[willtel]

This happened not far from my neighborhood a few days ago and I thought it was interesting. We have had a rash of door-kicking burglaries in our area over the past year and citizens are fed up. I don't think I agree with her combat tactics but at least she got a few shots off.

Originally Posted by Gunslinger

Update of the incident Monday afternoon (June 15) on Howell Mill Road. This report is from the resident whose home was broken into.

I am the neighbor on Howell Mill who’s house was broken into while I was home. Below is the list of events as they occurred. Thought this may be of interest to you all. I would like to extend my appreciation to all the officers that have been working hard since to ensure Wildwood remains safe.

Monday June 15 at Noon.

1. I am sitting in my home office which looks out onto the street and the end of my driveway

a. A yellow Chrysler Town and Country Minivan pulls into my driveway and drives to the back, turns around and pulls back up to the front of the house.
i. I saw the van pull in but did not recognize it

ii. The van went to the back to see if there were any cars in the driveway which there were not since I park in the garage but also to be facing the street which I later realize was for a quick getaway.

b. An African American woman rings my door bell but I do not answer because I do not recognize her and figured if she had a package or something to drop off she would and leave.

c. Woman rings my bell a second time

2. I get up from my office to the room in between my office and the front door and look through my blinds to ensure I do not recognize this lady. Fortunately, my blinds were closed enough; yet open enough for me to see them but them to not notice me.

a. Lady rings bell a third time. At this point I am thinking she could possibly be checking to see if anyone was home in order to rob the house, but it is just a thought.

b. Lady then rings bell in succession maybe 7 times or so.

3. I then move to a small 5 foot long hallway in between the front door and the living room I was just in. I can see through the reflection of a framed picture through the dining room doors that there is now an African American man standing at the front door as well.

4. I try to stay flush against the wall in order to avoid them looking in and seeing me in the reflection as well.

a. I go to kneel next to the front door and can hear them speaking in a hostile manner. Not a tone a salesman or delivery man/woman would have.
i. They then start knocking while I am right next to the door.

5. At this point I am thinking there is a good chance they may rob the place so I begin checking the reflection in the dining room for the moment they wouldn’t see me. The stairs are in front of the front door and there is a window above the front door so I needed to make sure they couldn’t see me through that as well. I knew you needed to be at least 15 feet back to see that so I kept checking in the reflection for when their heads were turned and standing close to the door. I have hardwood floors so I took my shoes off, waited for the right moment and then ran as quickly and quietly as I could upstairs.

6. I grab my gun and stand at the top of the staircase which I feel is the best position in the house since you are looking down onto the front door. I am still not positive at this point that they were going to break into my house and I figured if they did it would surely take some time to get through a solid three inch thick wooden door. Therefore, although my gun was loaded, it did not have a bullet in the chamber. In my head I thought I would have time from the moment I knew for sure they were going to break in till the moment they actually broke in.

7. I stand at the top of the stairs waiting in silence for less than a minute when all of a sudden BAMM!! The door flies open in one second!

a. A man flies through the door and towards the dining room

1. Because my gun isn’t ready, I quickly step to my right out of site, cock my gun, come back and fire a shot in the dining room just to scare him. He then dives back out the front door while I am firing another shot and then he continues to run to the car. I then fire another shot through the wall next to the front door knowing his direction to the car and thinking maybe it would go through the wall.

a. I assume the car drives off and there is silence

2. I want to chase after, but I cannot afford to give up my position at the top of the stairs. I also do not know if he is maybe lying outside the door or if there are others still in the house since I had to step to the side quickly as they entered in order to avoid any fire from them. If they knew where the shots were coming from they would not have gone out the front door.

3. I keep my position at the top of the stairs and call 911. I keep the call short but tell them to get over here and give them the description of the car.

4. I then call my father and gave him a quick 5 second synopsis of the situation and told him I am calling so someone can be on the phone while I go downstairs to check if the house is clear and no one is lying outside.

5. I go downstairs and everything is clear. A minute or two later the first officer arrives.

6. Each officer individually walked in one at a time, looked at the bullet holes in the house and said, “too bad you missed”. HA! If there had been a bullet in the chamber, I wouldn’t have had to step to the side so they would have all likely been killed. I had hollow points in my gun and I could have just knocked them off as soon as the door opened. I am glad this wasn’t the case and am happy the event occurred as it did. I do not think these people will ever come back, and everyone lived. I did not want that on my conscience. Although, later that night I thought about how these people will likely do this again to someone else.