locked and loaded on an intruder last night | Homestead Security | Forums

Laying in bed with the wife and we were both just about out when we heard a banging/crashing noise downstairs. We both sat up and listened more intently to see if we could identify the sound. Then sh*t got real as we both saw light from a flashlight light up our stairwell leading upstairs. I grabbed my .45 and for the first time since I was deployed I loaded a round into the chamber with the intentions of shooting somebody. Our room and our sons room are both upstairs so I told my wife to stay put (our son was sleeping in bed with us) and I cleared the upstairs and then headed downstairs. I cleared all the rooms and was relieved when I didnt find anybody. Then I decided to check our cars in case the sound was somebody breaking into them. When I turned the light on I saw a cop car outside so I hurried up and got dressed and went out to see what the deal was. The cops were in my neighbors house, somebody had broken in while she was at a friends house watching the world series. They were looking for her grandson as he was the suspected robber. Whoever did it knew she wasnt home because her car was left there and she was picked up by a friend. They also knew where her valuables were as nothing was rummaged through, just the valuables taken with no evidence of searching or tossing stuff around. My neighbor is elderly and lives alone. Pretty much all my neighbors are senior citizens. I was relieved I didnt have to shoot anyone and my neighbor wasnt hurt and they had an idea on who did it. A couple things I learned from this:

1) I need a light on my pistol. Somebody could easily hide in a dark spot and I would have to get close enough to see them that they would have a chance at disarming me.

2) I need to get a pistol for my wife that stays on her side of the room. She's a gamer and had a phillips head screwdriver (LOL) and was 100% prepared to end somebody's life with it. I realized that if this was a situation where some armed robbers came in with force and I got shot or was somehow unable to stop them, they would have no trouble hurting my family as well, so she would need a pistol too.

3) Being a combat veteran has truly given me an advantage in situations like these. Soon as I realized what the deal was it was go time. No nervous shaking, no hesitation, no second guessing. It was find the bad guys and stop them, end of story. I feel incredibly grateful to have that training and experience to fall back on. I cant imagine what it would have been like to have to do that with no preparation or training to depend on. In my fighting career I have always had this advantage against my opponents as well in that I dont get flustered or mentally affected by the fight as I have been in worse situations.

4) Prob the best outcome here is that my wife is now 100% on board with getting a pistol for herself and keeping it in her bedside table. Before this she would make me keep my pistol in the closet on the top shelf and now she wants it more accessible. Its actually a good thing that she is also thinking about these things now rather than it just being me that worries about them.