was armed and asked him how he'd like to continue. He left.... I called the police and gave them the description of the 3 guys and the van.

[Eagle0711]

I have asked my wife not to open the door for strangers, especially after dark. She sees the world through rose colored glasses and feels that most are all good people, and doesn't believe that anything bad will happen to us.

One night at 11:00 PM a knock came to the door, and a young fellow couldn't find his friends house and asked to use the phone. My wife let him in and he used the phone. He even left a couple of dollars, after he got his directions.

The whole time I stood in the dark hallway where he couldn't see me with an 870 with 00 buck in the chamber pointed at him. Finger was off of the trigger.

I wonder what he would have thought if he had known?

[markj]

I had a girl ask me to let her use my bathroom, wierd thing was I was in a housing project dropping off a clients car....... I belive to this day she had ulterior motives and wished to trade me something for cash.... of which I had none.

[youngunz4life]

I will be really upset if this woman isn't charged with felony murder(amongst a host of other charges), but I guess that's why they pay the prosecutor&why he went to law school in the first place. We or I should say I already know even if they do charge her with the whole book she'll get out eventually. This Crowley girl is lower than the scum in an old bucket. The guy knew something was up, yet he still tried to be a good guy. It could've been much worse for him, the 80yr old woman, and most definately might've been for someone else if richards didn't get what was coming to him when he did.

[youngunz4life]

also, there is nothing wrong with helping someone @ 2am I must add because it happens, but the cops should be called first and this should be common knowledge to anyone involved - they are called no matter what this crowley gal says when the suggestion is brought up

[Delaware_Dan]

I'm suprised that more people just don't answer the door. We recently moved into an apt. where the previous tennant was a scumbag with multiple warrants and substantial outstanding debt. I heard the doorbell ring a month or two ago and I let it go. I looked out the window at the 2 minute warning, (Eagles game, not some sort of "tactical" term) and didn't know the guy so I didn't ask him in for a beer. There is a ton of other apartments in our complex, so if it was an emergency he would have knoked on another door as well. If I'm not expecting anyone, I don't bother getting up. It's 1/2 laziness, half: I figure you got the wrong apartment. We are not the best area but I have had an nutcase encounter once, an we have only lived here for a couple months.

Answering the door is overrated.

[youngunz4life]

yeah when I was a young buck I just hit every buzzer- worked everytime without fail. Someone always buzzed me in without any communication.