Well, it finally happened to me...

[jsharmon7]

Wow!

Well, you ended the threat without firing a shot. Outcomes don't get any better than that. It definitely sounds like this guy was intending to rob you until he realized you'd drawn down on him and he decided to give up. It's good that you didn't shoot him and it's good that he was picked up by the police.

 

[civilwar]

to you for handling the situation the way you did. You were calm enough to not just go blasting away on "Johnny" when he entered your bedroom. 911 call was a no brainer, friend or not, no one even my own family would come busting in my door at night.

 

[redpitbull44]

to you for handling the situation the way you did. You were calm enough to not just go blasting away on "Johnny" when he entered your bedroom. 911 call was a no brainer, friend or not, no one even my own family would come busting in my door at night.

Lol, thats what everybody kept saying. "What kind of idiot would break into YOUR house?" "You have a pitbull, a bunch of guns, you train/shoot all the time," etc.

Yeah, I'm the type you typically have to wake up from the doorway.

 

[finity]

Don't take this wrong, you guys can armchair commando all you want, but every situation is different.

As T.Lex stated above, you came into a public forum & posted about a personal experience. What did you expect to have happen?

It was only after I got him outside, and could actually SEE what he had on him that I realized his plan was to rob my house...

That was EXACTLY why I will not hesitate to shoot.

Because you "could not see" what he had in his hands (or in his mind) you MUST assume that he is there to do the worst things imaginable to your family. Think about the family in Connecticut that was sexually assaulted & burned alive & the husband/father who was left alive to deal with his failure to protect them. THAT is why I WILL not hesitate. He should never have had the chance to say ANYTHING after he saw your gun before you pulled the trigger.

You had no idea it was "Johnny" before he was in your room with your gun pointing at him & he was begging for mercy so you had no reason to doubt the person busting down your door was there to harm you and your family. You had no reason to hesitate & every reason not to.

Like I said, everything worked out & I'm glad that it did but I think you got very lucky. It could have turned out WAY worse.

I would NEVER recommend that others take the same actions you did in hopes that the guy busting down their door at 0-dark-thirty was an otherwise good guy & friendly neighborhood meth head running from the drug dealers trying to kill him because he owed them a lot of money & that he wasn't really trying to rob & kill you but merely looking for a safe refuge while bringing said violent drug dealers directly to your busted down door in the middle of the night...Oh, wait....

Yeah, you got REALLY lucky...

 

[finity]

...he wasn't an armed invader....

Um...yes he was.

He broke the door down. He had burglary & hostage taking tools. He had a knife. And a camera???

I think that qualifies as an armed invader.

I think you meant to say that the OP was lucky "Johnny" wasn't a PERSISTENT armed invader...

 

[roscott]

As I think about your scenario and have over the years wondered how I'd react in a similar situation, the one thought that always crosses my mind is "damn, I'd
have to replace the carpet."

Not necessarily. I briefly worked for a cleaning company that cleaned up messes "like that." And carpets can be saved.

 

[mainjet]

He didn't kick the door in. He used the flat bar, pried the door away from the jamb, and shoved it open.

Me neither.

Man, is that a joke? Thanks for clarifying how he got into your house.

He didn't kick the door in he pryed the door open with the flatbar he had bought with him to break into my house.

After seeing the things that he had with him I cannot understand how you stood on the porch and tried to calm him down. I also can't understand how you sent him around to the other side of your house while you went to get dressed. I further can't understand how you sent him on his way to his grandmas house.

When the police got there they would have seen me in my boxers holding the gun to his had until h was in cuffs.

7:30 AM - that man was there to do you serious harm. He had a camera and rope.... I don't even want to think about that. In fact, when I saw that I may shoot him right there

Thank GOD you and your family are safe. But remember, you just got away with your life from a two time convicted felon that has also been to prison. Will this get pleaded out and will he will be back out there in his turkey mask because he has been through drug rehab.

Sorry that you and your family had to go through this. I hope they are doing good now.

 

[Neo46121]

Red-

We have known each other for many many years. We have shot together and trained together. We have prayed together, and bled together. Hell...we have even cried together.....

All I can say is I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! I just got the phone call from you and had to check it out on here. You did ALOT better than I could have ever hoped to have done. If I were in your shoes, there would be a massive amount of bodily fluids and matter sprayed across the back door....You showed a much cooler and level head than I would have expected from you (dont take that the wrong way, but you have little ones and a wife to watch over after all)

We need to get together soon bud, go over some shooting lanes and pinch points in the house or something.

Neo

 

[Steeler]

Holy **** man! Johnny is lucky to still be alive. Thats all I can say.

 

[ChalupaCabras]

I agree. I didn't believe him for a second. I also know that non-meth'd out, he is actually a GOOD person.

You are both epically cool headed and insightful...

That is why the last part confuses me. That "good person" is a dangerous drug addict who commits armed burglary to feed his addiction.

Drug addicts think just clearly enough to do stupid crap - I'm sure every item he was carrying had a part to play in the misdeed he had planned for you. IF he had been able to gain entry without waking you, you would have awoken to a knife at your throat, been tied up with the rope, and had everything of value stripped from you.... AT BEST.

In my book 'good people' stop being good when they make a habit of doing terrible things. Johnny may have been a good person at one point, and it's (long shot) technically possible for him to become a good person again... but he is not as it stands a 'good person'. He is quite bad.

 

[jsharmon7]

redpitbull44-

Knowing what this guy had on him and what several here have mentioned, what do you think his intentions were? None of us know Johnny, so: do you think he really came for help and advice, or to rob you? I'm just kind of curious about this now that you've had more time to reflect on it. I'm definitely not saying you were wrong in what you did, just curious as to whether your opinion on his intentions have changed or not.

 

[JohnP82]

Holy crap! Good job and glad you and your family are safe!

 

[redpitbull44]

In my book 'good people' stop being good when they make a habit of doing terrible things. Johnny is quite bad.

I couldn't agree with you more.

redpitbull44-

Knowing what this guy had on him and what several here have mentioned, what do you think his intentions were? None of us know Johnny, so: do you think he really came for help and advice, or to rob you? I'm just kind of curious about this now that you've had more time to reflect on it. I'm definitely not saying you were wrong in what you did, just curious as to whether your opinion on his intentions have changed or not.

I honestly don't know. I think he was so whacked out, he probably didn't know either. Here is what I do know.

Last fall, when I told Johnny about my 3 year old finding a fresh broken arrow with a razor edged hunting tip sticking out of the ground in our fenced in yard, the first thing he asked me was "Is he alright?"

I know that just a few weeks ago, we had a dog out here that had been hit by a car. Busted its eye, and broke its back leg. The dog looked half starved and was aggressive when I approached it. I took Johnny down there to ID the dog and see if he knew who's it was. He did not. He had compassion for the dog, as did I. He was also understanding when I told him that I had to kill it, and was pleased when I made a clean one shot kill (with the same gun I almost shot him with actually). He even dragged the dog's carcass off the side of the road and into the underbrush so that his mom would not see the dog because she is an animal lover and had brought the dog a large amount of food earlier in the day.

I know that Johnny's grandmother has told me that he has a 3rd grade reading level. This tells me they don't expect much out of him, because he doesn't come off as dumb.

I know that Johnny spent 6 years in prison. His little sisters told him their step dad was molesting them. He went to his house to kick his ass, the guy wasn't there, so to get back at him, Johnny stole his favorite gun.

I know that Johnny has a reputation as a pill head.

I know that Johnny's grandmother told me that he had a terrible childhood, with an abusive father, and a mother that worked all the time.

I know that none of the above matters to me. His grandmother didn't come right out and ask me to drop the charges, but she did say that she is going to ask the prosecutor to make sure he gets counseling. She asked me what I thought about that. I told her I think Johnny needs detox/rehab/weekly drug tests, psychiatric evaluation and therapy, stipulations stating that he must complete a G.E.D. program and hold down a full time job, house arrest/ probation for the next 5 years MINIMUM, and if he doesn't complete what he is suppose to complete, then he should go to prison, and stay there. She basically asked me to cut them a break, and let her baby come back home. I feel like I already cut them a break by not killing his ass when he broke into my house.

I also know that I am NOT going to drop the charges, because part of this dude's whole problem is he's been allowed to get away with too much stuff, and has been taught by his parents/ grandparents that "The System" is screwed up/ out to screw you. I am not the type to say "Don't do any wrong, and you don't have to worry.", but in this case, all I can say is, he did wrong, and he'd better worry, because as it stood 2 days ago, he's facing 20 years in prison, and that's just fine by me.

Honestly guys, I am the type of person to really kick my own ass, especially over stuff like this. I have been having a hard time here. I feel like I dropped the ball. I know nobody got hurt, and all that, but I still don't understand why I didn't shoot. I don't ever want to kill anybody, I really don't. I'm not really the cowboy or hero type either. I've played this over and over in my mind, the way he could have fallen and crushed my baby if he fell on him, which way the blood could have squirted, all that kind of stuff.

My mom thinks it was God's will that I didn't shoot him. Her take on it is that if I would have shot him, because he most likely isn't saved, that he would have gone to hell, and wouldn't have the opportunity to know Christ.

I'm done trying to figure it out.

EDIT: I will say this. I am a good judge of character. I always have been. I can tell in an instant when someone is lying. When he was telling me that somebody was after him, he seemed truthful. I have considered going down there to look in his eyes and question him as to just what the hell he was thinking, but the reality is, I don't care what was in his head. All I care about is what he did, and how that affects my life from now on. I was "paranoid" before (if you call keeping your doors locked, carrying a gun, and having a SHTF plan paranoid). Now I have a solid reason to shrug off the scoffs from lesser prepared family members, because it's already happened once.

 

[Rookie]

I had a situation that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I spent MONTHS trying to decide what I should or should not have done. It finally hit me that dwelling on the past changes nothing. Look at the facts. 1. You didn't have to shoot/kill anyone. While I am fully prepared to defend my life or my families' lives, I sincerely hope that I never have to. 2. You and your family came out unscathed. Take comfort in that. In my situation, my family and I will bear the scars for the rest of our lives. You are one of the lucky ones. Be glad that you were there to protect them and be thankful that they are ok. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

 

[mainjet]

Repitbull44 - I do believe that if he would have been coming at you or your family then you would have pulled the trigger. THe fact that you didn't pull the trigger means that there was enough pause in the action that John had time to tell you not to shoot and you had time to think.

He was stopped so you did not have to shoot. Just beacause many of us, including me, sitting behind our keyboard say "Dude, I would have shot him", doesn't mean in real life that it plays out that way. In fact, make the story about someone else and make it where you are reading about it. You would probably say "I would have shot that guy".

Bottom line I think that you did what you needed to do to stop the threat to you and your family. You accomplished that so I would say well done. Even though I think I would have shot him that is only because I am not in the situation.

I had a guy wake my family in the middle of the night pounding hard on my door. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my gun. I can tell you- It sounded like he was coming through the door and I thought holy smokes here we go. My heart was pumping so hard that I am not sure I would have gotten a good shot off. I turned out the few lights in the house and tried to look around and stay low while I tried to asses the situation.

Turns out that it was some guy at 3:00 A.M. just pounding three times on my door for who knows what reason. I never saw him.

I think that best you can do when attacked is protect you and yours and stop the attack. At the same time trying to figure out what is going on and why. I think that you did all of that. So relax and do NOT drop the charges because if it isn't you it will be some other poor family that Johnnie finally makes the big mistake on.

PS - If I didn't have my glasses on I wouldn't shoot either. I just don't want to shoot at someone that I cannot see.

 

[Mr. Habib]

Almost everyone here carries or owns firearms to protect ourselves or our loved ones. We are all taught to 'shoot to stop' a threat. You stopped the threat without pulling the trigger. Most of us have not been in your position and don't know how we would react. Many of those that are saying that they would have blown him away might have stood there frozen, wetting themselves, when he came through the door. No one really knows. You've been there and know here you'll react if, God forbid, there is a next time. In the end, you save the lived of those you are responsible for, and that's all that really matters.

 

[MAJB Retired]

Wow! What an difficult situition. Glad everybody ended up alive and the the kid will get some type of help...

 

[rugertoter]

One of those situations that one does not really prepare for, but sounds like you came thru with flying colors!

 

[critter592]

My 3 and 4 year old have no idea this even happened because I didn't shoot him. Their rooms are right next to our room, and they never woke up. Don't take this wrong, you guys can armchair commando all you want, but every situation is different. And realize, I KNOW THIS MAN. He wasn't some random guy breaking into my house, I COULD NOT SEE anything he had on his person until AFTER I told him to go outside, and upon entry, his first words were "DON'T SHOOT" and "HELP ME". It was only after I got him outside, and could actually SEE what he had on him that I realized his plan was to rob my house, and by that time, I had deescalated the situation to a point where I did not feel he was a threat. Had he been silent, or a stranger, my original post would have read much differently.

Taking a human life is a complex thing. It is by and large one of the hardest things in the world to do, yet it's also one of the easiest.

I wish I could rep you twice. I got that from your OP that you had pulled the slack in the trigger and really were at a point waiting for the bang then let off. Those that post how they would have just shot Johnny seemed to have missed that you were in fact in the act of doing just that.

 

[redpitbull44]

I wish I could rep you twice. I got that from your OP that you had pulled the slack in the trigger and really were at a point waiting for the bang then let off. Those that post how they would have just shot Johnny seemed to have missed that you were in fact in the act of doing just that.

Finally somebody caught that. Thank you for reiterating this point.