Attempted Home Invasion and Came Close to Having to Shoot

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This evening was the closest I have come to having to discharge my firearm with the intent to kill an intruder. I was answering student email at 2am and was about 2 feet from the window this idiot targeted. The TV was on and so were the lights. They ripped off the screen and were trying to get the window open, which is quite stiff.

I took cover and had my semi-auto faced at the window. The wife called 911 and came out and took cover with the.357 revolver. The cops took a while to get to our house, and the moron would have been eating lead had he breached the entryway into the house.

After I calmed down, it hit me that I was very close to taking another person's life. I would and could certainly do it for the protectino of my family, but it was a tough feeling to reconcile.

I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just not afraid to use deadly force when necessary.

Anyway, thought I would share. It was strange. We live in a great area and this guy was a moron to come in the middle of the night when he ikely knew people were home.

Long live

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any clue to what general area this is near?

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Glad every thing turned out ok!

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r6-rider wrote:

any clue to what general area this is near?

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+1 and also glad that all turned out well =)



One thing for future note tho, from a legal standpoint, shooting to kill is a big no no. Shooting to 'stop the threat' is the intent you would have to impress upon a jury... Hopefully none of us will ever have to test those waters though!

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I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just not afraid to use deadly force when necessary.

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+1. I am glad you and your family is okay. Lucky for him, he didn't bust through that window.

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Thoreau wrote:

r6-rider wrote:

any clue to what general area this is near?

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+1  and also glad that all turned out well =)

 

One thing for future note tho, from a legal standpoint, shooting to kill is a big no no.  Shooting to 'stop the threat' is the intent you would have to impress upon a jury...  Hopefully none of us will ever have to test those waters though!

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Great point. I have a buddy who is a LEO with Phoenix and he said the same thing...be careful with how you word things. One of the cops who came last night said, and yes, verbatim, "make sure you shoot to kill the bastard, off the record of course". I do appreciate that some LEOs in AZ recognize our rights and aren't jerks about it.

Thanks again for the feedback. I appreciate ir!

-doug

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Was the BG on your property? Did he see your weapon and flee? Or did he just give up?

I had a similar incident happen awhile back, but I was not home. A BG tried to come through the window. I am not sure if he knew that my wife and kids were home, but I think maybe he (actually it was 'they') did know. Anyway, I have played the scenario over in my head a thousand times, trying to decide if I would have fired or not. I usually land on the side of thinking that I would have. In Colorado, the threshold for Castle Doctrineis if the BG is on your property, not necessarily in your home. I would have been justified, and I gotta think that I would be fearful enough of them breaking the window to get in. Plus, I would think that I would have been indignant enough to pull the trigger. I mean, how dare someone try to break into my house. I'm sure I would have been emotionally scarred if I killed him, but in that moment, I wouldn't have cared.

I'm wondering what held you back from firing?

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packinprofessor wrote:

This evening was the closest I have come to having to discharge my firearm with the intent to kill an intruder. I was answering student email at 2am and was about 2 feet from the window this idiot targeted. The TV was on and so were the lights. They ripped off the screen and were trying to get the window open, which is quite stiff.

I took cover and had my semi-auto faced at the window. The wife called 911 and came out and took cover with the.357 revolver. The cops took a while to get to our house, and the moron would have been eating lead had he breached the entryway into the house.

After I calmed down, it hit me that I was very close to taking another person's life. I would and could certainly do it for the protectino of my family, but it was a tough feeling to reconcile.

I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just not afraid to use deadly force when necessary.

Anyway, thought I would share. It was strange. We live in a great area and this guy was a moron to come in the middle of the night when he ikely knew people were home.

Long live

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I've been through some fairly ugly close calls of my own, and my best suggestion is to hang on to how that feels for as long as you can. I doubt you can ever normalize killing someone, I can't imagine you'd want to, either. But taking the edge off goes miles towards preventing hesitation.

This is the best preparation you will ever get. It beats practicing your draw, hitting your target, etc... You can 'mentally prepare' and go through the motions, but nothing really ever prepares you for the real thing. You now have the real thing. Hang on to it so it isn't such a shock to the system next time.

It's kinda like having kids. ;-) Prepare all you want.... The fact that they are durable is really the only thing that gets you through the first 18 months. Most parents won't admit that.

You shouldn't have to say the same about protecting them. And the threat usually doesn't give you 1.5 years warning to play catch-up.

Hang on to your close calls. How many people describe the adrenaline, sometimes even tunnel vision. Do you want those impairments 'next time?' Are you sure they'll wait until later for reflection? Hold on to how that feels, feeling your pulse in your throat, ears that can't hear, shivering from the sheer volume and intensity of it... Put yourself through it, relive it. It's the best practice you'll ever get.

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Bomber...he was absolutely on my property. He somehow got into the backyard and I didn't hear him. The gates weren't disturbed or anything. He was on a mission and started ripping down the screen. I think that because that window is stiff, or because he heard the TV, he decided to bail. As soon as I heard the screen being ripped off, I got my pistol and assumed a tactical position with the the gun directed at the two possible window he could have come through. I never saw his face and he didn't make it through the window. If he had made it through, he wouldn't have seen me, but would have felt the 13 bullets i my magazine and 1 in the chamber. It could have been more than one guy...I don't know.

Apparently dispatch put it through as a "home invasion i progress", but the BG was long gong by the time the LEOs got here. I'm sure I would have been emotinally scarred as well, but I'd much rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

The cops did ask if my wife knows how to use a gun. She is a great shot on the little Taurus .357 magnum snubbie. Conceals well for her and she likes it.

-doug

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professor, thanks for responding.

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packinprofessor wrote:

I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just not afraid to use deadly force when necessary.

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It really struck me as an awful feeling when I seemed to come close to drawing on a drunk or high lunatic at a QT in Phoenix. Not a feeling of fear, but a heightened sense of the fact I could have to kill a punk, and that my life might have got really screwed up for a while because of it.

Scenarios like that do different things to different people, from the Barney Fife shake, to an indifferent let's take out the trash attitude. But the one thing I think is certain is that no one here hopes to be in a shoot out.

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Michigander wrote:

Scenarios like that do different things to different people, from the Barney Fife shake, to an indifferent let's take out the trash attitude. But the one thing I think is certain is that no one here hopes to be in a shoot out.

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I can honestly say it doesn't get any easier. But after the 1st one, it makes you more aware of your surroundings.

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packinprofessor wrote:

knows how to use a gun.

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I have always found this question amusing. Can you fart? Using a gun is no harder...

If someone exists who cannot, when left to their own devices, figure out how to all by themselves... Well, that person wins the dumbest person alive award.

Guns are not complicated machines to figure out. If you can drive, refill a stapler, program a contact into your cell phone, or use your computer well enough to get to this website... You are significantly overqualified for the basic operation a firearm; a much simpler tool.

Tactics and situational awareness are a different but related concept. Merely to be able to point, click, and reload.... Even monkeys can do it.

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Hey Doug,

Glad to see that you are ok and didn't have to use your weapon.

Of course, if the BG did come through your window and you felt that your wife's or your life was threatened, you would have no other choice but to protect your life with the use of deadly force. I'm just relieved to know that it didn't have to come to that.

I met you on the OC metro ride and look forward to seeing you at the next OC dinner.

Tom

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packinprofessor wrote:

This evening was the closest I have come to having to discharge my firearm with the intent to kill an intruder...
.... The cops took a while to get to our house, and the moron would have been eating lead had he breached the entryway into the house.

After I calmed down, it hit me that I was very close to taking another person's life. I would and could certainly do it for the protectino of my family, but it was a tough feeling to reconcile.

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Excellent point. Thanks for sharing it. I had a similar situation over 20 years ago.

I am grateful to God that I did not have to shoot the fool trying to get into my home.

Soooooooo grateful.




packinprofessor wrote:

I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just ...

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I've seen posts that don't support that view.

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HankT wrote:

Excellent point. Thanks for sharing it. I had a similar situation over 20 years ago.

I am grateful to God that I did not have to shoot the fool trying to get into my home.

Soooooooo grateful.

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Yeah, because then HPCSD[sup]©[/sup] wouldn't exist.

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HankT wrote:

I've seen posts that don't support that view.

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Cuz on teh interwebz, people always mean what they say...

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N6ATF wrote:

HankT wrote:

Excellent point. Thanks for sharing it. I had a similar situation over 20 years ago.

I am grateful to God that I did not have to shoot the fool trying to get into my home.

Soooooooo grateful.

Click to expand...

Yeah, because then HPCSD[suP]©[/suP] wouldn't exist.

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Perhaps.

The fool was no threat. No threat at all...

To have shot and killed him would have been right. But mostly wrong.

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HankT wrote:

packinprofessor wrote:

I think sheeple think we all want to shoot and kill people as a sport, but I think it's safe to say that we don't want to kill anyone unless necessary. We are just ...

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I've seen posts that don't support that view.

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I think it depends on how people define the word, "necessary". I don't think its "necessary" for me to wait for someone to point a gun at me before I make the decision to use my weapon. I also don't think its necessary for me to wait for someone to breech an entrance into my home before I fire upon them.

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See some of you guys/gals at the OC dinner tomorrow. I'll be there...and thanks for the feedback...especially remembering what the feeling is like and holding on to that for as long as possible. Agreed, best damn practice you can have...I always thought I'd be cool, calm, and collected in such a circumstance. NOPE...but hopefully (if there is one) next time, I'll remember what I learned this time around.

I don't think I responded to the area. We're right at the base of Lookout Mountain at Cave Creek and Sharon. Right next to the Buddy Stubbs (sp?) Harley dealership? Nice neighborhood, but some shady areas in the near vicinity.

Yesterday, my wife was outside with our 2.5 year old and she told me that these idiots were driving buy in a landscaping truck and slowed down giving her the up and down look...y'all know what I mean...and then they circled back around twice more.

Made me nervous until she started talking about OC'ing when out front with our son. Made me proud....very proud!

Take care,

Doug