Narrowly escaped death. DGU in my home last night.

[Glassunion]

It was 3:30am this morning when my wife and I both woke up to a crashing sound downstairs. We both sat up in bed. My wife whispered "What was that?" I could hear in her voice how nervous she was. I did not wish to exasperate her nervousness, so I replied as confidently as I could that I did not know what it was as I was quietly getting out of bed.

As I was stepping out of bed we heard another sound coming from downstairs, it sounded like it was in the kitchen. I told my wife to get her pistol and call the police. I grabbed my MagLite and my pistol and began my way down the stairs.

I want to note at this point a few feelings that I felt. I was scared shitless. If I could see my face I'm sure that my eyes were as wide as saucers. Another thing that I noticed was about a million things raced through my mind. What were those noises? Is someone in my home? How many are there? What if they are armed? What if they get to my wife? Where are the police? Those questions briefly fanned the flames of my fear. It was short lived, by the time I reached the top of the stairs, before I turned the corner to shine my light quickly down the stairs. I had about one million more things flash through my head in the span of one nanosecond. All the training I had flooded into my head.

Stance, Grip, Sight Alignment, Sight Picture, Trigger Control, Cover, Rapid Reloading, One-arm Shooting (left arm and right arm), Malfunction drills, Half-turns, Full turns, Close quarter, Think as you fire from cover, Think as you fire while moving, Shoot-Move-Shoot, etc. This instantly calmed me. My instructors were with me at that moment at the top of the stairs. Yes I was still scared shitless, but I was calm. I have never felt that way before. I've been scared and I've been calm, but never the two at the same time.

I did a quick peek around the corner, with my flashlight and pistol. Nothing at the bottom of the stairs. I descended the stairs doing another quick peek from cover at the bottom with my flashlight and pistol. Nothing in the living room. I crossed the living room noting that the door to the basement was closed and still locked. I followed the same procedure of peeking from cover into the dining room. Nothing. The patio door was closed and locked.

At this point my heart was racing and one of my legs was shaking a bit. I took a deep quiet breath to settle my leg and heart down. I did a quick peek into the kitchen looking over the Trijicon sights of my pistol. I was suddenly face to face with our Chinchilla on one of the countertops. All that calm, all that fear turned instantly into embarrassment. I called out to my wife upstairs to let her know that everything was ok.

She was still on the phone with the police. She came down stairs and handed me the phone. I had to explain to the dispatcher what had happened and that everything was ok. The dispatcher informed me that an officer was still going to come to the house. The dispatcher instructed me to stay on the phone with them until the officer arrived. I turned on the porch light and opened the front door for the officer.

About 4 minutes later the officer showed up. He asked if he could look around the house to make sure everything was ok. I had no issue with that; he talked to my wife and me for about 20 minutes over a cup of coffee. I felt like an absolute ass, but the officer assured me that I did nothing wrong. He said that he would have done the exact same thing.

On a side note. It took the police 6 minutes to show up. Granted the officer did not come in hot, with lights and sirens. I'm sure the officer slowed up after the dispatcher relayed to the officer what had happened.

I thought that I would share my story to add a bit of levity to the gungeon. It has been a bit rough around here lately.

I still feel embarrassed :blush: , but if the same thing happened, I'm sure that I would do it all over again.

[LiberalLoner]

1. Wow, what a scare! You did the right thing, anyone would have done that.

Better safe than sorry.

[shadowrider]

2. You did everything right

Be glad is was only a Chinchilla and not a killer rabbit

/>

[Glassunion]

3. Well...

They have been known to cause issues.

[Hoopla Phil]

4. Thanks for sharing. I remember when I was in Jr. High one afternoon

our neighbor came knocking on our back door. She had just come home from shopping and upon arriving found her front door wide open. She did not enter but came right over to call the police. Turned out to be nothing, she most likely left it open leaving. The police were VERY understanding and said that she did the right thing being cautious. You just never know. . .

[juajen]

5. Interesting story. Why do you keep chinchillas?

BTW, I believe "exacerbate"is the word you want. This word means to "escalate". "Exasperate" means to "irritate".

[Glassunion]

7. My wife and I love Chinchillas.

They are fun pets. He actually can fetch. Not to mention how adorable he is. And when he passes away I will have one half a set of earmuffs.

You are correct on the wording, in my old ass dictionary on my desk, definition #2 of the word was "to make an unpleasant condition or feeling worse". Looking it up on Webster's website confirmed that the definition is all but obsolete. My bad...

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. Guns as a solution to Chinchillas... Zero Points.

You gotta club or drown them, otherwise you can't make a coat out the fur.

[Glassunion]

8. You can't do either...

They are too small to club without damaging the fur. They also as a self defense shed their fur, so drowning is out of the question.

You just have to sneak up and electrocute them. Not too much amperage as you don't want the little guy to explode, but you want to kill them quick before they can react and shed.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. Are you joking? Seriously, they zap the suckers?

Awesome-sauce.

[Glassunion]

14. Sad, but true...

The chinchilla industry proudly admits that most chinchillas are killed by neck breaking or electrocution. Many chinchilla farmers hook one metal clamp to the ear, and another to her genitalia to implement the electrocution.

Foxes, minks, rabbits and others are killed by "Anal Electrocution", during which an electrically charged steel rod is inserted into the animal's rectum, literally frying his or her insides.

Takes about 150 of these little guys to make a waist length coat. 250 for a full one.


And... Fun fact of the day...
You would have to snip off 875,658,026 Chinchilla ears to circle the globe.

[shadowrider]

13. Zero points

ok shares..:)

[Flyboy_451]

9. Home Defense

Glass,
Glad everything worked out for the best. While I can not say if you acted appropriately or not based on you living situation, I would offer some advice to anyone concerned about home security and defending your loved ones. The following is a copy of a post I made on this and another forum quite some time ago.


The subject of how to protect yourself and your loved ones within your home is a complex topic at best, but here is a copy of a post that I made on another forum some time ago that presents some viable ideas to begin making your family safe....

Home alarms are one of many tools that can be employed to secure a home. As a police officer, I highly recommend that anyone have an alarm, with a LOUD audible siren, particularly if you live in a residential neighborhood. While this does act as a deterrent to burglary in some cases, it is less effective in others. This is because criminals also know that it will take some period of time before anyone arrives as a result of the alarm being triggered. Most alarm monitoring companies place at least one call to the residence, if not more, to verify that the alarm is legitimate, prior to dispatching assistance.

I have worked many calls in which an alarm was sufficient to ward off an attempt to enter a home. I have also worked many calls in which the alarm had little or no effect, whether the home was occupied or not. Just as an alarm is not the ultimate guarantee against unlawful entry, neither is simply having a gun. Both are tools that we use to try to make our homes and families safe.

With all that being said...If a home invasion is not prevented by an alarm, there is a period of time in which you will be on your own until some form of help arrives. I do not know what response time for alarm monitoring companies in this area is, but my departments average response time last year was 9.2 minutes. That is a long time to be without help if you have no means of protecting yourself. A multi-tier system is typically the best way to help insure the safety of our loved ones, with things such as outdoor lighting, alarms, a dog that barks at strangers being the first tier, second tier tools include knowing what areas of your home are easiest to defend yourself and your family from, having a plan that all members of the family are aware of, and executing that plan. Lethal force is the final tier of home and family defense, not because it is least important, but because it is the least desirable to have to employ. Serious legal ramifications can exist even if you are legally justified in use of force.

Simply having a firearm available is not enough either. Training is a HUGE benefit when it comes to defending your home or family. Simply having a gun is not useless, but it is far from the ultimate protection. Having a gun AND having a sufficient level of training increases the odds of surviving a violent encounter by large magnitudes. By ignoring ANY means of protecting your home and family, I think you have seriously undermined your goal of protection. I would not say that everyone should have a gun, yet I do think that everyone should consider the possibility that a firearm coupled with appropriate training can and has been the difference between life and death.

Even though some states allow for the use of a firearm in defense of property, I am of mixed feelings on such laws. My personal opinion is that no material possessions are worth killing for, but at the same time, if someone were to attempt to steal firearms or other items that could be used to endanger others down the road, a moral contradiction exists. As a general rule, I recommend that people not endanger themselves or their families by confronting criminals. Instead, try to be a good witness, get accurate descriptions, ect. Let those of us that have chosen to confront the criminal element of society do it for you. Not only are we better prepared and equipped to do so, but if something were to happen to you, the information you have will be lost to us. And I am sure that your family would prefer that you joined them for breakfast in the morning. Resisting with lethal force, has it's place and I do not discourage anyone from protecting themselves or their family, but be smart about it. Use lethal force as a LAST RESORT and do everything that you can to avoid it. Then, when the time comes that it is required, act decisively, aggressively and explosively!!


My biggest concern with your post is that you sought out a possible intruder. As I said at the beginning of this post, I do not know if this was the proper action or not based on your living arrangements, but as a general rule, my advice is to only move from a secured area if it is absolutely necessary to insure the safety of other occupants in the home. Any movement increases the chance of alerting an intruder to your presence, which changes the dynamics of a situation dramatically. "Clearing" a building, even one that you are intimately familiar with, is a very dangerous process and is best accomplished with a team working in unison. The apprehension of an intruder is not the primary goal of defending your home...surviving is. Keep in mind that if something would happen to you, not only would your family suffer a loss, but it is likely that any information you could have provided to law enforcement is lost with you, making the future apprehension of the intruder less likely. Defend your home and loved ones, but please do it smartly.

JW

[Glassunion]

10. Thanks! Good post...

Little background on our living situation.

We have been working on the permitting process for our alarm system. We just moved in a couple of months ago. So it was something that was already in the works. But between our condo-association and local codes we have hit some hurdles. Basically the association is trying to force our hand as to who we use as an alarm company. I do agree they are very, very important.

There are several schools of thought on how to defend your home, and your point is a really good one. The courses I took, taught us how to do what I did last night, and how to back out (retreat) during the confrontation. The logic being if there is a confrontation you have more opportunities to fire, retreat to cover/choke point, then repeat this process all the way back to the Alamo (our bedroom closet). Some schools do teach an ambush style method, and others where you never leave the Alamo. I'm not 100% sold on these, as they seem to have fewer opportunities for gaining an advantage.

[Flyboy_451]

12. Sounds as if...

you have possibly been exposed to Clint Smith (a fine instructor in every sense). While I agree with your last statement with regard to gaining advantage, never forget rule one...Give your wife a hug and a kiss when the fight is over. This is modified from rule number one of law enforcement...Always go home to your loved ones at the end of your shift!!

And speaking of such, time for me to wash my arm pits, brush my fangs, put on a uniform and head to work. Be smart and, above all else, stay safe.

JW

[Glassunion]

15. You guys wash?

Hmm... Go figure?

Be safe yourself. :)

[shadowrider]

16. Wash?

I thought that's what deodorant was for.

[Flyboy_451]

23. Hey!!!!

Be nice...gonna hurt my sensitive feelers...or somethin like that...

[Glassunion]

25. Did not want to hurt your feelings at all. I just had some bad assumptions.

Just thought you guys just spritzed on some gun oil and went to work.

My bad...

[Glassunion]

18. I love that guy...

"If pointing an empty gun at your oponent makes him duck, you may live for an extra two seconds. And who knows? I may find another gun, the bad guy may give up, or the ammo fairy may drop me a magazine."

My favorite...

"You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any word you think will work, but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much the universal language."

[Flyboy_451]

26. Couple of my favorite Clintisms...

"If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That’s ridiculous. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid about?"

"You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long you live depends on how well you do it."

and a favorite from Jeff cooper as well...

“The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem, whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a gun problem.”

JW

[PavePusher]

21. Permitting for an alarm system?

Good grief, what village of Mrs. Grundy's do you live in?

(No offense intended to you, of course.)

[Glassunion]

29. Not town permits...

Has to do with the condo association. Because if have to have wiring run in what is concidered a common area (the attic).

No offense taken.

[PavePusher]

33. O.K., I get it. Missed the "condo" part, sorry. n/t

[Glassunion]

34. I refer to them as the

gestapo...

[safeinOhio]

17. Welcome to Du 451

Some great advise. I have guns and will protect myself. But, here is what I have done to prevent ever having to shoot anyone.
I have added motion lights around my house. Changed all screws in door latches and hinges to 3X10 long screws. Put stops on lower level windows to prevent entry if broken.
In my bedroom I have cheap locks on my bedroom door and bath room door. There is a walk in closet in the bathroom that I have converted to a safe room that has my gun safe in it. I have a combination dead bolt on it and have beefed up hinges and strikers. In case of an intruder, I will retreat to the safe room with a cell phone and call 911. I will tell dispatch I have an intruder and I am in my safe room with several long guns and pistols and lots or rounds. If the intruders tries to kick in this door I will start shooting, please stay on the line with me.

I also have alarm stickers on doors and windows, sorry no real alarms as I've had bad experiences with alarm companies. I've done all of this for less than a few hundred dollars. I have insurance on everything except my life and will shoot to protect that.

I am looking into some new glass films made by 3m and others. They not only make your house more energy efficient they also make it almost impossible to break thru the glass. If you google it there are some great videos of how it works and security film of some one not being able to get in a business.

[Flyboy_451]

24. Thanks for the welcome....

Have been a member for a couple of years but do more lurking than anything else. Seems that the majority of discussions here are of little value, but I do voice my opinions on rare occassions...

JW

[GreenStormCloud]

20. Excellent post, but there is some property that you may have to protect.

It depends upon one's personal finances. Some people have the money and insurance to replace everything. But for some people the loss of the car is vital to life itself. Lose the car, lose the job, lose the health insurance, etc. My car for work is a 1995 Saturn. It runs very well, gets 33 mpg, and I use it only for commuting to work. It isn't insured, except for liability, because the money value of such an old car is very low. But its value to me as cheap reliable transportation is very high. I would be hard pressed to replace it.

Fortunately, an old Saturn is not very attractive to a thief.

[The Doctor.]

19. Chinchilla...

It's what's for dinner. :evilgrin:



Seriously though, I've been there a few times and in different ways. In all but one instance, it was something harmless. That there are plenty of people out there like yourself and your wife is a de facto deterrent to criminals of many stripes.

Well done.

[burrfoot]

22. Don't be embarrassed-

you addressed the concern in what you reasonably believed to be the appropriate way. So it turned out to be a chinchilla. Count that as a blessing :)

My girlfriend and I moved a few months ago from a house to an apartment, with people below, around, and above us. It's a good place and the neighbors aren't very loud, but it's taken quite a while to get used to the new "normal" sounds, which include doors opening and closing, thumps from above, etc.

Luckily, (in an SD sense anyway) we can see the whole place with the exception of the 2nd bedroom from the doorway of our bedroom, including the front door.

Keep safe :toast:

[4_TN_TITANS]

27. We used to have a chincilla..

when those guys get out, they can move. My wife named him Bounce.

[Lurks Often]

28. I agree with Flyboy

I'm glad everything worked out well, but (meant to be constructive) you did make a mistake trying to clear the house yourself. I have had some house clearing training myself in the military and the training was very sobering. There good reasons that urban combat usually results in high casualties on both sides.

Some thoughts in no particular order:
1. Time is on your side, if there is really someone downstairs, they want to be in and out in the least amount of time possible. If you had announced very loudly that you had called the police and that you had a gun, if there was somebody downstairs, you would almost certainly hear them leave.
2. While every home differs, almost all have one or more choke points, meaning there is no real cover and someone is only able to go forward or back. Choke points almost always favor the defender, because the attacker is exposed and has no cover. Based on your description, you should have stayed at the top of the stairs and waited.
3. Did your wife describe you to the police? By going downstairs, with the police on the way, you now have two (or more armed) people headed toward a meeting in the dark when they are all keyed up and stressed. A good recipe for one or both of you getting shot.
4. I believe Radioshack and probably some other companies sell relatively inexpensive alarms that you can place by the door (or other spots) that do not call out to the alarm company, but make a lot of noise when tripped.
5. My view is that there is no possession in my home that is worth shooting someone over and unless you live in a state with Castle doctrine law, the cost of the lawyer to defend you is going to exceed whatever the possession is worth.
6. If the worst occurs, then make sure you don't say anything about the shooting without a lawyer present.

On edit:
7. I believe there are some states (Massachusetts and New Jersey spring to mind) where if you had been forced to shoot someone after going downstairs to investigate, you might end up being charged as well, since you went "looking" for the confrontation.

[Glassunion]

30. Totally get your point....

Like I stated in POST #10, there are several options on defending your home. I am one of those weird folks that went out of their way to obtain the best training that I could afford. I did not just buy a gun and a stack of American Handgunners.

I will try to answer some of your points as to my perspective and training.

1. If I called out, and the individual(s) did not leave, or believe that I was armed, I would have given up the element of surprise. My school of thought is (as well as my state laws) that the moment someone enters my home, I am not obligated to ascertain why they are there and can assume the worst. I am not looking to kill someone for taking my TV. They can have it. The only thing I cannot have replaced is my wife's life or my own.

2. The way I moved through my home was from one choke point to the next, where I would have a tactical advantage while moving. I know my home and have identified how and where I can go at any given moment to protect myself and my wife.

3. Yes she did. She knew exactly what to do in that situation. We have discussed it and we are both aware of how to communicate to the police and to each other in these types of situations. We both went through all of our training together. She did inform the dispatcher that I was armed, how I was dressed, that the front door would be unlocked, etc...

4. Good point.

5. I agree, that material possessions mean nothing. If someone stopped me on the street and demanded my money, they would get my money.

6. Damn straight.

7. Not in my state.

My thoughts on this are simple. I do what I do to protect my wife above all, then myself. Nothing else. No property, pets or material belongings are worth ending a human life for. If someone has entered my home, I have to assume they mean to do me or my wife harm. Period.

[Lurks Often]

31. Follow up

"Like I stated in POST #10, there are several options on defending your home. I am one of those weird folks that went out of their way to obtain the best training that I could afford. I did not just buy a gun and a stack of American Handgunners."

Didn't mean to imply that you had, but my comments were directed as much to those who read the topic and don't have the opportunity or money to get the training, as they were to you.


"1. If I called out, and the individual(s) did not leave, or believe that I was armed, I would have given up the element of surprise. My school of thought is (as well as my state laws) that the moment someone enters my home, I am not obligated to ascertain why they are there and can assume the worst. I am not looking to kill someone for taking my TV. They can have it. The only thing I cannot have replaced is my wife's life or my own."

The element of surprise probably would have gone away as soon as you flicked the light on and off to check the base of the stairs.

[Glassunion]

32. Element of Surprise

Should I get some night vision? (kidding)

Again, I see your point. My overall view is still that I don't want to start a confrontation at my last point of retreat.

I'd rather give the bad guy an option to go. If I meet them, on my own terms, where I have the "high-ground" and solid avenues of retreat I think I stand a better chance of surviving.

Rule #1 of my training is to never get between the bad guy and their avenue of retreat (the way they came in). If I know that someone came in the back door of my home, and I was already in my living room, I would not proceed into the dining room. I would remain at a choke/ambush point in my living room. If I noticed my front door or living room window was a point of entry, then I would remain at the bottom of my stairs. This would allow bad guy to make an obvious choice. Retreat or attack. The direction that they choose to go would either be toward me or away. Leaving no doubt in my mind their intentions.

If they choose to come at me, they will be met with an aggressive, brutal volley of well aimed lead from an incredibly small target with little to no cover of their own.

Thank you for your input. As I am always open to new ideas and training opportunities, would you recommend a specific training program?

[Lurks Often]

35. Maybe Thunder Ranch

I don't think there are too many places teaching house clearing to civilians, but Clint Smith's Thunder Ranch would probably come the closest.