x3atthis
Regular Member
Tonight I was sitting in my living room with my 5 month old son. My husband and I are both in the Army, and he is frequently away for training or deployments, as he is right now.
It was around 11:30, and someone suddenly banged on my front door. I set down my son, drew my weapon, and quickly turned on the alarm (should have already been on, I know), and then looked out the window to see my porch. No one was visibly on my porch, so I scanned the front of the house through the window, and noticed that the motion activated light on the side of my home had been set off. This raised my level of concern, and I called the police while I went through the house peering out windows for suspicious activity. I carried my son with me while I did this, since I didn't want him in the living room alone should someone break in the front door. The police response was very prompt, no more than about 3 minutes or so. While I waited for the police to arrive I stayed in my living room with my son and my weapon drawn, on my feet, with my phone in the opposite hand prepared to hit send to call 911 back should anything happen. I have two large dogs who were in the backyard at the time, and they weren't making any noise, so I was fairly certain no one had attempted to go back there.
The officer came, took a little walk around the sides of the house, and hemmed and hawed about how it wasn't very late, they probably just had the wrong house and ran off when they realized it. Right. He told me to call if anything happened, took note of my weapon on my hip, advising me to keep it near just in case, and left.
The whole time I was scanning the windows and waiting for the police to arrive I was running through my head trying to decide what on earth to do with my son. None of the rooms in my home are windowless, and the current alarm system doesn't have glass break sensors or window contacts (we're moving in a week, the new home will), so I was not very inclined to leave him out of my reach should the individual choose his window to break. I was also hesitant to bunker down in a less accessible room with him, not only because I would feel like a sitting duck, but I did call the police about 8 months ago when my dogs cornered something/someone in my backyard. They were going insane, and they had never barked at an animal before (to this day they still haven't freaked out the way they did that night). It took the police over 20 minutes to respond to that call, so I didn't want to risk being trapped in a room with limited means of escape.
I should also add that my biggest concerns are at night when we're sleeping. I make it a point to leave main living area lights on at night, such as the front entry, living room, and kitchen. In addition, I oftentimes leave the T.V. turned on. I have a theory that if the house appears to have people awake in it, it's less likely to be targeted than one where everyone is asleep and unaware. I'm also considering purchasing a second home security pistol for my husband to keep on his side of the bed for when he's home. He doesn't carry and all of his firearms are collectors pieces...it may be good to have should anything happen, that way one of us can go to a safer location with the baby and still be armed.
What would you do? Does your family have a set plan or rough idea of how you would respond to a home invasion? What safety measures do you employ at night? Do you have a predetermined safe room? If so, is it set up so it can be easily escaped, or is it a windowless space?
It was around 11:30, and someone suddenly banged on my front door. I set down my son, drew my weapon, and quickly turned on the alarm (should have already been on, I know), and then looked out the window to see my porch. No one was visibly on my porch, so I scanned the front of the house through the window, and noticed that the motion activated light on the side of my home had been set off. This raised my level of concern, and I called the police while I went through the house peering out windows for suspicious activity. I carried my son with me while I did this, since I didn't want him in the living room alone should someone break in the front door. The police response was very prompt, no more than about 3 minutes or so. While I waited for the police to arrive I stayed in my living room with my son and my weapon drawn, on my feet, with my phone in the opposite hand prepared to hit send to call 911 back should anything happen. I have two large dogs who were in the backyard at the time, and they weren't making any noise, so I was fairly certain no one had attempted to go back there.
The officer came, took a little walk around the sides of the house, and hemmed and hawed about how it wasn't very late, they probably just had the wrong house and ran off when they realized it. Right. He told me to call if anything happened, took note of my weapon on my hip, advising me to keep it near just in case, and left.
The whole time I was scanning the windows and waiting for the police to arrive I was running through my head trying to decide what on earth to do with my son. None of the rooms in my home are windowless, and the current alarm system doesn't have glass break sensors or window contacts (we're moving in a week, the new home will), so I was not very inclined to leave him out of my reach should the individual choose his window to break. I was also hesitant to bunker down in a less accessible room with him, not only because I would feel like a sitting duck, but I did call the police about 8 months ago when my dogs cornered something/someone in my backyard. They were going insane, and they had never barked at an animal before (to this day they still haven't freaked out the way they did that night). It took the police over 20 minutes to respond to that call, so I didn't want to risk being trapped in a room with limited means of escape.
I should also add that my biggest concerns are at night when we're sleeping. I make it a point to leave main living area lights on at night, such as the front entry, living room, and kitchen. In addition, I oftentimes leave the T.V. turned on. I have a theory that if the house appears to have people awake in it, it's less likely to be targeted than one where everyone is asleep and unaware. I'm also considering purchasing a second home security pistol for my husband to keep on his side of the bed for when he's home. He doesn't carry and all of his firearms are collectors pieces...it may be good to have should anything happen, that way one of us can go to a safer location with the baby and still be armed.
What would you do? Does your family have a set plan or rough idea of how you would respond to a home invasion? What safety measures do you employ at night? Do you have a predetermined safe room? If so, is it set up so it can be easily escaped, or is it a windowless space?