Caught someone breaking into my house Wednesday night - Crazy shit

Op, you had him, but he won't change because there was no consequence.

Why didn't you let him come inside then make him tie himself up with zip ties? Then call the police and let them arrest him for burglary?

Then he would have gone to jail and had consequences.

Now he is just laughing about it and will rob someone else, and when he is caught he won't have the record of being caught at your house.

I wouldn't put much into what most people say or think, but trash like this guy really needs jail time, not someone drinking a beer on his own front porch, or lawnmower in his own yard. This person deserved jail!

Food for thought the next time it happens, because he got off lightly at your house.

I don't think you should have killed him, but he should have gone to jail!

Killing someone is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, he just needs to learn a lesson. And taking someone's life has a toll on your own soul!

I understand, i would have gone outside to get him, leaving your family to call 911.

I've been trying to process all of this, and haven't felt like listening to the barrage of "pussy" and "should have killed him" from keyboard warriors while doing so, but whatever, here it is:

TL;DR version: Someone was breaking into my house and I helped them evacuate their bowels with the help of my handgun instead of giving them a lead tuneup.

It's 2am, and I literally just got up from playing a video game with my nephew on ps4. I heard a noise on the other side of the house, so I went to go check on it. I wrote it off as my turtle rearranging his shit and went into my bedroom where my wife was sleeping when I heard something at my window. It didn't take but five seconds or so for it to be clear this was someone taking the screen out.

I grabbed the only gun I don't keep in a safe (five children) and woke my wife up. I told her to get on the floor between the bed and dresser, took a defensive position a couple of feet behind the window, and focused on controlling my breath. I wasn't breathing heavily, I just knew I was about to have to pull the trigger and wanted to get it right. The screen was out now and the window was creaking, so my mind was instantly made up; I'm shooting. I have to shoot.

I thought about telling the guy I was there to begin with, but I didn't want to give up the huge advantage I had, plus, I live in FL; this would without a doubt be a textbook Castle Doctrine case. As I'm waiting, my wife is begging me to make sure it's not one of the kids. I knew it wasn't because I had just checked the house for the previous noise, but for some reason, it made me decide to announce that I was there, inches away and about to rush deliver him to the consequences of the worst decision he had made in his life.

I shouted, "I'M ABOUT TO PUT SOME BIG HOLES IN YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!!!' and he shouted back that he was "Very sorry" slammed my window back shut from the foot or so he had it opened, and ran away between houses. I turned the flashlight on my Sig, and ran through my house checking the rooms, and then around the outside of my house while my wife dialed 911. Once outside, I realized that he had taken out three screens looking for an unlocked window, and mine was the only one he found.


Now that it is over, and I have had a few days to process it, here is where my head is at:

Words can't begin to describe how happy I am that I was armed and prepared for the situation, but I am even happier that I didn't have to take a life. If you come into my house at two in the morning, you will die, and had I caught him legit inside my house he would have, but I almost missed the chance to stop him BEFORE that happened.

Of the thousand things running through my mind since, this is the one that is there the most.

What are your thoughts GLP? Did I fuck up? Am I a pussy?
I wasn't scared to shoot him, in fact, if not for my wife I most likely would have. I'm glad I didn't though.

You're alive, your family is alive. Perp might be someone else's problem later, but that's his call. You gave him a chance, and that's more than what he probably would have gotten else where.

You did right.

I've been trying to process all of this, and haven't felt like listening to the barrage of "pussy" and "should have killed him" from keyboard warriors while doing so, but whatever, here it is:

TL;DR version: Someone was breaking into my house and I helped them evacuate their bowels with the help of my handgun instead of giving them a lead tuneup.

It's 2am, and I literally just got up from playing a video game with my nephew on ps4. I heard a noise on the other side of the house, so I went to go check on it. I wrote it off as my turtle rearranging his shit and went into my bedroom where my wife was sleeping when I heard something at my window. It didn't take but five seconds or so for it to be clear this was someone taking the screen out.

I grabbed the only gun I don't keep in a safe (five children) and woke my wife up. I told her to get on the floor between the bed and dresser, took a defensive position a couple of feet behind the window, and focused on controlling my breath. I wasn't breathing heavily, I just knew I was about to have to pull the trigger and wanted to get it right. The screen was out now and the window was creaking, so my mind was instantly made up; I'm shooting. I have to shoot.

I thought about telling the guy I was there to begin with, but I didn't want to give up the huge advantage I had, plus, I live in FL; this would without a doubt be a textbook Castle Doctrine case. As I'm waiting, my wife is begging me to make sure it's not one of the kids. I knew it wasn't because I had just checked the house for the previous noise, but for some reason, it made me decide to announce that I was there, inches away and about to rush deliver him to the consequences of the worst decision he had made in his life.

I shouted, "I'M ABOUT TO PUT SOME BIG HOLES IN YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!!!' and he shouted back that he was "Very sorry" slammed my window back shut from the foot or so he had it opened, and ran away between houses. I turned the flashlight on my Sig, and ran through my house checking the rooms, and then around the outside of my house while my wife dialed 911. Once outside, I realized that he had taken out three screens looking for an unlocked window, and mine was the only one he found.


Now that it is over, and I have had a few days to process it, here is where my head is at:

Words can't begin to describe how happy I am that I was armed and prepared for the situation, but I am even happier that I didn't have to take a life. If you come into my house at two in the morning, you will die, and had I caught him legit inside my house he would have, but I almost missed the chance to stop him BEFORE that happened.

Of the thousand things running through my mind since, this is the one that is there the most.

What are your thoughts GLP? Did I fuck up? Am I a pussy?
I wasn't scared to shoot him, in fact, if not for my wife I most likely would have. I'm glad I didn't though.

I understand, i would have gone outside to get him, leaving your family to call 911.

Guys, this helps more than you know. While I know I am happy I didn't have to shoot, I am going back and forth on wether I did the right thing. Seeing my feelings confirmed feels like I have one less thing to be concerned with right now.

Both vehicles were in the driveway. I drive a big ass Ram 2500, so they not only knew there were people home, they knew there was a guy home. Wondering their intent is whats sticking with me currently.

Luckily, Florida defines their intent in legal terms in case I had to shoot, but that doesn't help me from wondering.

2am with both vehicles sounds more rapey and violent of an intrusion than coming in while we are at work and stealing shit.

idk...

I won't judge wrong or right, or say that you should have done anything differently, as everybody will respond differently in tense situations such as this.

What I will say is that if you park in the driveway all the time, it is very easy for anyone to be able to tell if you are home or not, if they are watching.

Also, now he knows you have guns in the house, and that is one of the major targets in any burglary, so I hope you have a good home security system/cameras/etc., as I'm sure at some point, he and/or his friends will be back, only this time, they'll likely watch to make sure their plans aren't interrupted by an armed homeowner.

This is why I keep my garage clean enough to park both vehicles inside it, and have cameras inside and out.

Just wanted to drop this link in case OP is interested.

This is the one we have..
[link to www.amazon.com (secure)]

I absolutely wanted to, but I wasn't sure if there were more, and if they were inside of my house (why I didn't send my wife out of the room to begin with), so I wanted to check on my kids first. I knew they would be long gone by the time I got out there, but that seemed like the priority in the moment.

I'm with you though man. I despise the thought of him doing this again because he was given the chance.

I've been trying to process all of this, and haven't felt like listening to the barrage of "pussy" and "should have killed him" from keyboard warriors while doing so, but whatever, here it is:

TL;DR version: Someone was breaking into my house and I helped them evacuate their bowels with the help of my handgun instead of giving them a lead tuneup.

It's 2am, and I literally just got up from playing a video game with my nephew on ps4. I heard a noise on the other side of the house, so I went to go check on it. I wrote it off as my turtle rearranging his shit and went into my bedroom where my wife was sleeping when I heard something at my window. It didn't take but five seconds or so for it to be clear this was someone taking the screen out.

I grabbed the only gun I don't keep in a safe (five children) and woke my wife up. I told her to get on the floor between the bed and dresser, took a defensive position a couple of feet behind the window, and focused on controlling my breath. I wasn't breathing heavily, I just knew I was about to have to pull the trigger and wanted to get it right. The screen was out now and the window was creaking, so my mind was instantly made up; I'm shooting. I have to shoot.

I thought about telling the guy I was there to begin with, but I didn't want to give up the huge advantage I had, plus, I live in FL; this would without a doubt be a textbook Castle Doctrine case. As I'm waiting, my wife is begging me to make sure it's not one of the kids. I knew it wasn't because I had just checked the house for the previous noise, but for some reason, it made me decide to announce that I was there, inches away and about to rush deliver him to the consequences of the worst decision he had made in his life.

I shouted, "I'M ABOUT TO PUT SOME BIG HOLES IN YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!!!' and he shouted back that he was "Very sorry" slammed my window back shut from the foot or so he had it opened, and ran away between houses. I turned the flashlight on my Sig, and ran through my house checking the rooms, and then around the outside of my house while my wife dialed 911. Once outside, I realized that he had taken out three screens looking for an unlocked window, and mine was the only one he found.


Now that it is over, and I have had a few days to process it, here is where my head is at:

Words can't begin to describe how happy I am that I was armed and prepared for the situation, but I am even happier that I didn't have to take a life. If you come into my house at two in the morning, you will die, and had I caught him legit inside my house he would have, but I almost missed the chance to stop him BEFORE that happened.

Of the thousand things running through my mind since, this is the one that is there the most.

What are your thoughts GLP? Did I fuck up? Am I a pussy?
I wasn't scared to shoot him, in fact, if not for my wife I most likely would have. I'm glad I didn't though.

Great news. Nothing to get the adrenals active again like a break-in a 2AM.

BTW OP, where do you live? Rural? State? How long do the police usually take to respond?

lets be realistic here.
now someone else will have the same problem and might end up not being as lucky...

wish you would have shot that person.

Thanks! I live in the suburbs in what is almost South Florida (some consider it SF). Not a bad neighborhood by any standard. It took the police about five minutes to get there I'd say, but it's hard to tell now.

The police were awesome though. The only question I was asked about my firearm was from the 911 operator. I told him to tell the police they may find a shirtless man with a gun and flashlight in the yard, and not to shoot his dumb ass. He asked what kind of gun, and I told him a handgun.

Nothing else was even asked about it other than describing what I did. Very 2A minded department.