protector84
Regular Member
imported post
Unfortunately, I have had more "incidents" at my apartment than I would prefer and perhaps I could eventually move but on the other hand I live my life as I see fit and not to the dictates of criminals.
The other day I was getting ready to head out to work and since I work second shift, I leave around lunch time to go in. About 5-10 minutes away from heading out the door, I hear a knock at my door which is extremely unusual. Friends and family do not come over unless they call first and even if they call, I meet them out front and walk them in. Nobody just "shows up" EVER. The only exception of course would be religious missionaries or salespeople who are not allowed to solicit on the property anyway.
Anyway, I look out the peephole to find two decently-dressed Hispanic males carrying backpacks and figured they were probably salespeople or missionaries and didn't bother to answer the door. About 1 minute later I hear a crash on my back patio and realize that someone (one of them) jumped the back fence and was already at the back door trying to get the door open. I could also see a silhouette outline of another one (the other one) at the living room window probably trying to look in or get it open. So I quickly grabbed a pump-action 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun and took the safety off of it. As the bad guy at the back door was busy racking his brains trying to figure out why it was practically impossible to get that back door open (I have it triple locked) I appeared at the window (about six inches from his face) with the gun in my hands. For a split second the person's brown face instantly turned white and he was gone before I could even comprehend what was happening. I then run to the front door where he is joining his buddy likely telling him "Let's get the hell out of here." For a splitsecond I thought there was a third man but I left that out of the official report because I had no way of knowing whether this third person was simply passing by or whether he was also involved and couldn't get a usable discription of him anyway.
Apparently, my front door is also so well secured that not only can the bad guys not get in to get me, but I had trouble getting out just to go after them. In the 5-10 seconds which felt like hours it took for me to get the front door open, I emerged out into the front yard with the shotgun in my hands but they were already 100 feet away running in the distance. At this point I felt like I had more to lose than gain by pursuing them so I went back inside, put the gun away and called the cops. They were quite efficient in getting there quickly and combing the area for them but unfortunately they still got away. The police were not interested in seeing my gun and did not question or criticize my actions. In fact one of them laughed a bit and said "I can imagine what was in their minds when they saw you with the gun."
I alerted the management as well who said they will also follow up with the authorities. They didn't have any real advice for me because they felt I was doing everything a person can do. My doors and windows are well locked, I have renter's insurance to cover the place, and I had guns and am not afraid to use them.
Unfortunately, after I relayed this story toa number of people including liberals, I got a lot of armchair quarterbacking. I decided not to go to work that day but the next day my boss believed I should have gotten a camera instead of a gun and taken their pictures. First of all, when your adrenaline is sky-high and you have to think and act fast, you aren't even going to have time to think about getting a camera. Besides, the time it would take to get one would be giving them more time to break the defenses and get inside. Second, suppose you confront them with a camera and they have a gun. That would be stupid. I don't need a camera because the police have those. The police are welcome to take as many pictures of the burgulars as they'd like after I've shot them dead. Without saying the actual words, I made it quite clear to the police that if a bad guy is in my house, they will be bringing a bodybag.
If some of you wish to comment on this incident, that is up to you but I'm not really interested in "armchair quarterbacking" because you were not there and I was. You have to think and act quickly and the adrenaline spike puts you into a one-dimensional thinking where you are only focused on the threat itself and everything else is locked out of your mind. Some people may argue that it is not wise to appear at the window with the gun or to open the door and go outside with it. Everybody does things differently and what works for you won't necessarily work for me or everybody else. I refuse to live in fear and I am not going to let gang-bangers determine my life. They don't need to speak English because I will speak to them in a language they can understand. Not only was I legally authorized according to Arizona law to threaten the use of deadly force to prevent criminal trespass and second degree burglary but I was also legally authorized to go outside with the gun to administer a lawful citizen's arrest and the firearm was carrying legally as in it was not pointed in an unsafe direction and the firearm was visible (open carry).
I may consider putting up signs that read "No Trespassing.Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again." The liberals can coddle criminals all they want. Not me. Another person mentioned that they could be in a gang and try to retaliate. That's fine by me because next time it won't be a shotgun but an AK-47.
Unfortunately, I have had more "incidents" at my apartment than I would prefer and perhaps I could eventually move but on the other hand I live my life as I see fit and not to the dictates of criminals.
The other day I was getting ready to head out to work and since I work second shift, I leave around lunch time to go in. About 5-10 minutes away from heading out the door, I hear a knock at my door which is extremely unusual. Friends and family do not come over unless they call first and even if they call, I meet them out front and walk them in. Nobody just "shows up" EVER. The only exception of course would be religious missionaries or salespeople who are not allowed to solicit on the property anyway.
Anyway, I look out the peephole to find two decently-dressed Hispanic males carrying backpacks and figured they were probably salespeople or missionaries and didn't bother to answer the door. About 1 minute later I hear a crash on my back patio and realize that someone (one of them) jumped the back fence and was already at the back door trying to get the door open. I could also see a silhouette outline of another one (the other one) at the living room window probably trying to look in or get it open. So I quickly grabbed a pump-action 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun and took the safety off of it. As the bad guy at the back door was busy racking his brains trying to figure out why it was practically impossible to get that back door open (I have it triple locked) I appeared at the window (about six inches from his face) with the gun in my hands. For a split second the person's brown face instantly turned white and he was gone before I could even comprehend what was happening. I then run to the front door where he is joining his buddy likely telling him "Let's get the hell out of here." For a splitsecond I thought there was a third man but I left that out of the official report because I had no way of knowing whether this third person was simply passing by or whether he was also involved and couldn't get a usable discription of him anyway.
Apparently, my front door is also so well secured that not only can the bad guys not get in to get me, but I had trouble getting out just to go after them. In the 5-10 seconds which felt like hours it took for me to get the front door open, I emerged out into the front yard with the shotgun in my hands but they were already 100 feet away running in the distance. At this point I felt like I had more to lose than gain by pursuing them so I went back inside, put the gun away and called the cops. They were quite efficient in getting there quickly and combing the area for them but unfortunately they still got away. The police were not interested in seeing my gun and did not question or criticize my actions. In fact one of them laughed a bit and said "I can imagine what was in their minds when they saw you with the gun."
I alerted the management as well who said they will also follow up with the authorities. They didn't have any real advice for me because they felt I was doing everything a person can do. My doors and windows are well locked, I have renter's insurance to cover the place, and I had guns and am not afraid to use them.
Unfortunately, after I relayed this story toa number of people including liberals, I got a lot of armchair quarterbacking. I decided not to go to work that day but the next day my boss believed I should have gotten a camera instead of a gun and taken their pictures. First of all, when your adrenaline is sky-high and you have to think and act fast, you aren't even going to have time to think about getting a camera. Besides, the time it would take to get one would be giving them more time to break the defenses and get inside. Second, suppose you confront them with a camera and they have a gun. That would be stupid. I don't need a camera because the police have those. The police are welcome to take as many pictures of the burgulars as they'd like after I've shot them dead. Without saying the actual words, I made it quite clear to the police that if a bad guy is in my house, they will be bringing a bodybag.
If some of you wish to comment on this incident, that is up to you but I'm not really interested in "armchair quarterbacking" because you were not there and I was. You have to think and act quickly and the adrenaline spike puts you into a one-dimensional thinking where you are only focused on the threat itself and everything else is locked out of your mind. Some people may argue that it is not wise to appear at the window with the gun or to open the door and go outside with it. Everybody does things differently and what works for you won't necessarily work for me or everybody else. I refuse to live in fear and I am not going to let gang-bangers determine my life. They don't need to speak English because I will speak to them in a language they can understand. Not only was I legally authorized according to Arizona law to threaten the use of deadly force to prevent criminal trespass and second degree burglary but I was also legally authorized to go outside with the gun to administer a lawful citizen's arrest and the firearm was carrying legally as in it was not pointed in an unsafe direction and the firearm was visible (open carry).
I may consider putting up signs that read "No Trespassing.Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again." The liberals can coddle criminals all they want. Not me. Another person mentioned that they could be in a gang and try to retaliate. That's fine by me because next time it won't be a shotgun but an AK-47.
