Man and Mr. Shotgun surprise burglar

Anchorage Daily News ^ | 01/06/07 | MEGAN HOLLAND

[conservative in nyc]

Don't mess with a retired military man -- especially one who takes it personally and gets out a shotgun when you break into his home.

Richard Noren, a seemingly mild-mannered ex-Army soldier and current Junior ROTC teacher, decided he wouldn't rely on the police after bandits broke down a door of his Eagle River home and stole thousands of dollars of his stuff while he was out of town.

Summoned by his daughter, Noren rushed back from his Seward vacation, parked his car far away from his house, shut off the lights, hid the dogs and then lay in wait, sitting on the living-room couch with a 20-gauge shotgun in his lap, for the burglars to return.

They did, just as he figured, and Noren grabbed the man who tried to come in the front door by the neck and held him at bay until police arrived.

Police arrested Tracy Randall, a 32-year-old on probation with a long rap sheet, on burglary charges.

"It's disheartening. Your privacy has been invaded," Noren said in an interview Friday. "I wouldn't encourage anybody to just grab a weapon if they don't feel comfortable doing it."

Noren's crime fighting has Anchorage police applauding his self-reliance but warning others not to follow in his footsteps.

[proud_yank]

Police arrested Tracy Randall, a 32-year-old on probation with a long rap sheet, on burglary charges.

Shocking.

Thackney, do you know the homeowner? Man, I LOVE Alaska!

[cpdiii]

what if you lay in wait to confront a burglar and he turns out to be a 250 pound monster just out of the joint...with friends.

That is why Mr. Browning designed the automatic shotgun and the 45 ACP 1911.

[thefactor]

thats all well and good until something goes wrong. god forbid. my concern is the homeowner who has never dealt with the criminal. military vets are excluded.

[tickmeister]

I've never bought the "give the criminal what he wants so you don't get hurt" line. Public officials should encourage anyone accosted by a criminal to do everything in their power to kill him. Yes, there would be a few more innocent people killed in the short run, but I would bet that in a month, violent crime would drop by 75% or more and a lot of lives would be saved.

[cpdiii]

thats all well and good until something goes wrong. god forbid. my concern is the homeowner who has never dealt with the criminal. military vets are excluded

You are correct. If you arm yourself (which I highly recommend) you must take your weapon and practice, practice practice. When you are finished practicing, practice some more and regularly. Have a plan of action before anything goes bad. When you think you have it down pat, go someplace that you can shoot in the dark, and see what you can hit or more likely missed. After that go back to the store and buy a laser sight for you defense weapon or weapons, and practice with it.

In reality I would not confront a bad guy in my home if I can flee with my wife out the back door, or side door of my bedroom. I would flee with an AR-15 with its laser sight zeroed for only 50 yards, which means center of mass would get the job done from the gun barrel out to a 100 yards. If they are that far away you should not be shooting as he is no longer an imminent threat and the law is different unless it is at night. This is Texas, he would never get out of the house alive and it would be legal. If confronted in the house with no escape the fight would be on and I hope I would win. To get in my house at night would entail killing the dog and getting past my alarm system. There would be no doubt the guy was not a friendly. His life would be forfeit.

1. Know you weapon well.
2. Practice with you weapon and then practice some more.
3. Try shooting your weapon at night.,
; 4. Have a plan and a secondary plan. If the crap hits the fan it is to late to think about what to do!

[GregoTX]

Mr. Shotgun gained respect I see.

[proudpapa]

Hmmm. I wonder, with the assistance of Mr. Shotgun, if he was able to negotiate a safe return of his valuables before calling the police???

[Neo-Luddite]

"...i'd rather my loved ones be safe and have their stuff gone than get hurt over a dvd player"

My thoughts exactly.

Although I give the guy 110% credit for a job well done---NOT shooting the perp strikes me as very tricky--didn't the report say that 2 weapons had been stolen? BIG risk, but he pulled it off

I don't know. I probably would have done the same thing (only with 0 physical contact--too risky and unneeded).

[Neo-Luddite]

"...i'd rather my loved ones be safe and have their stuff gone than get hurt over a dvd player"

My thoughts exactly.

Although I give the guy 110% credit for a job well done---NOT shooting the perp strikes me as very tricky--didn't the report say that 2 weapons had been stolen? BIG risk, but he pulled it off

I don't know. I probably would have done the same thing (only with 0 physical contact--too risky and unneeded).

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Never trapgun, I.
See Briney Trapgun case...

[PAR35]

In New York, the police would have probably arrested the homeowner for illegal possession of a weapon.

And in Texas, the criminal probably wouldn't have been given the opportunity to continue to build his rap sheet.

[thackney]

No, but he lives about 8/10th of a mile away from us.

[editor-surveyor]

All California will soon be a hell hole with Moonbeam as AG.

[ME-262]

"Noren's crime fighting has Anchorage police applauding his self-reliance but warning others not to follow in his footsteps."

The small town I live nearest to once hired a policeman and crime actually went up. He also handed out a lot of tickets to locals for J-turns, parking violations, and Etc. The next year the town voted not to fund a police force and have enjoyed keeping the peace without "superior officer Roscoe P. Coaltrain". Now if we need police they come from about twenty five minutes away and it works just fine. Once I had one of these city cops tell me I shouldn't be carrying a shotgun in my car. I'll know it's safe to stop carrying a gun in my car when the cops leave their guns at home. My guns have come in handy too many times to let some twenty year old dropout with a badge tell me he should be the only one on the road with a gun. I also was once working out at a gym where one of our Finest was bragging about how steroids helped him do his job better, and went on to chronicle how his roid rage gives him the mental edge he needs to fight crime. A friend of mine once wanted to be a detective and majored in Administration of Justice. He ended up changing his major to English and is now a librarian. He explained that the majority of his fellow Administration of Justice majors were A-holes with God complexes who wanted to become Cops so that they could hassle people with no repercussions. His fellow students were such a bunch of angry egos that he decided he couldn't put up with them for four years of classes. He said about once a day one of his fellow classmates would raise their hand and ask something like "So when do we get to shoot somebody?".

[packrat35]

I thought I was the only one who called their shotgun "Mr Shotgun"

[packrat35]

Your post is spot on.

[thefactor]

i understand your frustrations with certain LEO types, but please do not begrudge all of us. some of us have our heads on straight and got into this line of work for all of the right reasons. if you're ever in nyc and, god forbid, needed the help of the police, i or one of my brethren would hopefully be able to help in any way possible. i'll never second guess another cop, but i am sorry for your previous encounters.

[ME-262]

I've met a lot of good law enforcement officers, but even one bad one is too many. Actually I seem to have met more than my share. Back when I was younger and single I enjoyed my muscle car. Once when I asked to see the radar gun a laughably obese cop in Lakeport, Texas grabbed his pistol and shouted "Are you callin' me a liar, Boy?". Not only did his giant belly hang way over his holster belt, but he rested it on the window sill of my car as he was trying to provoke some kind of reaction from me. I also find that some police tactics like repetition and aggression don't work well with me. Why is it that if an officer asks me a question and I respond with a question as often happens in conversation, that the officer has to get his panties in a wad, shout, threaten my security, refuse to answer a simple question, and repeat himself over and over like a talking parrot? Do cops loose all social skills upon joining the force? Why is it that if you remind them of the first,second, fourth, or fifth amendment in our bill of rights and ask them if they aren't supposed to be enforcing the law, that you usually get some stupid response like "I am the law, buddy!" And why is it that if you remind them that it says "to serve and protect" on their cruiser door that they continue to harass and try to intimidate. And what is the whole deal with the intimidation? Don't cops learn to read people? I would think a cop should be able to tell right away that I don't fear death and their threatening behavior only annoys me. Things would go so much smoother if officers treated people with the same respect they expected from us tax payers who put the bread on their tables. It seems like a lot of police officers are insecure and get intimidated easily by a big he-man like myself who doesn't fear them and they feel some need to try to intimidate me. Is this some technique they are trained, or just the character flaw it appears to be?

[Knitebane]

i'll never second guess another cop

I think we've found the problem.

[festus]

You are of course correct.

Happy freeping.