homeowner tactics
Hi
Guys, sorry but I gotta throw a little cold water on this discussion...I am a semi-retired cop, a deputy in a major dept in Cali. I spent the last 12 years of a 25 year career on our tactical team, and eventually did a bit of teaching in that area. A claim to fame was that I was almost shot by a homeowner when I was a new patrol deputy; a situation much like that described here. A lot of case studies show a different take on tactics for the homeowner. Your job should not be to do anything more than hold your ground in a safe area with your family, buy time, and call the cops for the heavy lifting. They are trained and equipped (hopefully!) for that job.
Craig, I am really glad that everything turned out OK for you and your family. And maybe your right that it was supposed to work out that the guy could now get help..
But, if he was truly bent on violence, for what ever reason, he could have fired on you thru the door, making your house and it's contents, his....
Action is always faster than reaction.
If some goofball knocks on the door, bangs on a window, or heaven forbid comes into the house, gather up the family and barricade yourself in a room in the house. Upstairs room if at all possible, one with multiple exits or hiding options. Then you have the time and safety to holler at him to leave. If that doesnt work...
Take your phone with you, take your home defense gun (a shotgun is simply the only way to go for several reasons) and hopefully you can turn on a bunch of lights both inside and out. Call the professionals.
DO NOT go out and confront the badguy. At 0darkthirty just woken up from your nice warm bed, maybe after a nitetime cocktail or two, worried about your family, your decision making abilities cant process the possibilities. Assume the worst and go totally defensive. Retreat, barricade/hide yourself, buy time, and call 911. Tell the comm clerk where you are hiding and DO NOT hang up. Dont open the door until the comm clerk tells you to. When the cops have control of the situation they will radio back and you will be told.
If this ****head is all that determined and/or stoned, loud authoritive voices will not intimidate him. Racking the slide on a shotgun, barking dogs, chem agents (MACE, Pepperspray), less lethal weapons etc will not deter him. That is why we ALWAYS had multiple cover officers for the guy deploying the beanbags/rubber rounds/gas etc. They seldom worked on the folks we were called out for, the worst case scenario type. Which is what this is, a worst case scenario.
If all this fails, and he comes after you, at least you control his access and know where he has to come thru afording you the best possible shot with your defense weapon, the 20gauge shotgun with a 20" barrel.
Without a bunch of training and a whole lot of practice, it is unlikely you and your family can control a 12gauge with a decent load enough to stop this determined guy. And if it comes to a shooting situation in this scenario, you are gonna have to stop the badguy now, not later when he bleeds out or the lung(s) collapse. So small shot simply doesnt work. At room distances, a shot pattern just doesnt spread enough to compensate for poor employment of the weapon. And the big shot in 12g which is basically 32caliber sized, will penetrate multiple walls. Bad news for any innocents in the house. But the 20gauge with big shot is at least, IMHO, a decent compromise. It is controllable by you and your wife/kids, delivers decent stopping energy accurately for the poorly prepared shooter, and has less secondary penetration potential.
A pistol? Forget it. Law enforcement shootings have less than 20% hits. How can you do in this ****ty situation?? Honestly, this is not a slam, it is just reality.
Again, your job is not to apprehend or even dissuade this suspect. You are simply to defend your family and you as best you can. You do this by being smart; go defensive and wait for the cops.
It takes forever for the cops to get there?? Maybe, but you have a much better chance for survival by NOT confronting, just wait and be patient. When the patrol guys, and anyone else with a radio, hears of a barricaded family with some dip**** loose on the premises, they will drop everything (even dinner and donuts
) and roll Code to get to you. They live for that call to come out......
I know it is not macho or the American Way to retreat and wait for help. It just goes against the grain. But this is your best chance for surviving the situation, you and your family.
There are a lot of different "what ifs" but the basics are always the same; get everyone safe, control access to all of you, buy time, call the pros, dont confront, if it deteriorates to a shooting situation use the proper weapon.
Good luck. Be safe. And thanks for all the expert info on my truck. It has been a huge help!
Mike
ps-I dont recommend hiding guns in differnet locations thru the house. On the day you wont have time to police them all up and take em with you. You dont want the badguy to have access to extra weapons. Plus there is the issue of kids and guns in the house.....