Hot Prowler

[Pilot2013]

Yes, I didn't mean for my comment to be taken too seriously. You definitely need to be aware of all laws and consequences and stay level headed about it all. It is serious stuff, I was probably a bit too flippant.

-ERD50

I agree. Shots won't be fired unless they are meant to hit the target. WAY too many bad potential outcomes...

 

[MRG]

I don't quite get this one (in blue).

Assuming you are upstairs (tucked away) or not in the residence, wouldn't the cops do a perimeter search and then maybe contact the resident by phone before breaking down a door? But how do they get your phone number? In our case it is on file as part of the alarm signup with the PD.

Has anyone any experience with this or thought this through?

This is the recommendation from a tactical trainer.

The situation is you're home in bed and either alarm monitoring or self alerts you to intrusion.

You lock the safe area(bedroom) and contact 911(with or without the monitor). At this time you are watching/protecting the door(trainer suggested a fire door) and any accessible widows.

As part of the call you tell where you are, you're armed or not, and where the glowing keys can be found.

Again this is when you know your home is breached or about to be. Obviously you don't want to throw the keys out to an intruder.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
Again this is when you know your home is breached or about to be. Obviously you don't want to throw the keys out to an intruder.

Now I got it. Was just puzzled as to how the glow stick keys came into this interchange with the cops.

I couldn't picture this in our house because our second story is surrounded by roof that would make it difficult to throw a key set out to anyone. That is, without undoing a screen and going out on the roof to chuck the keys down to the officer. So for us this sounds a bit awkward and perhaps hazardous.

 

[NW-Bound]

I might have thought about taking a couple shots safely into the ground (where I felt confident of no ricochet), and then maybe yelling out "Did you get him! Should I shoot too? I think I see him! Get the spot light!".

-ERD50

After firing a gun inside a house, I wonder if anyone can hear anything for a while.

MN a castle doctrine state too and we had a rural resident hear people running around outside of his property and his house. He took a weapon and went outside for whatever reason instead of calling 911. Found a bunch of drunk kids crawling on the roof of the machine shed and fired a few shots into the ground to get their attention. (he says that where he fired them)

He got booked for unlawful discharge of a firearm and he lived within the actual city limits so he needs a lawyer.Takeaway for me...only fire at an intruder if they are in your home and you feel threatened...too much can go wrong.

I once entertained the idea of having the first shotshell loaded with rock salt, followed by shells with buckshots. I wonder if only the first round gets fired that it will be considered a lethal firearm.

 

[Sunset]

I think the idea of having a solid door, not the typical hollow door, along with 4" screws in the hinges and a deadbolt on bedroom door sounds like a great idea.

However, throwing a glowing object out the window towards cops who are responding to a crime, with guns already declared, seems to me a good easy way to get shot by the cops. After all they are pretty nervous as well.

 

[Sunset]

.....Takeaway for me...only fire at an intruder if they are in your home and you feel threatened...too much can go wrong.

Yeah, I'm not going to go firing down the street, but if someone is in my home, I will feel threatened because they are in my home. I'm old and weak..

 

[Jack_Pine]

I did not mention our bedroom has the hardened door. I have a safe and many firearms but our philosophy is to lock the bedroom door and call 9111 and wait. (withe dogs and couple of weapons) those that go looking for trouble will find it in most cases. IMHO

 

[swakyaby]

After 4 break-ins in one night in my gated street, police called a community meeting to describe the events. All the break-ins were by entering unlocked access gates to the backyard, entering the house by unlocked windows or sliding glass doors (especially on warm summer nights), or by entering the garage through an unlocked side door, then entering the house by unlocked garage door. If a home was locked up, they would go to the next house.

All the homes had occupants sleeping upstairs. Some would awaken to a noise downstairs, but then rationalize that it's probably the kids getting an evening snack. One person heard a noise downstairs and decided to check. He opened the door to the garage and saw a stranger there who said he was looking for his dog! He let the guy out of his garage and never called the police, so the burglar went to another house on our street and continued burglarizing the downstairs while the owners were asleep upstairs.

I've since then put combo deadbolt locks on the side access door and the garage door. Without needing to fish out a key everytime, I now never fail to lock those doors 24 hrs a day.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
I've since then put combo deadbolt locks on the side access door and the garage door. Without needing to fish out a key everytime, I now never fail to lock those doors 24 hrs a day.

Me too.

 

[brewer12345]

I might have thought about taking a couple shots safely into the ground (where I felt confident of no ricochet), and then maybe yelling out "Did you get him! Should I shoot too? I think I see him! Get the spot light!".

-ERD50

Ah, the Joe Biden home defense strategy. Not a good idea. At best you get charged with illegal discharge of a firearm. At worse, it you unintentionally hit someone.

The rock salt thing is also a very bad idea. Opens you to all kinds of liability even in castle doctrine/make my day states. Basically if you are not in fear of your life you are not justified in pulling the trigger and a less-lethal/non-lethal round suggests that you are not in fear of your life.

The best strategy is simply to make sure it never gets to that point. Lights, security signs/systems, dogs, locked doors, etc. are the way to go. If someone is in your house, flee if you can, call the police, and as a last resort you would get involved with the intruder. If it were me, the only time I would shoot is if I were in fear of my or my family's lives and it would not be a warning shot.

 

[Lsbcal]

There was a story in the papers a few years ago. In the gentrified town of Healdsburg California a retiree and his wife were sleeping upstairs. The homeowner had been a manager in some Nevada casino complex as I recall (one wonders about this connection).

Someone broke in who apparently knew the guy but not intimately. The bad guy broke into the upper story door and there was a scuffle. The bad guy was shot dead. There were no charges against the homeowner.

 

[Sunset]

Normally we keep the doors locked, but at bedtime I check the doors and the garage door just to be sure everything is secure. Then I turn on the perimeter alarm.
We have exterior lights on , and motion lights at the back, plus the fence gates are locked with padlocks.
We don't have a dog and I do miss their natural alert defense.

One nice neighborhood I lived in, the family left the garage door open, and in the morning found bikes and stuff was stolen from the garage.

 

[Sunset]

One of the scary things about an intruder, is there seems to be 2 types, the one in this thread who is quiet and careful and the other which is more like a home invasion.
The home invasion ones are so fast it's scary.

Video shows woman shoot at burglars in home invasion - CNN Video

 

[Pilot2013]

If it were me, the only time I would shoot is if I were in fear of my or my family's lives and it would not be a warning shot.

I agree. Take all opportunity to avoid it, but "shooting to scare, or wound" is a terrible idea. By the time you have pulled the trigger, the person should know that s/he is in grave, mortal danger, and my assumption will be that they are 1) there to do me or my family harm or, b) drugged up and unaware of what they are doing and therefore an even more extreme danger. In either case, I will shoot until the threat is stopped, however many that takes. Hope to never be there.

 

[Lsbcal]

One of the scary things about an intruder, is there seems to be 2 types, the one in this thread who is quiet and careful and the other which is more like a home invasion.
The home invasion ones are so fast it's scary.

Video shows woman shoot at burglars in home invasion - CNN Video

This video seems to show a home business being invaded. I don't think it pertains to most regular residences.

That owner was very aggressive and basically defending her property rather then just her body. Not to say I am critical of her technique as the invaders deserved her response. I don't know how that would play out legally in California.

EDIT: Thanks for the video. Really amazing.

 

[skipro33]

I just don't get, see or understand how an alarm system protects you. Especially the silent ones. By the time a cop showed up, they would be long gone. Just ask your local sheriff what their response time is for a home alarm and see for yourself. My local LEO's say 15 minutes minimum. So the question is; what to do for those 15 minutes or more while there is a reasonable reason to assume your life is in danger? We have 2 small dogs that alert us. Sure, there are the false alarms with wild life, someone walking their dog past the house, etc. but I also wonder if a would-be thief was turned on a dog alert.

 

[folivier]

That is why my alarm system isn't monitored. If it goes off at night my first response is to grab my gun and flashlight. I won't wait for the police to respond. I'll yell out that I'm armed and will exit my bedroom ready to shoot.
So basically the alarm system is only to alert me that someone has entered my house. I really don't care what happens if we're not home. Everything is insured and those irreplaceable items are in a safe.

 

[joesxm3]

I saw an article today, from what might be one of those "news" sites that try to look like a real newspaper, so I won't link it.

The story was that a retired military sniper was up late cleaning his rifle (in Texas) and noticed in his neighbors window that the husband, wife and two kids were tied up in chairs by three masked men.

Supposedly he called 911 and monitored the situation. When it looked like one of the bad guys was about to shoot the wife, he took him down with the rifle, then nailed the other two.

I suppose with a neighbor like that you could skip the alarm system.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I literally cannot imagine not having a dog.

 

[ronin]

I've been doing all the things to make my house the one that the burglar skips because it's not the easy mark. Having trouble sleeping, not so much sleeping as getting back to sleep when I wake up, which is frequently. I keep listening for noises and looking for flashlight glow. I am totally creeped out. Had CSI out to dust and found out how he/she got in. My bad. Popped a screen from the patio to the pantry (no window just the screens) then through the window over washing machine from pantry to kitchen which we left unlocked. That won't happen again. But still, I think the best thing is the perimeter, motion lights, motion alarm in the pantry, eventually probably a system on the windows and doors that we can turn on at night and when we are gone. It's going to take some time to get over the anxiety.

 

[braumeister]

My local Home Depot has a remarkable variety of motion-activated floodlights and I really believe they will deter the average burglar.

 

[Hillbilly]

I literally cannot imagine not having a dog.

Exactly, if feasible. We keep one in the backyard and one inside with us.

 

[Koolau]

Can't recall if I've related this before: Guy at work woke up in the wee hours and saw a form at the end of his and his wife's bed. He pulled his 1911 from under the pillow, unlocked the safety (cocked and locked - the only way to carry a 1911), and aimed. To this day he doesn't know what stopped him from firing. The figure grunted.

"Todd?" the home-owner called out. It WAS Todd. He'd gotten all drunked up and got the wrong house in the neighborhood. Apparently, the screen door had opened, even though it was locked (note to self - don't count on screen doors to stop anyone.)

All's well that ends well, I suppose, but this could have been BAD! YMMV

 

[travelover]

...........All's well that ends well, I suppose, but this could have been BAD! YMMV

Didn't work out so well for Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend. Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend shot 4 times through bathroom door, official says - CNN.com

 

[FUEGO]

I literally cannot imagine not having a dog.

Do dogs emit something that stifles the imagination?