Mechanic
Regular Member
imported post
This isn’t specifically a carry story, but thought you might find it interesting.
A few years ago I was awakened in the middle of the night by the doorbell ringing. As I was waking up, I heard male voices that sounded like they were in the house. My kids were asleep at the other end of the house and I wanted to quickly get between them and the intruders. Quietly told my wife to hold the dog and call 911, completely forgetting about the emergency button on the alarm system next to the bed.
Wearing only underwear (don't visualize that, please), I grabbed my S&W .357 mag, loaded with Black Talons and FMJ’s and then quietly opened my bedroom door. Adrenaline pumping, I heard male voices and saw flashlight beams downstairs. At this point I was standing on the upstairs landing, hidden from the door, gun cocked, finger outside the guard, but ready to fire if anything moved. Believe it or not, I thought about line of fire and where my children were in their bedrooms, fully ready to pull the trigger on some thieving scumbag if anyone suddenly appeared. Tried to say something, but my voice didn’t work. Too much adrenaline. I finally managed to croak out "Who's there?” There was an immediate reply: "LAPD. Your front door was open.”
Holy crap! I peeked around the wall and sure enough, there were a bunch of uniformed officers outside my open door!
As soon as I realized that the LEOs and I had been seconds away from being a headline in the newspaper under “Tragic Accident”, I started shaking all over. I said something like “Oh s**t! I’ll be right down”, locked the gun away, put some clothes on and went to see what was going on. Turns out my wife had come home late at night with a load from Costco, brought an armful in the front door, leaving the car and garage open, and asked the kids to finish unloading. They either didn’t unload the car or didn’t close everything up and no one made sure the front door was shut. During the night the front door blew open and a cruiser noticed the open garage door, open tailgate on the SUV, and open front door and assumed someone was burglarizing my house.
So, I learned a few things:
This isn’t specifically a carry story, but thought you might find it interesting.
A few years ago I was awakened in the middle of the night by the doorbell ringing. As I was waking up, I heard male voices that sounded like they were in the house. My kids were asleep at the other end of the house and I wanted to quickly get between them and the intruders. Quietly told my wife to hold the dog and call 911, completely forgetting about the emergency button on the alarm system next to the bed.
Wearing only underwear (don't visualize that, please), I grabbed my S&W .357 mag, loaded with Black Talons and FMJ’s and then quietly opened my bedroom door. Adrenaline pumping, I heard male voices and saw flashlight beams downstairs. At this point I was standing on the upstairs landing, hidden from the door, gun cocked, finger outside the guard, but ready to fire if anything moved. Believe it or not, I thought about line of fire and where my children were in their bedrooms, fully ready to pull the trigger on some thieving scumbag if anyone suddenly appeared. Tried to say something, but my voice didn’t work. Too much adrenaline. I finally managed to croak out "Who's there?” There was an immediate reply: "LAPD. Your front door was open.”
Holy crap! I peeked around the wall and sure enough, there were a bunch of uniformed officers outside my open door!
As soon as I realized that the LEOs and I had been seconds away from being a headline in the newspaper under “Tragic Accident”, I started shaking all over. I said something like “Oh s**t! I’ll be right down”, locked the gun away, put some clothes on and went to see what was going on. Turns out my wife had come home late at night with a load from Costco, brought an armful in the front door, leaving the car and garage open, and asked the kids to finish unloading. They either didn’t unload the car or didn’t close everything up and no one made sure the front door was shut. During the night the front door blew open and a cruiser noticed the open garage door, open tailgate on the SUV, and open front door and assumed someone was burglarizing my house.
So, I learned a few things:
- 1. It may be sad to hear this, but I’m very pleased that LAPD even stopped to investigate the “burglary in progress”.
2. The LEOs handled this very well. Through experience or policy, they did not enter the house, even though they might have had probable cause to do so. That made all the difference in this case.
3. You don’t want to ever stop thinking. I feel that somehow I picked up cues from the situation and that’s what prevented me from sneaking down the stairs or drawing down on the intruders from the landing.
4. I’m not sure I would have done anything differently. The “Who’s there?” was a spur of the moment, but would have worked to clarify the situation even if it WAS a burglar.
5. I have a greater appreciation for the ambiguities of a tactical situation. I don’t think you’ll find me criticizing anyone who draws a gun in self-defense.
