Masked Man Shot Dead Trying To Break Into Home

WFTV-TV ^ | 06/19/2009 | Staff

[VeniVidiVici]

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- A man was shot and killed outside a home near Altamonte Springs early Friday morning. Deputies say he was trying to break into a home on S. Magnolia Avenue when someone inside shot him.

Investigators say at approximately 4:00am on Friday, a woman was awakened by a loud, pounding sound coming from the front door of her home. She woke up her husband to let him know what she heard and asked him to go check on what was happening.

"Yes someone's just tried to break down my front door," said the caller to the 911 dispatcher.

[VeniVidiVici]

Guy tries to bust down the homeowners door while wearing a ski mask. Homeowner opens door, surprised to see the guy still standing there and shoots him.

Good shoot. No drunken frat boys, no high teenage neighbors. Bad guy trying to bust in and gets a free burial for his trouble.

[jiggyboy]

They are still trying to determine if the masked man was armed

If there are 12 jurors like me, save yourselves the trouble -- it doesn't matter.

[john in springfield]

That’s just not right.

Burial costs ought to come out of his estate.

[LiberConservative]

Duh

[hugorand]

From Unforgiven:

Gene Hackman: "You just shot an unarmed man".

Clint Eastwood: "Well, he should have armed himself".

[Knightmixer]

My only wish is that they include a brief description of the grouping somewhere in the story.

[greatdefender]

Rule:

Any one who breaks in home; YOU HAVE the right to defend yourself.

PS: I won’t be surprise if this guy has a criminal rap.

[VeniVidiVici]

Burial costs ought to come out of his estate.

Well, it may still come to that. He's young enough to where somebody will probably soon come forward and say what a fine, young man he was, straight-A student, wouldn't harm a fly, blah, blah, blah.

Once they do that, then the city can go after them for the cost. Unless he was down here on vacation :-)

[Teflonic]

Yay! I think we can now all agree you would have to be stupid to break into a house in Florida! Every message like this keeps the border crime out west...

[Oatka]

PS: I won’t be surprise if this guy has a criminal rap.

The full litany:
1) He was out on parole
2) His time was reduced for good behaviour
3) His original crime was plea-bargained down to a lesser charge.
4) He has a record as long as your arm
5) All of the above

[darkwing104]

Rule #1...Don't break into homes in Florida.

Rule #2...Flying lead hurts like He!!!

Rule #3...Remember Rule #1

[VeniVidiVici]

Found another article that adds this little tidbit:

(The dead perp) has an extensive criminal history in Seminole County, Clark said, including charges involving drugs and fleeing from police. He was also being investigated in an armed robbery, Clark said.

But Clayton Montford (victim) also has a long criminal record andserved prison time for cocaine possession. Montford has been arrested in Orange County at least 25 times, Clark said.

---

Cops went on to say that Montford’s priors had no bearing on this incident as the evidence clearly showed Salaam was trying to break in.

It’s not clear yet if the States Atty office will bring a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon against Montford.

[Southern Partisan]

D. R. T.

[Balding_Eagle]

It’s not clear yet if the States Atty office will bring a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon against Montford.

Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6 seems to be the operative phrase in this situation.

[driftdiver]

“If there are 12 jurors like me, save yourselves the trouble — it doesn’t matter. “

It doesn’t matter, in Florida you are automatically considered armed if you break into an occupied residence.

[Costumed Vigilante]

Drugs.

[SIDENET]

"Who WAS that masked man?"

[TXnMA]

"Any one who breaks in home; YOU HAVE the right to defend yourself."

~~~~~~~~~~

Even better... From the (Florida) article:

...with the Castle Doctrine [the] homeowner did not have an obligation to retreat," said Lt. James Clark, Seminole County Sheriff's Department. "Our homeowner does have an obligation to protect his property."

Almost as good as Texas... '-)

[festusbanjo]

“Investigators say, at this point, the shooting appears to be justified” Gee Wally, ya think? An armed citizenry is a criminal’s worst nightmare. Kill em all, let Allah sort em out.

[hiredhand]

Ya gotta watch that front door! :-)

Here's SoapGirl watching mine! :-)



Incidentally, she MADE that sweater she's wearing! She had JUST finished it...well "almost". She looks GOOD in it... certainly better than I WOULD! :-)

[MediaMole]

She should find some cover to shoot from.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Anyone trying to break into my home is automatically assumed to be hostile until they prove other wise.

And they had better do it fast.

[GOPJ]

Good shoot. No drunken frat boys, no high teenage neighbors. Bad guy trying to bust in and gets a free burial for his trouble.

Crime's a dangerous occupation ...

[hiredhand]

She should find some cover to shoot from.

I know her pretty well, and usually she would be in a place of cover, or moving to one. But I also know that if the photo hadn't been staged, she would have shot the hell out of the area where she figured the guy's chest was...before he was in plain sight...IF he had he forced the door. She's not exactly a "shoot once and panic" sort of woman. :-)

In fact, knowing her, after going through a 30 rounder on that front door, she would have turned and run for the BACK door while reloading, and then outside and around the house to hunt the SOB down and either finish him off, or make certain he was dead....probably the latter.

I will agree with you though on the issue of cover and concealment. Those are very important! :-)

[Redcitizen]

How do you like that C-more red dot sight?

[Hoodat]

I bet that guy never tries that again.

[healy61]

Another, Dying ain’t much of a livin’ boy.

[BobL]

Clearly NOT GUILTY!

[AAABEST]

Yay! I think we can now all agree you would have to be stupid to break into a house in Florida!

You got that right.

Florida is hands down the absolute worst state in the union to live in if you're thinking about breaking into houses. According to our "castle doctrine" we're dang near compelled by law to shoot intruders. I don't even think Texas' laws on this particular matter as as good.

Unless the homeowner is clearly in the wrong, cops who arrive at a scene with a shot or dead perp just kind of shrug and go "oh well." Perps' lawyers rarely if ever waste their time going after the homeowner.

There may be things to complain about re: FL, but our gun laws aren't one of them.

[hiredhand]

How do you like that C-more red dot sight?

I actually like it a lot. There are good and bad things about it. One of the good things is that it's a whole lot more rugged than it appears. I read that C-More couldn't get the U.S. Special Operations Group to evaluate them simply because of the way they were designed and built. So C-More essentially copied the tests and the sights passed testing...according to C-More. Among these tests included one in which the weapon was dropped from 15 feed upside down such that the sight struck the ground first! I wish I could remember where I read that, but unfortunately I didn't make a note of it.

The sight is VERY simple to use. There's a simple rheostat on top just behind the diode module...closest to the operator. If you turn it clockwise, it turns ON. If you turn it full anti-clockwise, it turns OFF. The father clockwise you turn it, the brighter it gets. I understand some of their newer models have push button switchgear, which is preferred over the rheostat.

It's "virtually" paralax free...at least out to about 200 yards as best we can tell...so pretty much no matter where you position the dot inside the lense, THAT is POI!

In very bright daylight, the lower settings on the sight are inadequate. You have to turn it up. But during the daytime, I just use peeps.

At the rate I was using the sight, I got about 5 years out of the first battery I had in it. The batteries it uses are NOT "common". I thought they were, but they aren't. When I finally found them at a local hardware store, I bought a few!

The diode is 4MOA in mine and a bit "fat" at 200 yards....too fat for me. But at 100 yards and under, it does a fantastic job! I "think" replacement diode modules are available from C-More which make a smaller dot...as well as green diode modules too. The one in mine is red.

Now for what we don't like about it...

The rheostat can be difficult to find and turn ON with gloved hands...especially under stress. My buddy who recommended the sight (an SRT with a local Sheriff's Dept) told me that they go to Radio Shack and buy a little knob that just slides over the rheostat post which makes it a LOT easier to find and turn. It's a standard sized post. I haven't done this yet, because I've pretty much gotten use to turning the thing on and off with gloves just the way it is.

The lense tends to be more exposed to the elements than something like an AimPoint Comp series sight. There's really nothing sticking over the C-More's lense but a small bit of the plastic. This isn't a huge factor, but you'll notice by the way it's designed that there's just no way you can put protective caps on it! I "think" C-More makes a cover. "Somebody" does... at least I thought I remembered seeing one. But it looked like something that could get lost...and that's all I need!...more small items to lose! :-)

Zeroing in can be a real PITA. Anybody who's going to do this should zero in the open sights FIRST, and then simply co-witness the C-More. I zeroed one in for somebody who hadn't installed open sights yet, and I thought we'd never get it zeroed in! The adjustments aren't very "granular". Also, the lock screws for windage and elevation take a certain sized small allen wrench. But the elevation and windage adjustments use a small standard screwdriver. But the battery cover uses yet a DIFFERENT small allen wrench! So all in all, you have to make sure you keep the tools handy and with the weapon. Magpul's MIAD (modular grip) would be good for this. One of my sons keeps this sort of stuff in the forward grip on his, but I don't a forward grip on mine....YET. :-) A very minor gripe in my opinion because the sight stays put VERY well once zeroed.

All in all...for the price (still a little over $200.00 from a lot of places) I think they're a good deal. For a little over twice that, you could have something like an AimPoint Comp-ML series (various models), or an Eotech... but for the money, this is a nice sight. It stayed zeroed in after dropping the weapon...accidentally in the back of a truck!

[USNBandit]

I have an Eotech on my govt. weapon. Had never tried one until the firearms guy at work said “Here’s your M-4.” The reostat issues you’ve encountered are taken care of by a set of push buttons that run the brightness up and down. It has a large field of view and acquisition is pretty easy. It seems a bit more accurate for paralax in elevation than lateral deviations. I wish it had a choice of reticles because the standard reticle is a bit busy for long range, great for CQC. The Eotech also has the option for pop up front and back covers when not in use.

[Quix]

JimRob,

I wonder,

could we have some sort of FREEPER award we could send such folks . . . a certificate and maybe a “lifetime donation free” membership or some such?

Wouldn’t cost much but would highlight such patriotic behavior and wise gun ownership.

Maybe we could call it something like . . .

FREEPER FAMILY PROTECTION AWARD

OR

FREE REPUBLIC FAMILY PROTECTION AWARD

OR

FREEPER FAMILY SURVIVAL AWARD

etc.

[jwparkerjr]

re: They are still trying to determine if the masked man was armed

Well, if he had no arms then obviously they should be looking for the accomplice who helped him don his mask.

[pa_dweller]

The husband armed himself before heading to the front door to investigate the noise. When he arrived at the door he opened it and there was a masked man standing right in front of him. He shot the masked man in the chest, killing 21-year-old Donald Salaam instantly, police say.

Tuco's dictum applied; (When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.)

[GOPJ]

Another, Dying ain’t much of a livin’ boy.

Amen to that...

[Joe Brower]

Heh-heh, right on. Her temperament must have something to do with the red hair! $;-)

[hiredhand]

Eotech makes NICE hardware. I've used them before, and I agree with everything you say! My next sight for ME is either going to be an Eotech, or an AimPoint. Although Tasco a new ProPoint out now that looks promising. I'm not sure though at this point because it "could" be junk.

The Eotech that I used (a 550N) turned itself off after a time. I think it used regular AAA batteries too. For the price, I think Eotech is one of the best...all things considered. But any time I buy something, I usually have to buy in multiples and that adds up!

[Teflonic]

That is a great idea! May be even simpler to find and post the mailing address of the defender on banglist posts so freepers can send cards.

[Quix]

True.

WORKS FOR ME.

Thanks.

Perhaps an ongoing thread listing such and highlighting nice things about them and their family.

[Quix]

Though I think it might be a good idea . . .

for FR to have more publicity praising such with an “award”

publicly given by a local FREEPER.

[Quix]

maybe

“THE SANE PATRIOT/FAMILY PROTECTION AWARD”

or

“THE 2ND AMENDMENT/FAMILY PROTECTION AWARD”

or

“THE APPLIED 2ND AMENDMENT AWARD”

or

???

[Squantos]

All these new criminals Obama created by loss of real jobs need OJT.

Job Corp an ACORN will pick up the slack an train em.

Soap girl needs to open a boutique / gun shop for the well dressed defenders.

These days ......even on halloween I answer the door with a 1911A1 in hand. Using my thumb to hide it under a section of news paper.

A sign of the times that will increase ten fold by the time we’re done with this socialist precedent POS in the WH.

[hiredhand]

Heh-heh, right on. Her temperament must have something to do with the red hair! $;-)

You know it! As an early teen, she was "hit-n-miss" and I spent a lot of time on my knees praying to the Lord over her. It was an "interesting" experience directing all that attitude into something productive. SOMEHOW ...probably through God's mercy... she has become quite an extraordinary young woman...and one of my best friends. :-)

[Teflonic]

“THE APPLIED 2ND AMENDMENT AWARD” imo

[Quix]

WORKS FOR ME!

THX.

[hiredhand]

WHATEVER she does will not surprise me! She's got a couple of ideas at this point. But so far, SHE is the one who was really listening to me when I walked them all around the place and swept my arm and said, "See this?! It's YOURS." She was the only one who acted like she believed it! So more power to her! If she wants to capitalize on what I'm sharing, then I'm there for her! She's got a brother who's a close second, but right now she's leading that particular pack.

That photo of her is pretty much how I (unfortunately) greeted my cop buddy that night those thugs came down the road and did all that damage. He banged on the door HARD and scared the crap out of me! But for that matter, most people who show up unannounced...while they might be greeted politely....there's most certainly at least one other house member who's probably going to be like SoapGirl in that photo....even if the visitor doesn't notice them. Unfortunately, we feel it's a wise and prudent thing to do given the trends.

You mentioned a sign of the times.... Unfortunately, my own Mother is a liberal. She's not an aggressive leftist, but she's definitely a liberal. In truth, she's simply too easy to steer and too emotionally driven. The big problem is that she's married to a hardcore liberal and she simply goes along with about 90% of what he says. But even she told me that she was fearful of the coming increase in crime. I asked her why she would say this and she told me that "everybody knows" that when people like that are in power and we decline nationally that crime increases. "But", I said, "You VOTED for him!". She didn't much want to talk about it.

Liberals are amazing in their duplicity. An example of this is my Mother. Not too long ago, the youngest went to visit them. He expressed concerns to me because theirs isn't an armed household and he doesn't exactly have a victim mentality. He's very sheepdog-ish. So I told him to go armed... it was his pick. He's got his own "collection". He was very concerned about my Mother not being good with this. So I had a private conversation and simply told her the facts. The young man was going armed...and that's pretty much the way it was. She was fairly upset and told me that she honestly didn't see the sense in it. She said that they had a pistol in the house... but then admitted that they LOST it two years ago and haven't seen it since. She said that they lived in a nice neighborhood, and I reminded her that EVERYBODY lives in a nice neighborhood until there is a home invasion. Then she went on to tell me of three serious incidents of violent crime which happened fairly close to where they live. I pointed out to her that on one hand she was complaining that my #1 home security partner was showing up armed, but on the other hand she was afraid of crime in the area? I asked her WHAT the confusion was?! I told her that she certainly wouldn't tell ME to show up unarmed! That WOULDN'T happen. She said that was different, and I asked her HOW but she couldn't tell me. I told her that WE had no misunderstandings about the state of the world currently and that we are NOT victims. The young man would be "safe", whether he stayed with us here, or went with her...armed. But he wasn't going unarmed. She simply resigned herself without further conversation that he would show up armed and that they wouldn't tell her lefty husband. She did confide in me that she DID sleep better knowing that he was there...armed and capable! The kid brought his 1911 and a butt load of loaded mags...and a Pelican M-6 light...kept it within arms reach at night...and had a blast for his visit! ...no incidents...everybody got home safe...and for this we are grateful. :-)

Liberals are amazing though...they're completely ineffective and confused....even when you point it out to them!

[USNBandit]

The two families of eotech are the ones that use the camera battery and the ones that use AAs. The AA sights are more expensive, but the batteries last a lot longer. You can also save money by not getting the NVG compatible sight. It is definitely a close quarters type sight. It would be pretty hard outside of a 200 meters.

[hiredhand]

As it would happen....the rheostat on my C-More Railway has developed a flat spot in it as of this morning! ...ARG! I'm going to have to send it back and have it repaired. It got so once that I "thought" it had developed a flat spot, but I spun the rheostat back and forth and it corrected. But this time, it seems that it's permanent. It still works, but you have to turn it very far and then it becomes VERY bright all at once....a little too bright for low light work! It's got a new battery in it, so I'm pretty sure it's the rheostat. Ah well. :-)

[Redcitizen]

Thank you for a really detailed review of it. I have a Tasco red dot of some model or another on an AR 223. I was thinking of getting another red dot. BTW- red dots are my fave choice; personal choice to not get crosshairs or circles, etc. I do like the C-more in that you can see more area just like an Eotech without peering through a tube.And the price would be a plus.And if it keeps a zero after a drop, then you have a great sight.
I too have used that trick of sighting in my iron sights first and then zeroing red dots second.Saves on ammo.I find 200 yards is the best. You can get a good flat trajectory and still be able to reach out to 300 yrds.
But the C-more sounds a bit too specialized, tools required, batteries, and sight adjustment for me to want in the end.Once again its a matter of personal taste. I might just go with a Burris red dot- or shell out the cash for an aimpoint.
Once again thanks for taking the time to write me a detailed review.

[hiredhand]

You're certainly welcome! On a related note...you might have read above that my C-More is malfunctioning finally. The rheostat seems to have partially failed.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that almost any red-dot optic is better than NOTHING. But my budget is what it is and I have to abide by this in looking for another sight. I'll have to send the C-More back for repair, and during that time I'm not good with being out of a sight until it comes back. During shopping today, we looked at an ACOGS. While it can't be disputed that they're the finest available, the price simply isn't in my budget right now.

At first, I "thought" I would try out a Bushnell Trophy MP series. It looks like an ACOGS...a LOT. While "cool factor" is there, I'm not buying something for cool factor alone. If I had just a tad more money, I'd buy an Eotech, which I personally think is FUGLY....and devoid of cool factor!....but undisputedly one of the BEST. I figured what I chose had to be at least well spoken of by those using them. According to a little poking around review sites on the web, the Bushnell MP isn't everything it's cracked up to be. A few very defective units have slipped past QC...which is discouraging.

So I checked into the Tasco ProPoint PDTS132, which looks a lot like a certain AimPoint Comp-ML (a Series 2 I "think"). As with the Bushnell, it doesn't rate as favorably as it should. Too many people had problems with them.

Finally, I stumbled across something I had never heard of designed by a company called Vortex Optics (http://www.vortexoptics.com). The sight is called the StrikeFire and it's a red-dot sight that looks somewhat like an AimPoint Comp-ML series basically. In my digging around I discovered that people seem to like these sights a LOT and OpticsPlanet (http://www.opticsplanet.com) had them for $150.00 with a 2x doubler and high rise mount for co-witnessing...and free shipping. It's an NV compatible sight, and has power control features (auto-off if you leave it on)....red/green dot...nitrogen filled...waterproof...end covers...adjustment cap keepers....all push button controlled via four buttons on the left side of the sight.

Anyway...I ordered one. I'm going to stick it on top of a either a Larue Tactical, or GG&G QD mount and see how it works. This way, I won't need special tools to get the thing OFF the weapon! ...unlike the C-More. The sight unfortunately isn't made in the U.S.A. and I couldn't find out if it was made in Japan or the Phillipines. Also, it's relatively new so I can't find much on how it holds up under abuse. Perhaps I'll be the first to find out! :-) It should be here this week and I'll let you know any of the noteworthy details if you'd like. :-) I'll be mounting it on an Armalite M15 (AR-15) A-4 flat topped carbine, and then I'll send the C-More out for repair!