Posted on 10/06/2004 12:48:54 AM PDT by Jaysun
I was sitting in my study tonight when I heard something at my front door. I already knew that my family was in bed, so I retrieved my pistol before going to investigate. As I got closer to the foyer I could hear the doorknob jingling. The motion lights were on, so I was sure that someone was trying to get into the house.
I stopped at the doorway into our dining room where I had a clear view of the front door. I cocked my revolver, aimed at the door, and waited. Suddenly this swings open and this guy steps into the house. I hadn’t said anything at this point, and my heart was hammering away like a sewing machine.
I said, “Stop! What are you doing?” I didn’t yell it at him, mostly because I was too nervous to muster anything much louder than a normal tone. He looks around to see where my voice was coming from and when he saw me with a gun aimed at his face he freaked out.
He immediately dropped what looked like a gym bag and threw his hands into the air. He took his eyes off of me, ducked his head, and started bending at his knees to get into a kneeling position. I kept my aim trained on his head. He was saying, “SH*T SH*T DON’T SHOOT! OH GOD DON’T SHOOT, OH SH*T!…” So I said, “Do not move! What in the hell are you doing in my house?” At this point I was both angry and scared at the same time.
He said, “I’m here to stay with Patricia…..my Aunt Patricia…I’m from New York and I’m here for the week.” Of course, there is no Patricia here, and I told him as much. By this time, my wife had awakened and she alerted me to that fact by letting out a shrill yelp. I told her to get the phone and call the police. He continued to insist that he was here to stay with Patricia. Somewhere in there he also mentioned someone named Dan. Then it dawned on me. Dan and Patricia are my neighbors. I told Melanie to call them and ask if they were expecting company.
Dan and Patricia confirmed his story so I lowered my gun. They walked over and he finally stopped hyperventilating long enough for us to figure out what happened. Patricia had mailed him a house key in a letter a few weeks ago. At that time he wasn’t sure exactly when he’d be here, and they wanted to make sure he could get in if they were out of town (they just got back).
So he followed her directions, came to what he thought was her house, put the key in the lock, and turned the knob. Their key unlocks my door and vice versa. We have no idea how we ended up with two doorknobs with matching locks. I’m still trying to figure that one out.
Anyway, I just sat back down and I’m still somewhat shaken. He has no idea (or maybe he does) how close I came to blowing his head off when he walked in the door. His name is Kevin. He ended the night by saying, “Damn! I knew Alabama was going to be different, but I though that I’d at least get my bags unpacked before almost being killed.”
Whew. I’m still shaken. Just thought I’d share this bizarre event with you guys.
Interesting, he knew exactly what to do. Hands up, on his knees. Thank goodness you had the control to recognize he might actually be harmless. But that lock thing is weird.
Should have shot him in the leg for good measure
Just awesome.
Well poor Kevin may have needed some Depends undergarments...but you now know how you would handle a scary situation.
It seems to me that you were level-headed, and yet prepared to protect yourself and your family. Many other people cannot say the same. They are unwilling to be prepared to handle such a situation; they have been brainwashed by the anti-gun liberals and could be sitting ducks in their own home.
Good job on identifying the situation and not letting it get out of control.
The only other thing I'd suggest is to have a good flashlight, (Surefire 6P or such) handy. They will allow you to ID your target and it will but the target at a severe disadvantage, (the light is very powerful).
Semper Fi
Jaysun,
I am sorry but I can't imagine EVER doing something like that to my son--I don't care how much I might hate his drinking! Maybe it's all macho but no one should point a loaded gun at their own kid. Anyone with a young adult in the house should always err on the side of caution and assume the noise is the kid until facts indicate otherwise. Geesh.
Excellent control on your part, and no harm done. Well-handled.
should have called 911 first. they dont mind coming out and checking. not worth the agg you wiill go thru if you do drop someone.
Actually, the thing that would have filled him with guilt is that it was an innocent mistake and he was ~not~ to blame.
Southern welcome! Restraint is always advisable in a deadly force issue. You have to ask yourself "Is my life in danger?" before pulling the trigger.
Well done. The idiot should never enter a house unannounced late at night anyway, even if he IS expected. If your neighbors told him to do exactly that, then they were wrong to do so. (Why? What if they had let an actual burglar run amok in their house, because they were expecting their visitor to sneak in during the night, and decided to ignore the noise?)
You posted that to the wrong person. Try again. Or don't.
I am not talking about court. I am just talking about blame, period. If you own a gun you have to be responsible. This homeowner should change his locks -- he knows other people can enter his house, yet he is ready to blow them away. He's just asking for trouble. Paying a locksmith to change the locks and give you new keys is something every homeowner should do, and it is a lot cheaper than a lawsuit.
Sure, he should change his locks. That being said:
1) "If he had shot..." And, if grass were purple. He didn't. Based on what I've seen, he's unlikely to be a wild shot. So scolding him about blame really wasn't necessary.
2) But let's play. If the guy had gotten shot, are you really saying no blame goes to the guy entering the wrong house? If I accidentally drive the wrong way down a street and get hit head on, I bear NO blame? No, if you had to assign blame in such a case, I'd give Jaysun no more than 33 1/3%. Another third goes to the guy getting shot, and the last third goes to his dim auntie and uncle, should it be shown that they actually encouraged him to sneak in during the night (a bad move unless you know more precisely the details of someone's arrival).
You handled it perfectly. Weird coincidence about the locks, but that's why it's important to assess the situation before pulling the trigger. Criminal intruders generally arrive armed, and don't throw their hands in the air and kneel when confronted with an armed homeowner. This guy didn't quite fit the criminal intruder bill, so you didn't fire, and gave him a chance to explain himself. Great job!
Just wondering, do you live in one of those cookie cutter housing developments, and do you and your neighbor have the original front door locks on your homes? If so, you might want to have a serious chat with the developer/builder. It's not that hard to ensure that houses next door to each other don't have the same locks, and it should have been done, if they were building a bunch of houses and putting in same brand/model locks at each one. It's not that uncommon for drunken guests or even residents to head into the wrong home by accident, but if the doors are locked, their keys shouldn't work on a house right next door.
If you have a gun, and other people outside your own family have keys to your house, and you know this and don't get the locks changed, and you blow someone you don't know away who enters your house who uses those keys, YOU ARE TO BLAME. YOU ARE IRRESPONSIBLE. CHANGE THE LOCKS.
I don't believe he knew the locks on his door and his neighbor's could be opened with the same key until this incident. Have you and your next door neighbors tried each other's keys in each other's doors lately? Maybe you should go do that right now.
You seem like a nasty poster who just wants to fight. Please fight with someone else -- I am not interested.
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