Home invasion

Just wondering if anyone has or knows someone that has experienced one that they wouldn't mind sharing the story of. Just curious an expected reaction vs actual reaction.

What do you want to know?

As the original post says, ones expected reaction vs how they actually reacted. I'm sure many people have trained or thought how they would react to someone coming through a door or window in a particular part of their home. Curious for those that have actually experienced it, if they reacted how they thought they would.

So a young female knocks on the door about 830 at night. The family answers the door to see what she needs. 3 dudes rush in and over take the whole family downstairs. They duct tape the 4-5 downstairs to include 2 very elders. They are holding everybody at gun point and began pistol whipping the dad asking where the gold at. Mom and 12 year old son are watching from upstairs. Boy goes and hides under the bed and calls 911. Meanwhile they are still working on dad to get into the safe. Lol, he tells them the wife has the combo and she is upstairs. Now they go get her and tape her up. So this goes on for a few minutes.
Once the call is received the good guys rolled up with a team of 7 within 5 minutes. We approach and see brakes lights light up in front of the home. 3 contact the female driver which turns out to be the get away driver. As myself and two more approach the house I see an open gate and hear bodies jumping a fence but can't see. We enter the back yard and look into the house to see 12 year old boy in taping his family. We surround the area best we can and notify neighbor city and call in the dogs. We also call a helicopter.
The dog tracks for about a mile and when the bird starts spotlighting the neighbor city gets a call about a carjacking. Our suspects carjacked a guy when he got home. That car goes 15 miles south and is chased down. 2 of 3 are caught. 3 escapes for about two more days and is found in Houston and picked up and brought back.

Family got very traumatized for a little bit of "worship" jewels and the house ram sacked.
All said and done after debriefing with the family the father said even if he had a gun he would not have been able to use it because the take over was so fast and they were dominating the family at gun point. He said he might have got one bit his family would be dead. It was just luck his son had the smarts to hide and call, just like on tv.
This stopped a big ring of invasions and burglaries and we got lucky because the driver parked on a cul de sac.

So story is if somebody has the drop there isn't much one can do.

Like BIL story, I have never worked a Home Invasion where it was just 1 suspect. My friends make fun of me, but when I'm home I have the alarm set on panic. A home invasion is never a gentle or friendly encounter, it's usually a group that's not afraid to use force to get what they want.

Plan for the worst, but be realistic and accept the fact that you may not be able to do anything except cooperate. It could save your life

It sucks, too fast to know what the [censored] to do. Even if all my guns weren't in my gf's truck I prob would've shot one and got all my roommates killed.

Not much you could do there. Obviously you're LEO, is it more common to see the bad guys armed or unarmed during an invasion?

Typically do they kick in doors, windows or do they have some kind of method like what BIL mentioned?

I don't answer the door unless I know the person ringing the door bell. I also keep my doors locked and alarm on. Its not living in fear its just giving me an extra couple seconds to get the family into the bedroom, call cops, and grab a gun.Hope it never happens to us.

99% are armed, or make it appear they are.

I'd say it's a 50/50 mix of kicking doors vs using a ruse. The idea behind the ruse is to calm the people down, also gets them to disable any alarms. Kicking a door can create unwanted problems for the bad guys.

I have seen a few invasions where the suspects weren't armed, they were simply burglars who didn't know somebody was home. Victim was taking a shower, once the suspects saw her, they had been in there 20 minutes and panicked. They fled the house but we were close and caught them. Most burglars are non confrontational, robbers seek victims.

Unknown target they will tend to knock at the front door, when nobody answers they will go around back and kick the door or break a window undo the locks and open the window. I see more kicks than anything.
These guys pose a lot as door to door salesman or solicitors. If you only knew how big pos most these guys are.
A true robber invasion mindset doesn't care and they are armed usually. Burglars don't want confrontation.
A lot that we see or find out are totally stoned out of their mind and have really no clue what they are doing.
Have seen a video of 4 kids that entered a home because the guy forgot to shut the garage. They rummaged his office and took his box wine as he slept 20' away. The dog woke him but to late. He probably would have got hurt. Bad guys were 14-17 and got caught because they got stopped because they didn't turn headlights on after they left.

Another one is when you have contractors working in your home. They will unlock Windows and doors and come back later.


Personally I usually don't answer the front door and wait to see if they come to the back door at my house. Dogs, locked gates, and tempered glass screen doors are your friends.

None of this stuff will keep a professional out

I'm armed even watching television. If the doorbell rings the door isn't answered unless we know whom it is. If I chose to answer it my sidearm is in my hand. They may get in, they may kill us all, but they will suffer losses as well.

My sister and I were back home when I was in college and she was going through a divorce. My parents left for the weekend and my sister was supposed to be flying in around 3am that morning, so I decided to wait up for her. It was raining that night and my beer was in the cooler in the back of the truck, so I would put my boots on, grab a couple and go back inside. There was a motion detector light on the front porch and I would set the alarm each time I came back in.

I was in the back room (down a long hallway from the door) watching tv. No other lights were on. I heard a rattle and "thud" coming from the entrance. It was about 3:15am so I figured my sister had finally made it home and couldn't get in the door. I could tell the porch light had come on and heard another thud as I got closer.

When I got to the entry way, I could tell pretty quick it wasn't my sister. Someone taller and wearing a hood was on the front porch. He kept messing with the knob and would lower his shoulder into the door occasionally.

I went back and grabbed the shotgun I kept by my bed. Honestly, not as much went through my head as I thought it would. I went to one knee in the hallway at the edge of the entry and pointed the gun at the door. There was never a doubt in my mind I was pulling the trigger as soon as he made it through the door. Looking back, there were a lot of things I could of/should of done, but in the moment, that is what I did.

I guess the motion detector only detects motion on the porch and not that close to the door because it went off. It startled him and I saw him look up. Pretty sure at that point, he could see me in the hall and he bolted. Out of reaction, I took off after him (stupid I know). I chased him down the street, around a curve and stopped when he started jumping fences.

On my way back, a neighbor around the corner was out in his garage working on his car and had seen me chasing the guy. I stopped and talk to him and told him the story. We didn't talk long, mainly because I was still in my boots and boxers from my beer run.

When I left and went around the corner, there were two police cars with lights on at the house. Response time was impressive, had to be 6-8 minutes from when I ran out the door. I had forgot about the alarm and triggered it.

I walked to the edge of the property and announced my self. Guns drawn, they disarmed me of my shotgun and began the questions (including all the empties by the tv and I was underage).

Once they figured out I was who I said I was and not some nut running the streets in boots and boxers with s shotgun, they filled out some paperwork and wrote the report. There had been some robberies in the area lately and they assume it was the same guy.

Also got the lecture about pursuing and being armed while I did it.

Anyway, luckily the robber was a complete idiot. Watching the house would have told him I was there as I had been going in and out for beer. Looking in the front window, he should have been able to see the glow from the tv. It did surprise me how quick and easy I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to shoot him though. Sometimes I wondered if it was the alcohol, but life experience taught me later that it probably wasn't.

Last week a guy that I work with heard a knock on the door around 8 pm. He went to the door where he was told that it was Dominoes Pizza. He did not order one but thought his wife may have have since she was working late at her job. He opened the door only to find a guy with hooded mask pointing a gun at him. He forced his way into his apartment where he was zip tied up. Burgler asked him where all the valuables were as he dragged him through constantly telling him that he was going to kill him if he did not show him everything. At one point the burgler showed a large Bowie knife asking him if that was all he had as far as cash and jewelry. He told him that if he was lying that he would cut his hands off. After the room were ran sacked, a pillow case was put over my co-workers head where he was told he was going to be shot. He begged for his life repeatedly and began to pray. The burgler asked if he believed in God and my co-worker said yes. The burgler said well I guess he saved your life tonight. The burgler then left. It took about 30 minutes for the cops to arrive after they were called.

FYI: Wife did not like a gun to be in the house, her view point has changed since then and the already have a 9mm.

^^^ This. I try to keep in mind things that will slow a crook down to give me a few extra seconds or more. The immediate attack is the hardest one to defend. We had several home invasions in our neighborhood, with similar stories as told above.

Man I love visiting and hunting your fine state but some of these stories are crazy. We built our house 20 years ago and we don't have locks on the doors. Never been locked ever. I suppose it may change some day but until than I'll count my blessings.

you also don't have over 300 people moving into your area per day either

same here, i don't open door unless I know who it is or see who it is on my CCTV

It's a good policy to have and everyone should practice it


also my door can't be kicked in, it's 300 lbs metal door w frame bolted to concrete, so they'll
have to break a window - that sound will trigger lead flying towards any uninvited guests
... they will suffer losses

Mine was an attempted invasion. In retrospect it all makes sense - but at the time I thought it was weird; I think I was being naive.

About 3:30 AM of the 2011 Bow Opener I headed to the truck and began loading it. I was grabbing the last of my gear to put in the truck and a pimptastic Crown Vic cruises down the street. I was walking from the garage straight down my driveway with the truck doors open, so they never saw me. I thought it was odd, so I waited about 5 minutes and they came back. About that time a 'way down the street' neighbor drove by - presumably to go hunt as well and the Crown Vic kept going. I left the house lights on and really didn't think a lot about it again as the bride was away for the weekend as well.

My wife's plans to be away that whole weekend fell through so she was home alone Saturday night. At this point I had forgotten about the cruising car early that morning.

About 1:30 AM my bride hears weird noises at the laundry room door. Then a very loud bang in our laundry room. She grabs the LCP that stays by her night stand when I am away and then calls the cops. At this point, Mama Bear is in full on protect mode. She runs to the laundry room (fortunately the interior door is closed) pistol in hand and yells that she has a gun and they need to leave. A scuffle is heard and then silence. Cops show up shortly thereafter and open the laundry room. The intruders had kicked in the dog door and were either trying to wriggle through it or reach the door knob and knocked over the ironing board and iron in the process.

I made the 125 mile drive home in less than an hour and a half that night. FWPD pulled up right as I got home to make sure I was who I said I was, so there was a bit of relief that they were in the neighborhood in my absence as there had been a string of break-ins. It was also reassuring to know the ghetto bird was scrambled that night as well.

I hear you. Even out in the country here it's gotten where you cannot leave your doors unlocked. This country is in a downward spiral when it comes to crime and politics. Realistically I don't see it improving until we start killing off the people who survive on preying off of other people. Including those who steal identities. If we just start lining them up and hanging or shooting them in the town square we will cut down on their numbers and discourage others from following that path.

I just know that the way to handle it is not to hide in fear behind a locked door hoping for the police to protect you. I refuse to be a cowering victim.

Passthru is right. We live out in the country and are lucky that we have little crime. We did for a while, but I assume those high school kids graduated and moved on.

My real worry is that I can't expect LEO's to get here quickly, so we are on our own in the event of trouble.

Fortunately, I've never been the victim of a home invasion but my next door neighbor was. My buddy was working nights and his wife awoke to a creep crawling on top of her in the bed. She reached over to the night stand and grabbed the first thing she could, a ball point pen. She stabbed him with it once in the face and twice in the chest until the pen broke. He ran out of the house like his hair was on fire. The cops picked up the guy in the ER the next town over. They said his was covered in blood and ink. The creep was from Houston and was staying the weekend down here on the island with his family. They had rented the beach house next door.

Passthru is spot on. Until these thugs are permanently removed from the gene pool, things will not change. Stay alert and vigiliant. Always be aware of your surroundings.

I have the utmost respect for LEO's, but they cannot be everywhere. Our home is monitored 24/7 and we have a dog. Also know full well, that will not deter someone hell bent and bound to bust in.

You should have a plan in place. If you can even use a phone, a nice town in dfw is going to take 4-7 minutes to get a response. Most do not have that luxury but even then it is way to late if they want to hurt you.

Also I have been around some events where the good guy got multiple shots off at the burglar for exactly 0 hits.
Make sure when you practice , you have some stress on you and your heart rate is up. Real life, not slowly shooting at still paper at the range. Try to practice under a stop watch or shot timer.
Real talk

As BIL states...have a PLAN in place for answering the door each and every time. Build your security in layers...

Front Door: Install a secondary, high quality "storm door" that opens outward. If you open the interior door they cannot "rush" in.

Answer the door with gun in hand. (This is just the world we live in)! I had the day off yesterday and there was a knock at the door. Prior to answering, 1911 was in hand with safety off, but hidden from plain view. Not a perfect scenario but at least I would have a chance!

Everyone that knows me or that I associate with knows NOT to come to my house for any reason without calling or texting first.
That includes our kids.
Call or text when you pull in the driveway.

Doors are locked when we are in the house and alarm is on w motion detector off in living room.
I live in a semi rural area with very little traffic after dark.
If you knock on my door you were not invited and I will not open the door.
I'll be standing six feet behind it with an 870 riot gun loaded with 00 Buck and slugs that stays 3 feet from my easy chair.
2 ARs in separate bedrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs.
Loaded handguns in strategic locations as well.
My cell phone is always on me as well.

If you are worried about a HI, and worried that the doors may be kicked or pried open, I highly recommend installing a metal door jamb with LOOOOONG lag bolts. What's installed on door frames is made to hold everything there, doesn't provide any protection.

^^^^^^


This


Ive been fortunate to never have dealt with a home invasion per se. A couple loners thought they'd try their luck over the years, but the aforementioned "PLAN" stopped it before it began.

If my doorbell rings when I haven't invited someone over I ALWAYS answer the door gun in hand, with my other 'layer' at my side...( see pic)

Layer One Call sign: " Rommel"

Run 100 yrds then try and shoot quickly, it is amazing how much accuracy drops off.

That is a beautiful Dog!



Layer One Call sign: " Rommel"


[/quote]

a good friend of mine for 15 years..
He is also a trainer at KR Training

https://blog.hsoi.com/2016/01/06/regarding-the-events-of-january-5-2015/

Cool stories...I'm not a psychiatrist so I don't look for rationale behind what the perps mind is in...if he kicks down my door I will make sure he's not a cop or fireman at the wrong house and will unload at least 3 45acp's into his chest. In response to the OP's question....I have personally killed over 200 human beings in wartime. As a trainer on helicopter gunships I found most people are reluctant to take someones life. More often than not I would tell my trainee to shoot (minigun) and I could see their fingers and knuckles turning white on the grip ultimately missing the opportunity. Many times I would have to dispatch them with a 2.75 rocket because of the gunners inability to pull the trigger. This happened in about 60% sent to try out for gunships.

Moral to this if you are in that 60% you're screwed. Hopefully having a wife or kids has stimulated your obligation to protect and can pull the trigger when you have to

One technique I use is to place multiple firearms strategically throughout the house to enable access regardless of where the BGs push me. All your guns locked up in the safe won't do squat for you in an invasion.

I used to have that theory, until I started finding guns in drawers that I forgot I owned

This idea works if you can say with complete knowledge that there will NEVER be any children in your house. No children or friends with children.

First of all thanx for being there for our nation. And you are right, being able to make that decision to take a life is harder for some than others. Also being able to maintain the cognisance to know what and when to shoot is even more difficult even when you have training and experience on your side. Having rules of engagement helps but in a civilian context, where being sued for errant bullets or even wrongful death where an attacker is concerned can cause a person to hesitate. So those who have urged you to have a plan, practice with your defense weapons and be alert and aware are right. I often do walk through house clearing practice in my house when the family is asleep. In the dark with what I have ready to go. It's not that I'm paranoid. Just that the world is out to get me.

In college, my next-door neighbors were three sisters. Around 3 AM one night I was awakened by screams and the sound of someone pounding on a door (the girl's door). My room mate came in all in a panic (he was from Springfield, Illinois and a non-gun owner)stating someone is breaking in the girl's apartment.
I grabbed my 1100 16ga and some shells and headed out the door.
Outside the girl's door were two young males, obviously a bit drunk. I dropped a round in the chamber and closed the action with another round in the mag. That stopped them cold. Their eyes got so large and it seemed they sobered up in an instant (I guess looking down the barrel of a shotgun @ 10' will do that to you).
I informed them that they had a choice to make, they could back away or get shot. They backed away. Then ran like the hounds of hell were after them.
I let them go.
I ID'd myself to the girl's and made certain they were ok.

Two weeks later it was 'parents day' at the university. I got home from work and there were 3 males sitting on a car in front of my and the girl's, apartment. I was carrying my dry cleaning and eased my pocket knife in my hand and put my clothes on the door knob. The oldest of the three walked up and asked if I lived there. I said 'Yes'. He smiled and said he wanted to thank me for watching over his daughters. He said "I didn't know anyone like that still existed."

Never saw either of the two males that were trying to break in again.

While having rules of engagement does help in the military they are not always clear cut..For me all rules went out the window if you were being shot at but you could be subject to disciplinary action. Sometimes the military is worse than civilian court systems. I shot and killed a pregnant woman in a treeline while prepping a landing zone..Never saw her and they had loud speaker and pamplets dropped for 2 days warning them to to stay away. Out gooberment paid her family and may still be paying them a stipend for the incidence...nothing was ever said to me. As a civilian I carry insurance so If I use deadly force legally I will be covered will legal from beginning to end. There is no substitute for training and stress full training but it still boils down to "can you pull the trigger and take someones life"....in time.

To be fair and more clear, there's a lot to infer from "strategically"... as in, a part of a strategy which includes plan rehearsals and weapons maintenance. Weapons security with children goes without saying.

I don't have a story of my own but my viewpoints, while perhaps controversial with some, are based on my military training and urban tactics used in the middle east. I regularly discuss scenarios with my wife, my first instructions for her is not to take on any inturders. Her job is go get our daughter in our room with her pistol in the night stand, call the cops and shoot anyone that comes through the door. My training would kick in and I would stand a better chance when it comes to this kind of defense. I am armed at all times and could not hide out when my family is in danger...I know that others would say not to "be a hero" but in my house retreat is not for me and I would fiercely defend my family and my home.