Rural Home Invasion Scenario

[LASur5r]

This was reported on another thread, but I wanted to check with you guys:

You're at home late at night on your computer writing your latest rant to your buds...so most of your lights are off.
All of a sudden you hear about five rounds fired right in your front yard. You live in a rural area and you know it'll be a while before the cavalry can even arrive. So you hit the deck....cut off all lights....locate your armament before they can enter the house....locate your wife and other tenants at the same time.

You have your wife grab the cell phone to get the cavalry started. Meanwhile she grabs the shotgun, gathers up the little guys and head for the "safe room." In this case there were additional tenants living in the basement. You make sure they hunker down in the basement with lights out. That way you don't have any strays running around.

Now what?

You check the perimeter from a different room with lights out. You don't hear your dogs...so chances are they have been eliminated already. What do you do?

Let's add to the scenario...you hear a truck at the rear of your house and this time there are five more shots in rapid succession. Are they trying to draw you to one side, while they attack from another? Your nearest neighbor is several hundred yards away...you scope their house and you don't see any lights on. Probably no help from that side....

Ok, folks...need some help...Now what?

[SamH]

Need more info.

How much land, and what type of terrain and vegetation to the front, rear, and sides of your house? Are there roads to both front and rear of your property? What have you got around the house?

With the information you have given already, it seems that the best option would be bunker down in the 'safe room' and await the carnage (or the cops).

[M1911]

It would seem to me that the best move might be to just hole up in the safe room, with your heaviest artillery pointed at the door. To get outside, you'll have to go through a door (a fatal funnel). You'll probably be outnumbered. It's dark. You probably don't have NV goggles and the like.

I'd play for time. Hole up in the safe room. Hope the cavalry arrives in time. If not, first bad guy through the safe room door eats a long gun round or two. If you're lucky, that will encourage the others to go find an easier target. If you're not lucky, you hopefully still have the advantage of cover and they have to move through a fatal funnel.

M1911

[corv]

Hope I never have to "locate" my armorment or my wife.I always have my armor on me and know where my wife is. YMMV

[The Plainsman]

Since I live in such a setting, I reckon I'd just gather my close-by designated "emergency" shootin' irons and ammo, hole up in my "safe room" with my bride (assuming no other guests), call for the good guys via the cell phone, and wait'em out, as M1911 suggests. The dogs are on their own. Between shotgun pellets, .223 and 9mm flyin' lead, I reckon the bad guys would probably keep their distance. If they overran us, we'd at least take some of them with us, I betcha!

I can't imagine such an assault on my home by any "group" of bad guys since Leavenworth is 65 miles away. Seriously, the only circumstances under which I could realistically expect such a coordinated assault, would be if something had happened to raise my profile in the eyes of the BATF or some other Waco veteran outfit, which I do NOT anticipate any time soon - but who knows.....

[Joe Demko]

As several others have already noted, retreat tot he safe room with the wife/bairns/guests and wait behind some big, nasty guns while caling 911. I would remain on the line with the police because it would be an unhappy thing to have the cavalry arrive and then accidentally shoot one of them because I didn't know whether they were the guys I called or the guys because of whom I called.

[Karsten]

But no one made mention of who was the Cavalary and who called them? View your own Theather guys and gal and take note that the Cavalary may be busy, on break, changing shifts or just not give a darn.
If you had a safe room, that means you and you family where ready. That means (or should mean) that wifey is and can be a compatent backup. No Disrespect ladies, maybe hubby could help out a bit :-) You all know that one to 2 people with a plan are way better than a mob. After all the mob is what, mass organized confusision with no lead leader.

[Joe Demko]

Karsten,
Who replies when you call 911? I believe that is the cavalry referred to in several posts, including my own.

[Correia]

Safe room is probably the best way to go, unless they set the house of fire. Well you never know. Depends on what the badguys want from you.

This would be a good time for some NVGs, and windows with solid cover.

[Cheapo]

Nearest neighbor's house is in sight, so *if* all remained quiet for more than a minute, I would either dump 911 and call the neighbor for a sitrep, or ask 911 to call the neighbor for a sitrep.

I would NOT be embarrased to wake them up!

Now, *if* you know the neighbor has call waiting and the line still shows busy, would that indicate a *possibility* that their land line has been cut? In my phone system, it may also mean that they have one call live and one waiting.

Come to think of it, I'd ask 911 to call, and exercise a "break in" to the phone line if it were busy. If you get the voicemail, rotsa ruck, bucko!

The point here is to get recon, get possible assistance, and maybe even ascertain if the goblins might have started by cutting the neighbor's phone lines and dispatching them first.

Do you know any neighbor's or trusted nearby buddy's cell phone number? BTW, I'd try the land line first, before making the request for 911 to call the neighbor.

[CSOs ROCK]

I have to agree with most people that suggest holing up.

No sense in playing RAMBO ( )and turning a scenario worse. ESPECIALLY if the cops show up and see 2 parties in combat. What's the uniform to do?

Hole up. As someone mentioned before, have the heaviest artillery pointed at the door. Shouldn't be anyone but the bad guys coming through. Establish contact with the local emergency operator AND keep them on the line with you. That way you'll know when the cops are on scene.

The gun is for home and family DEFENSE. Not OFFENSE.
Stick to the smart plan.

[Nevada Fitch]

Well it just so happens that I live on a farm.The closest house is half a mile away.My house has too much glass in it.I don't have much of a safe room. I do keep a 45auto handy with several clips.I would get them first.Since I have so much glass I would probably take a peek outside and see if I could see what was happening.I might call 911 if I thought I had time. However before I wasted time doing that I would probably be getting the safe open and getting one of my already loaded rifles out.IF they are behind my house that means they have already gone though my gate or fence which is about 200yds from the road.I don't care it may not be the smartest thing to do or the politically correct thing to do, but after I evaluate the siduation they will be hearing from me, And I may shoot without warning depending on what they are doing.Heaven help us after that.

[SamH]

Hehe.... I live on a farm. My closest neighbour's house is only a stone's throw away! But I have no firearms. The nearest police station is 20 minutes away by car. I'd be screwed if the suggested scenario happened to me!

[ChuteTheMall]

I'd trigger the Claymores. 8-)

I'd phone 911 on the land line IF possible so the 911 operator will already have my address. Hopefully they won't get the address wrong and rush to 626 Hillside Lane instead of 636 Hillside Loop. Cell phone is 2nd choice.

[Karsten]

Golgo-13
You want to know who responds went I call 911....A busy signal!!! So I don't nor do I call.
Erick doesn't care for my posts so I can't say much. SAD state when you are limited to their oppinion (LE and their thin skin) and what can be said. He told he will delete or edit my my posts as he see fit. I guess Kali sheriffs can censor what they please. After All, CENSORSHIP IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE GUN GRABBER GAME....

[Edited by Karsten on 02-02-2001 at 01:39 AM]

[DL]

Just to add some fuel, here in S. Florida the poor guys in charge of keeping what law is left around here are occasionally fed bad info about exactly which address has all the drugs and laundered money. IOW, occasionally they bash down the door of the wrong house.

So, you can't necessarily assume its bad guys out there. It could be good guys with bad info, and today's your "lucky" day. I'd be on the cell phone screaming at 911, I'd have the door bolted or a chair against the knob, I'd be yelling out to whoever was in the house that I had the police on the phone and that I had weapons pointed at the door. If it's the police, I'd get verification from 911 and hope to get some communication going. If not, only a psycho would come through that door, at which point all bets would be off.

Hmm, I know we have LEO's on this board, I wonder what their take would be on this situation. What would *they* do if they got the wrong house and then encountered armed civilians barricaded in a room. I know they wouldn't be firing rounds in the yard (unless my pit-poodle was gnawing on someone's ankle), but the crash of a door coming open against its will would certainly send me to the safe room in a hurry. (Actually, if I'm on my computer I'm already in the safe room...)

DL

[LASur5r]

Karsten has a point, though. There are some guys who live in a rural area and the LEO's might be few and far between. So the cavalry might be your neighbors first.

Actually, even some of the city folks should have a good working knowledge of how fast the LEO's are in your area because when it's a busy night, sometimes, the LEO's can't get to you soon enough.

That's why we are talking about "safe rooms" and being armed in your home....so that you can either buy enough time for the "cavalry", in this case the LEO's, to arrive or for you to cut down the odds enough for the BG's to get the idea that you won't come out to play.

for example, I talk to another guy on another thread who has trained with several friends and they are ready, willing, and able to back one another up if a real fire fight develops..

Ok, just for fun...the BG's leave the house, cussing and fussing because you up have a "safe room." You relax, but you hear something about "burn them down."
A muffled crash and a smash of a window as a molatov comes through the window. the smoke alarm goes off.

As far as you can tell, the baddies have begun burning your house. Being the well prepared type, you see with your NV goggles that they are in the tree lines waiting for someone to come out so that they can gun you down.

Happened to a vice-narc friend of mine....the punks killed his girlfriend on the front lawn as she ran out of the house when they firebombed the front porch. The LEO was still working OT on a stakeout when she died.

[Canuck84]

Sorry to hear about your bud's GF. People who would shoot a running female.... arg... well I got a buck knife and a large elastic band for them... 8-) did they catch the perps?

But seriously, How do you build a safe room. I have windows in all of our rooms. Our Master Bedroom is 3 seconds up the stairs when you bust through the door. I'm living in the basement, bout 7 seconds down but I'm a sound sleeper and unless they broke my window....

But do you want a Safe room with exits (could be entrys) so you can get out of their into the ally? Or do you want to bunker down when they set the house on fire....?

Sorry, If anyone has any references of 'safe room plans' That'd be great.....

Assuming (to keep on thread) you are in the country, If you are robbed the BG's figure your going to play nice knowing the cops arn't their for 20 min to help out. Supprise is on our side!

Thanks,
Canuck84

PS: The Theatre is Great! I have shown it to a dozen already to illistrate some points......... Keep it up!

[SamH]

Bloody cowards! Shooting a woman on the run!

It's probably a good idea to have a portable fire-extinguisher in your home, preferably in the safe room. Blankets wouldn't be a bad addition, IMHO.

[ERRainman]

OK. I live in the country, can see my neighbors, and the safe room is the not hard to get to. There's plenty of firepower there for whoever thinks they are coming through my door. I'm sitting right there with the wife and kiddos until somebody I *know* arrives. In my neck of the woods, that's the local LEO around the corner (1.5 km) or the neighbor and his pack of canines (you'd have to have a lot of firepower to take on all of them and him).

Now as to the fire issue - I've debated revising the safe room and the crawl space to include an exit only route in case of just such a scenario. I figure a steel plate armored crawlspace tunnel to an opening other than the crawlspace entrance with a one-way door will do the trick. Haven't figured out quite how to make this the safest route it could be, but am working on the design. There are 3 other buildings on our property, and lots of trees for cover/concealment if we get out. I'm just not sure where the safest route would be.

[The Plainsman]

I must say - although many of these same thoughts and scenarios have run through my mind at one time or another, in reality, what are the odds, the honest-to-gosh chances of any of us finding ourselves in a situation where we and our home are actually under siege??

Since I'm one of the folks who lives in the country, certainly I'd want to be prepared, but if the truth be known, I guess I'm just not such a cynic that I worry about who just rang the doorbell (barring a ring at 2am). I don't typically answer the door with a gun in my hand. You know - I live in an area where folks still wave at one another as they pass on the road - even if they don't know one another. It's just "the neighborly thing to do".

Now, I do have various types of firearms distributed throughout the house, so that I would have access to some kind of weapon, regardless of where I am in the house, but I reckon the bad guys would get the jump on me if they just barged in as I opened the door. They'd just better keep a damned sharp eye on me and my bride while they're doin' their thing, 'cause the second they blink, one of us is gonna get the drop on 'em and start blowin' holes in someone. I just pray to the good Lord that it never comes to pass. We're too old to start training as "Rambo Junior".

[SamH]

The Plainsman wrote:

Since I'm one of the folks who lives in the country, certainly I'd want to be prepared, but if the truth be known, I guess I'm just not such a cynic that I worry about who just rang the doorbell (barring a ring at 2am).

LOL, someone actually did knock on my house at 2 a.m. this morning!

Scared the living crap out of me for second. But he proved harmless... just a lost motorist with no cell phone.

[ERRainman]

Well, we moved to the country to get away from the problems of urban life, only to find that the neighbor right across the street is a wild as a buck little whore who was so brazen as to offer her services to our carpet installers. Further little vignettes into her life include running with a seedy crowd of "businessmen" from a couple of smaller towns not that far away. Now, I'm not saying it's probable, but the likelihood of those guys being involved in some nefarious goings-on in my neck of the woods is just as high as the drug dealer that my previous community railroaded to the Hilton (with the silver bracelets). I'm not one to take threats (or the close proximity of threatening people) close to my home very lightly. I don't go 'round spoiling for a fight, but I'm always very prepared should someone else pick one.

As for the passage from the safe room - ever been inside a house that's on fire? It's not very comfortable! And safe escape routes can be planned without exposing one's self or family to the BG's. It's not that I want to use the route, just that I don't want my family to die or get shot up by a bunch of law-dodging/breaking hoodlums trying to use my wife and kids as poker chips to bargain with the SWAT fellas 'round here.

A few months ago my uncle was awakened by a loud knock at his door 15 minutes before climbing out of bed for his night shift. He walks to the door half asleep and is yanked out the door into an *armored* vehicle by a *State* SWAT team. It seems that one of the neighbors had enough explosives to turn the entire little community into Hiroshima and had actually just set his "friend" on fire with Kerosene as an example to the SWAT folks just how serious he was about his endeavor.

Just goes to show you that *anything* can happen *anywhere* and that Murphy can move into *your* house anytime he wants.

ERRainman
who thinks that Murphy wears titanium underwear beneath his Kevlar vest

[Lance Gothic]

Brothers & Sisters-in-Arms,
Canuck84 & Plainsman,
Dear Canuck84,
Enviable question! I have designed safe rooms and one specialty is the "Safe Space".
(I'll try not to go too long, therefore e-mail me.)
Look at the factors of a safe room.
Location, climate, cost, ease of access/egress and what do you need it for.
I mention location and climate since some of us have basements while others do not.
As for location, this is where you have elected to be, be it urban, sub-urban, rural, tundra or jungle (inner-city or palm fronded.)
Usually the center of the house has the most support around it, hence location within the house. This will most likely be a bathroom.
For the purposes of this forum let's say that you want a all-around safe room and weaponry, communication and extras.
1) Re-inforced walls. Fire retardance or fire-proof.
2) Bullet-proof windows.
3) Communication. (Commo) A cell phone.
4) Access/egress which YOU control.
Starting with what you already have and not going too far afield in your preparedness is your best means of success.
Working with both a builder and a security specialist, (Don't forget your bank and insurance provider!), you should be able to provide yourself and family with enhanced protection.
Gun-ports are not a necessity.
As you have likely seen in other forums you have some preliminary options which provide you the best warning, i.e.
1) A dog. Cheapest, most loving insurance you'll ever have.
2) Mental preparedness and planning.
3) Deciding on the outcome before you need to use the plan.
When you prepare for in-home emergency what things are necessary? First aid kit. Portable light/flashlight. Fire protection/suppression. Reliable communication. "Creature comforts". And the will to say "I CAN"!
Regards,
Lance Gothic
Shibumi

[Spectre]

I really only see one likely cause of apparently coordinated attacks on my domicile, and that's LEO with faulty, faulty, faulty, faulty "intelligence".

Regardless, my typical answer will probably sound like "get low", dial 911. Body armor and upgunning options as time allows.