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Homeowner Shoots at Two Intruders Five Times(IL)
centralillinoisproud.com ^ | 9 March, 2012 | Jacob Long

Posted on 03/14/2012 8:03:08 AM PDT by marktwain

WAYNESVILLE - Four bullet holes in a door and one in a wall. That's what's left after a terrifying night for David Swan.

"I was afraid for my safety, plain and simple," he told WMBD 31 on Friday.

Swan was home alone watching television Thursday evening.

Around 6:30, he said his dog started acting funny about something outside.

"At that time, I grabbed my phone and went into the kitchen to see what was out there," Swan said.

What he said he saw were two men with a crowbar coming toward his house in the 2300 block of Capital Road near Waynesville in DeWitt County.

"That's when I turned around proceeded upstairs where my gun was," he said.

Not long after, Swan said he heard the men come inside through the unlocked kitchen door.

Swan recalled, "I warned the guy, standing right here, I warned the guy. 'I am armed. Don't come up here.' He peeked around the corner and I fired three shots. And he kind of moved a little bit and I fired another one."

Then Swan said he came downstairs, pistol still in hand.

"When I came down the stairs and the other guy was taking off, I saw the other guy coming back with the crowbar," he said.

That's when he fired the fifth shot.

As far as Swan can tell, none of the bullets hit the two men.

"It was all just so fast when it all happened," Swan said.

In fact, he thinks the ordeal was over in about five minutes. But in that time, he said he felt his life was in jeopardy.

That's why he said he felt it necessary to take matters into his own hands.

He said his first thought was that it was "going to be another situation like what happened down in Beason. They just weren't supposed to be here, period."

Swan believes he was targeted because he lives in a very rural area with no neighbors.

So far, police have made no arrests. They said Friday they are investigating, but have no leads.

Swan said one of the men is white and the other is African-American. He said they took off in a blue, four door car.

"It could've been much worse," he said.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: banglist; defense; home; il
I know that many will be saying "range time". Firing at moving targets under stress is very difficult.
1 posted on 03/14/2012 8:03:12 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Pump 12 will solve that problem.


2 posted on 03/14/2012 8:14:48 AM PDT by IMR 4350
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To: marktwain

He better get some range time in quick, a few extra clips and be ready because my guess is those boys are coming back and now they know he’s armed.


3 posted on 03/14/2012 8:19:13 AM PDT by mad puppy (Ok, I will start to consider Rick more seriously)
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To: mad puppy
My guess is they'd better bring more than a crowbar then.

Hits or misses the perp pussies ran off.

4 posted on 03/14/2012 8:24:56 AM PDT by gettinolder (Smashed lips save ships.)
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To: mad puppy

It sounds like he didn’t WANT to hit the robbers,just scare them away.The thought of actually killing someone is not comfortable and he may have feared malicious prosecution or relatives’ reprisal if he actually ended the bad guys’ careers.


5 posted on 03/14/2012 8:27:49 AM PDT by hoosierham (Freedom isn't free)
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To: marktwain
That's the difference between a Yankee and a Southerner:

"At that time, I grabbed my phone and went into the kitchen to see what was out there,"

"The Southerner grabbed his shotgun and went into the kitchen to see what was out there."

6 posted on 03/14/2012 8:36:11 AM PDT by 109ACS (If this be Treason, then make the most of it. Patrick Henry, May 1765)
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To: gettinolder

Yup. Don’t bring a crowbar to a gunfight.


7 posted on 03/14/2012 9:05:35 AM PDT by tgusa (gun control: deep breath, sight alignment, squeeze the trigger .......)
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Don’t leave your doors unlocked. That’s just common sense, but so many people end up being easy victims that way.


8 posted on 03/14/2012 9:17:38 AM PDT by Arkansas Toothpick
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To: mad puppy
He better get some range time in quick, a few extra clips and be ready because my guess is those boys are coming back and now they know he’s armed.

And unless he is using an M1 Garand or one of its' varients, he'd better carry a few extra magazines too.

Sorry. My bad....

9 posted on 03/14/2012 9:33:03 AM PDT by China Clipper ( Animals? Sure I like animals. See? There they are next to the potatoes!)
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To: China Clipper
You and your Garand are not bad, but GOOD.....That is exactly what I have for home defense, A M-1 Garand, and as a back up I keep a Colt 45 fully loaded,and ready to go...
10 posted on 03/14/2012 9:39:52 AM PDT by BooBoo1000 (I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future.,)
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To: BooBoo1000

An M-14 and its 20-round magazine IMHO.


11 posted on 03/14/2012 9:45:15 AM PDT by Flintlock (Photo ID for ALL VOTING. Let our dead rest in peace.)
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To: Arkansas Toothpick
Don’t leave your doors unlocked.

Out in the country like that, it wouldn't make much difference. They would have busted in with the crowbar in less than a minute, anyway.

We don't lock our doors. There's an occasional robbery in our town, guys breaking in to steal TVs and computers and such. In most cases, they just break a door or a window and go right in. Probably costs more to replace the door than to replace the TV. We do have a bunch of dogs, which would put off most burglars.

It sounds like he's going to have to pay for a little plastering and painting, however. I think he was shooting to scare them off rather than hit him, and that can be hard on the walls.

12 posted on 03/14/2012 11:21:28 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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