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MI - Someone tried to break into my apartment tonight

kmcdowel

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Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
253
Location
Marquette, Michigan, USA
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It was around 2:15am and I awoke to a loud bang. I grabbed my pistol next to me and made a quick trip around my apart to find nothing; no big deal because the guy who lives above me is quite loud at all hours of the night. I laid back down and within a few seconds I see something out my window. I jumped out of bed, ran to the window expecting to see nothing but my mind playing tricks on me when I actually find a ‘thug’ dressed young man trying to break into my apartment. I hit the window and yelled at him, asking what he was doing outside my window. He muffled some answer that I couldn’t hear, but was pretty calm. I asked again and he said something about trying to get into his apartment. I quickly got dressed,strapped on my pistol and walked outside. I approached him sternly asking what he is doing outside my window at 2:30 in the morning. He explained he was trying to get inside his apartment, which was next to mine. He claimed he had lost his key, and was at the wrong window trying to get in. His windows were the next two. We walked down to them and they were securely latched shut, and one had been broken. I wondered if this could have caused the noise that woke me. I backed off for a while and stood in the parking lot about 25 feet away for a good 15 minutes in the lovely 20degree weather waiting to see what he was going to do, knowing he could not get into that window. Growing inpatient and wanting to know more about this guy I approached him again, asking his name. He gave it to me, and I asked if there was anything I could do to help him out…he asked, “do you have a phone?” and I said, “yeah, stay here and I’ll bring it out.” He didn’t stay outside but followed me into the apartment complex where I stopped at the mailboxes and looked at his. His name was not on the mailbox where he said he lived. This gave me quite a bit of suspicion, making him a liar already. I asked him about it, and he said he didn’t have his mail sent here, I asked whose name was on the mailbox and he said that it was his cousins. I told him to stay there and I’ll grab my phone. I went and got my phone, and when I came out I asked him his cousin’s last name, to which he replied, “I don’t know.” Again, throwing more flags. He used my phone to call for a ride and by this time I had forgotten his first name so I asked again, and he told me.He walked off and I went back into my apartment His dress (yesI stereotype)and sketchy behavior prompted me to do a criminal background check which showed a previous felony conviction for home invasion! At this point I decided to call the police and let them know what had happened. I gave them adescription of the guy and they said it matched someone else they were investigating earlier this morning. They also said that this was not his permanent address on file, and that they would send over a unit to check things out. When the cop showed up I told him I was carrying (as required by Michigan law), he asked if I had my CCW and I told him yes (too cold to OC comfortably). We walked around to the window and when he shined his flashlight inside the window of his alleged apartment I could see clearly inside. There were no belongings whatsoever other than a bed. No bedding, pillows, clothes, nothing; making it doubtful than anyone stayed there regularly.

I’m not sure what will resultof this, I don’t think any charges could be filed other than for the broken window and good luck proving he did it. Two hours later I’m still not sure if he was telling the truth and it was honest mistake, or if he was lying and trying to invade my home. I’m not able to go to bed, so I decided to share my story with you. I can’t help but think, what if my window wasn’t latched… this ignorant asshole breaks into my apartment thinking it’s his own and I shoot and kill him….:cuss:
 

VAopencarry

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I'd say next time stay in your apartment and call the police. A whole lot of shit could have went wrong when you went outside to confront him.
 

kmcdowel

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253
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Marquette, Michigan, USA
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VAopencarry wrote:
I'd say next time stay in your apartment and call the police. A whole lot of shit could have went wrong when you went outside to confront him.

I absolutely loathe the idea of waiting for the police to come and save me. Whether this is a good choice or not is debatable. I can see arguments for both sides. Looking back I think I would have been more than justified in drawing my weapon...but then what? He runs away and I don't learn anything about him and he moves on to the next apartment complex tomorrow? His unnaturally calm demeanor made me think he was not a threat, and that I could go and confront him. I'm fairly certain, though, that he was under the influence of something. His latent responses and plane idiocy were indicative of this. They could also be indicative of a criminal trying to talk his way out of a jam. I do think however than running to the window from my bedun-armed was a poor choice. But, like I said I really wasn't expecting anyone to be there and if they were I wanted to 'catch' them.



nothing personal VAopencarry, but this is how universities justify unarming me when I feel I need my weapon the most. They say to wait in the classroom and call the police. That upsets me like you wouldn't believe... they choose to leave me defenseless to wait for my turn to die. How long will it take them to arrive in my classroom (or apartment)? I think three minutes would be a long shot, and imagine the number of people that could be killed in three minutes. However, as I was armed in my apartment I probably should have just waited to see if he chose to enter my window. Quite interestingly, this seemingly better optionlikely would have resulted in an(possibly) innocent life being taken. Maybe verbal warnings would have scared him off...who knows. It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.
 

lax

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Sierra Vista, AZ
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I don't have the legal protections that the cops have.I would have called and observed while staying warm and armedinside the apartment.
 

Sa45auto

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, , USA
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Things to remember.

1. Always be prepared.

2. We are not the police.

3. We stop when the threat stops, we do not pursue.

4. We use force sufficient to stop the threat, in the protection of ourselves, our home, our family, and another innocent person from a real threat.

5. We don't shoot blindly in the dark or at unseen assailants.....Ge I'm sorry honey, I thought you were a bugler.

6. Without compromising our safety or the safety of others, we call, or have another call,for backup (the police) as soon as possible.

7. We maintain our safety and the safety of others, by securing and maintainingour parameter until backup has arrived.
 

Mainsail

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Silverdale, Washington, USA
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Sheesh, I would have had the cops on the phone as soon as I saw someone outside my window. At that point you knew of only one person, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a buddy or two around the corner looking at other windows. I don’t believe in running from a fight, but neither do I believe in running towards one. That’s what you did. If all he needed is a phone, the police will let him use one of theirs.
 

kmcdowel

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Marquette, Michigan, USA
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Thanks for all your input thus far. I guess the reason I didn't call the police is that I felt the threat was neutralized upon confronting him while I was in my apartment. His reaction was neither aggression nor remorseful...he just kind-of stood there with a blank look on his face. I'm pretty sure he was stoned. After this I just wanted to go and see what the fck he was doing outside my window. Only later, when he lied about living next door, (probably) lied about his cousin living next door, and when I found he had a prior conviction for home invasion did I think about calling the police. If he had no prior conviction I really doubt I would have called at all.

...if: when I opened my blinds and confronted him he continued his attempt would it be time to 'draw' on him and give verbal warning(s) to back off?? What if he continued??

If he fled I would have certainly called the police and stayed in my apartment.

Again, thanks for your thoughts and keep them coming... this isa great learning experience for me.
 

Sa45auto

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, , USA
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kmcdowel wrote:
........thanks for your thoughts and keep them coming... this isa great learning experience for me.
They say that when it comes to landing a plane that any landing you can walk away from is a good one.......and in this case I guess you can say that any time someone attempts to break into your house and no one is hurt and nothing is lost or broken it is a good outcome.
 

DrewGunner

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Jun 29, 2007
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Seattle, Washington, USA
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Weird… So you either stopped a potential break-in or you have a very, very stupid convicted felon living next door to you.



You said the window latch on one of the windows was broken? Why didn’t he climb in?
 

kmcdowel

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Marquette, Michigan, USA
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...the windows are double paned (sp?), and the outside pane on the window next door to me had a 5"x5" break in it. The latch was still in tact. And yes, breaking into an apartment at 2:30am is very dumb.
 

VAopencarry

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I hear you but...

I don't see it as the cops coming to save you. You were not in any physical danger.

If you go outside to confront the guy and end up having to shoot him, even in self defense, you will have a lot of explaining to do because you went after him when he was no threat to you, initially.
 

kmcdowel

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Marquette, Michigan, USA
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I actually have it. When I moved in my girlfriend noticed a tether on his ankle so I did a criminal background search on him. He is a sex offender. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm moving out in a month.....
 

protector84

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Oct 6, 2007
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Arizona, U.S.
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Sheesh, I would have had the cops on the phone as soon as I saw someone outside my window.

Many gun owners seem to still favor police intervention when it is often not necessary. Before I became a gun owner, I used to call the police when there were problems but not once did they ever solve them. Unless it is really serious that you are not able to control the situation or it is something that has to be documented, I would not call the police. Reporting car accidents, theft, and things like that which would require a police report for your insurance company would be grounds for calling the police. If someone is being held hostage or someone is threatening to commit suicide and is hanging out the window, and you clearly aren't trained to handle such situations, then by all means call the police. Having someone at your window is not grounds for calling the police unless you enjoy dealing with the hassle of explaining the same facts over and over to representatives of Uncle Sam many of whom have an IQ in the double digits.

People need to understand the real role of the police and military in ANY country. They want you to believe they are here for your safety and security or to protect your freedom. That is complete baloney. Their role is to ensure that the current government remains in power. It has been this way for thousands of years. The police are not your friend and they are not here to help you. That may be their secondary mission as they do save lives and they do help people but that is not what their true role is in society. They are there to keep the population managed and controlled and that includes you.

Being a responsible gun owner also means you are being self-reliant which also means that relying on the police for your safety is a bad strategy. In my experiences they make a simple situation complicated and instead of focusing on the criminal, they focus on you.

Take a situation of a simple drunk at a bar that has an attitude with everyone for no apparent reason and you just happened to be the unlucky one. You are minding your own business not even looking at the drunk and he starts harrassing you and your girlfriend. You tell him to shove off, he hits you, and you knock the shit out of him. A smart person would immediately leave the scene and not call the police. Someone not so wise would either call the cops or wait around for them. This is how they would likely act:

"Did you say anything to him that would set him off? Have you had too much to drink? Was this some love triangle that you were involved in? Is that what this is all about? Was this a drug deal gone bad? Show me what is in your pockets. Was he a friend of yours? Are you two settling an old score? Are you sure you didn't hit him first or look at him funny? Why are you in this neighborhood at this time of night? Have you been running into problems like this before? Are you sure there isn't anything that you are not telling us?"

You can do what you want, but I'd rather not have the government in my business unless it is absolutely necessary.
 

protector84

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There is alsoa fundamental flaw with calling the police. If someone is trying to break into your house, how can you defend yourself if you are talking on the phone? First of all, one of your hands is holding the phone and second your brain is distracted between the criminal breaking in and having to relay everything that is going on to the person on the other line. In such cases you are actually putting yourself in more danger by calling them rather than just dealing with the criminal directly. You are better off spending that time grabbing your shotgun and loading it if it isn't already loaded and then as soon as the person is actually inside of your house then just shoot him. Then once the threat is actually stopped, then you should call 911 but instead try to get connected to the fire department instead of the police and explain there is someone in your house that needs immediate medical attention. Anything you say over the phone to the police can and will be used against you in court.
 

Flintlock

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May 26, 2006
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Alaska, USA
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Sa45auto wrote:
Things to remember.

1. Always be prepared.

2. We are not the police.

3. We stop when the threat stops, we do not pursue.

4. We use force sufficient to stop the threat, in the protection of ourselves, our home, our family, and another innocent person from a real threat.

5. We don't shoot blindly in the dark or at unseen assailants.....Ge I'm sorry honey, I thought you were a bugler.

6. Without compromising our safety or the safety of others, we call, or have another call,for backup (the police) as soon as possible.

7. We maintain our safety and the safety of others, by securing and maintainingour parameter until backup has arrived.
Sa45auto, this was a good post.
 

MetalChris

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SW Ohio
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protector84 wrote:
There is alsoa fundamental flaw with calling the police.
Absolutely. That's a mistake a gentleman by the name of Joe Horn made back in November...
 

Mainsail

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Silverdale, Washington, USA
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protector84 wrote:
There is alsoa fundamental flaw with calling the police.

....and then as soon as the person is actually inside of your house then just shoot him.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hoping to go my entire life without shooting anyone. The best way to realize that goal is to get the police to come out and find out why there's someone creeping around in my yard before he gets in.
 
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