...

[Foriegn power]

Since my friends incident, he is re thinking what happened and said "lock and loaded," there was too many "what ifs," scenarios what- if suspect instead of running away ran towards his home he has little kids and a wife etc.
But for the cops, they never showed up, and for the motive of trespassing all I know my friend said the suspect just ran through the driveway towards my friends backyard thus hopping over the fence, may be running from someone, may be drunk, high or just a plain dare from a friend who knows.

[choprzrul]

Perhaps this is your wakeup call. We all feel that our home is our castle and we are safe there. Your image of safety was shattered and shook you awake when you realized just how vulnerable your friend was(and now you and your family's vulnerability also I would suspect). Now you and your friend have to rethink your defensive posture to match your new reality. Sit down and make a plan.

[Foriegn power]

Oh you bet, we are high school friends so we spoke for a while about the incident. He told me he was shook up after the incident, even though nothing gravely dangerous happened, it's unusual to be sitting down watching t.v and seeing someone through your sliding glass door hop into your backyard and make a mad dash to hop over your next fence.

[frigginchi]

Go inside and lock the door.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoenix-family-lawsuit-cops-shot-homeowner-intruder/story?id=8756441

[BMC]

Why panic and have to run for the guns because someone yard hops your fence and through the neighborhood? Must live in the city. Obviously the guy was running from someone or something other than the homeowner. Probably some zit-faced teenager running from a beat down is all. No need to go running for the guns. In the scenario asked for. its simple. Unless you carry with you in your home, or have a weapon stashed near every exit (door), then some gun running at you to break into your house is probably going to get to you before you get to your feel-safe HD gun. Think about it.

[diginit]

Why panic and have to run for the guns because someone yard hops your fence and through the neighborhood? Must live in the city. Obviously the guy was running from someone or something other than the homeowner. Probably some zit-faced teenager running from a beat down is all. No need to go running for the guns. In the scenario asked for. its simple. Unless you carry with you in your home, or have a weapon stashed near every exit (door), then some gun running at you to break into your house is probably going to get to you before you get to your feel-safe HD gun. Think about it.

You should be armed before confronting a suspect. Not after yelling at them. And NEVER assume anything. You can never tell what is on a persons' mind and to assume he is running from a beating is not a good assumption. He could have been running from a LEO and used you as a hostage and a place to hide out. And Yes, keep the firearm at the ready. Just don't fire it unless you really have to.

[butch952]

Although having someone jump into your yard would be scarry I think arming yourself after they have left maybe overreacting to the situation.What if the this person is being chased by law enforcement and they come over your fence next and see you poking around with a shotgun? Maybe you end up getting shot?

[ysr_racer]

Maybe he was chasing someone that just robbed him, and he thought they ran into your yard?

[nrakid88]

I carry my g17 around my home daily. I am thinking the responsible thing for me to do would be to pull my glock (not pointing it at him) and say "Stop, I am placing you under citizens arrest". I don't think you should shoot, maybe you would be justified because you were using force to detain, IDK but I wouldn't want to test it in court, or accidentally shoot some innocent tresspassing kid when I think he could be a burglar or rapist or something.

I just think it would suck to find out later that night as I watch the news that some scumbag had run through my yard when I could have stopped him, but I didn't and he ended up murdering someone.

Also doesn't detaining a scum bag kind of put you at risk, since he knows where you live and can talk to his friends on the outside of jail?

[resident-shooter]

1- I agree that magazine has to be loaded "to the top" when it comes to home defense weapons. It has to be retractable in 30 seconds.... 40= MAX.

2- I also agree that you should not just shoot someone unless there is an immediate threat to you from a knife or another gun. If you just shoot everyone, you will enhance the negative stereotypes about gun owners being stupid, paranoid hicks simply waiting to shoot someone on their porches. Also you do not know what his motive was (tho no motive is an excuse for just hopping over a fence). I would have called 911 too.

3- Traps are a bad idea. In this idiotic state you will get sued....

4- Tell your friend that he was not shot, his family was not abused and back door is not broken. He shall not freak out, although this should be a lesson and a potential scenario to all of us....

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

I carry my g17 around my home daily. I am thinking the responsible thing for me to do would be to pull my glock (not pointing it at him) and say "Stop, I am placing you under citizens arrest". I don't think you should shoot, maybe you would be justified because you were using force to detain, IDK but I wouldn't want to test it in court, or accidentally shoot some innocent tresspassing kid when I think he could be a burglar or rapist or something.

I just think it would suck to find out later that night as I watch the news that some scumbag had run through my yard when I could have stopped him, but I didn't and he ended up murdering someone.

Also doesn't detaining a scum bag kind of put you at risk, since he knows where you live and can talk to his friends on the outside of jail?

So. You would use the threat of deadly force to make a citizen's arrest? What articulable, reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm justifies your act? You are absolutely correct that you don't want to test this in court as the circumstances stated in the OP do NOT justify a citizen confronting the suspect with deadly force. I am thinking that the responsible thing for you to do would be to go inside, lock the door, call 911 (getting your weapon ready if that makes you feel more secure) and give the best description you can of the suspect and their direction of flight.

Consider the following hypothetical: You do as you have outlined. The next thing that comes over the fence is the police officer who was in pursuit of the suspect. He sees two subjects, one holding a weapon on the other. Will he/she make the right decision? Do you bet your life on it? I wouldn't.

[nrakid88]

So. You would use the threat of deadly force to make a citizen's arrest? What articulable, reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm justifies your act? You are absolutely correct that you don't want to test this in court as the circumstances stated in the OP do NOT justify a citizen confronting the suspect with deadly force. I am thinking that the responsible thing for you to do would be to go inside, lock the door, call 911 (getting your weapon ready if that makes you feel more secure) and give the best description you can of the suspect and their direction of flight.

Consider the following hypothetical: You do as you have outlined. The next thing that comes over the fence is the police officer who was in pursuit of the suspect. He sees two subjects, one holding a weapon on the other. Will he/she make the right decision? Do you bet your life on it? I wouldn't.

Good point. I wouldn't want to put my life in a cops hands.

I guess the better idea would be to pull my glock (not pointed at him but in my hands pointing down in case the intruder advances on you) and walk backwards into my house while keeping my eyes on him.

Any perceived problems with that reaction?

[teflondog]

Hi all, one of my very close friends just gave me a call today about an very quick incident that occurred in his backyard today. Apparently around 1600 today, there was a suspect who suddenly appeared in his backyard very suspiciously hopping over his backyard fence, once my friend made visual and verbal contact with the suspect yelling at him to stop,the suspect darted jumping over fences to neighboring yards,escaping. My friend fearing for his safety had to run to his room to retrieve his firearms and load it up, specifically his 12 gauge! Above all, gladly nothing happened but he did say he is going to re-think this incident and how slow it took for him to retrieve his firearm and load it! He was saying, it would of been a grim story if this suspect instead of darting away, if the suspect came towards him and broke into his home, my friend would of said he doesn't know if he would of had time to get his weapon and load it! So this got me thinking, always have a handy firearm lock and loaded under immediate control, above all this got me thinking also, what do you all say?

It's good that nothing serious happened. The only thing I would do differently is that if I feared for my life, I would have secured my door first to buy a little more time to load my shotgun if necessary. I would not engage the suspect verbally unless I had a loaded firearm at the ready. People do crazy things when provoked.

[FatalKitty]

Why panic and have to run for the guns because someone yard hops your fence and through the neighborhood? Must live in the city. Obviously the guy was running from someone or something other than the homeowner. Probably some zit-faced teenager running from a beat down is all. No need to go running for the guns. In the scenario asked for. its simple. Unless you carry with you in your home, or have a weapon stashed near every exit (door), then some gun running at you to break into your house is probably going to get to you before you get to your feel-safe HD gun. Think about it.

it was just bueller - just thank god he didn't stop and introduce himself to your wife and daughter

[Z ME FLY]

Go inside and lock the door.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoenix-fam...ory?id=8756441

These are the best answers! If someone is OUTSIDE you can go INSIDE and lock your doors. If they break into your house, that is a different story but if you have time to go inside and grab your gun, you have enough time to lock the door and call 911 while you wait it out.