Bump in the night

[sunlupeo]

So last night I awoke to what I thought was my dog scratching at the garage door. I got up to "let him out" when I stumbled over him sleeping at the foot of my bed. I went to the garage door to investigate the noise. I saw my garage light was on and saw shadows underneath the door. I grabbed by handgun woke my wife, called 911 and informed them that unknown number of subjects were in my garage and I was armed in my house with my family. I could hear the radio transmissions in the background and that even though the dispatcher was saying the police were on the way the officers in the background were giving a different story. I decided that I had the element of surprise and I was armed so I would confront whomever was in my garage. I cleared my house first, so I knew no one would be behind me. I unlocked the garage door. As soon as I turned the lock the guy took off through the rear garage door and hopped the wall in my backyard. It took alot of self restraint to not place 3 in the guys back as he took off with my stuff. Just glad that he ran away from me and not towards me. All that to say, would you have waited for the police or done what I did? BTW the police showed up 15 min later making it a total of 20 min response time. Thoughts?

[afteractionreport]

Shooting a baddy in the back is big problems...good thing u thought twice....good job on bein prepared this is the type of situation we plan for....

[AK5.56]

I would have waited for the Police to show. But at the door he came in through. That way he would have no where to go when the police showed and you would still have your stuff and one less ******* off the streets.

[sunlupeo]

There was no way for me to get to the other door he came in without putting myself in more danger. My wife was mad that I opened the door. I just was so angry that there was someone there I wanted to "take care of it."

[tradecraft]

I decided that I had the element of surprise and I was armed so I would confront whomever was in my garage. I cleared my house first, so I knew no one would be behind me.

Dangerous, stay inside. If I had a wife, I wouldn't leave her alone in the house while I "surprise" an unknown number of intruders.

[hk200085]

Frustrating as it might be, restraint was the right course of action. As for the 20 minute response, I would inquire with the watch commander about that and see what he has to say. They might have just been overwhelmed with calls, you just never know. At least you were prepared to defend yourself and your family. Godspeed.

[bigbearbear]

I wondering why your dog basically did nothing?

[sunlupeo]

My wife was armed with her .357, my dog is 13 yrs old he is not really "on duty" anymore. Good points though, maybe time for a new puppy.

[lorax3]

The feeling of wanting to get someone out of your castle is hard to overcome. However, there could have been a whole lot more of trouble behind that door.

Glad everyone is safe.

[CRTguns]

if he has something that looks like a weapon in his hand, even if its your property (wrench, electric drill, etc...) he's an armed threat and you CAN shoot him in the front... as soon as he's heading away, he's no longer a threat.

There was one instance back east that an armed assailant was reported to back his way up within arms reach of his victim... so they could not legally shoot him.

I've put 4 guys in jail with my gun...form my time owning a gun store... coulda' shot them all, I don't regret letting them live though. They're someone else's problem now.

[CessnaDriver]

Why open the door, removing a safety barrier between you and them and confront when no life was in danger?

If you wanted to scare them off and not wait for cops, just yelling probably would have worked.

Yeah I get yelled at for being a Monday morning quarterback for this kind of thinking. I try to let logic dictate.... Was anything in the garage worth risking confronting potentially an armed criminal?

If it's life and limb to be protected by all means confront, but over stuff, I have hard time to justify logically.

I say this to be helpful for all of us to consider alternatives and discuss them.

[SJ-Chris]

I'm really glad for your sake you didn't have to shoot. I understand your frustration though.

With your wife armed as well, I would have assumed a defensive position and waited for the police. Having them show up would probably have been your best chance at catching the punks (even if the police took a while).

Your things are just "stuff"....it can all likely be replaced (might even be covered by your insurance). By opening the door you put yourself at risk. Yes, you were in a pretty good position (being armed and having the element of surprise) but it still put you at unnecessary risk.

The bad guy running (and you not shooting) was a pretty good outcome once you open that door. But what if there were 3-4 guys in there? What if they were armed? I don't think you want some sort of crazy shootout in your garage.

Or, what if they weren't burglars at all? What if they were drunk teenagers that thought your home was someone else's (a friends), or some other strange occurance (rare, but these things do happen)? It would have been tragic had you shot and killed someone only to find out it was some sort of freak accident.

You and your wife both armed in a defensive position a)avoids all sorts of trouble, and b)probably protects you better should the burglars decide to enter your home to rob or worse. They would stand no chance if you and your wife were ready, armed, and waiting. This "wait and see" approach probably involves the least amount of risk to you and your wife.

Again...I'm glad you didn't get hurt or involved in a bad-shoot lawsuit. Sorry to hear you were robbed.

[POLICESTATE]

Next time yell "There's a rattlesnake in that box!" as loud as you can and he'll probably drop your stuff without thinking and then have to keep running so he doesn't get caught.

[IVC]

Once you opened the door, the response was correct - if not in danger, you cannot use deadly force. You will feel violated, but there is nothing you can do about it.

Before you opened the door, though, the correct response would've been to stay in the house and avoid confrontation. You might have yelled at the guy that you are in the house and armed, which would have produced the same effect of him fleeing without you exposing yourself.

Keep in mind that if he chose not to flee after receiving a warning that you were armed, chances are he had been armed too and willing to confront you. That's the bad scenario that you always want to avoid if possible and that's what you could've walked into.

[sunlupeo]

You all bring up good points...hindsight is always clearer. In the moment when adrenaline is pumping its not always easy to think about the ramifications of every little decision. In a weird way, I'm glad it happened because I know what I would do differently next time and would be able to think more clearly. I also know that I cannot rely on the illusion of police protection. Thanks for your comments. I will definitely be thinking about what you all have shared.