This is an incident that I had played over in my mind but hoped that I would never have to experience.
While out of town on business last night, I received a frantic phone call from my wife around 1:00AM. She tells me that someone broke into the house, the police are now there, and that she had to hide from the intruder with the bedroom gun hoping that she would not have to shoot someone. We live in a nice, quiet neighborhood in SW OKC along 134th street.
Evidently my wife, who is 30 weeks pregnant, was falling asleep when she heard a sudden noise come from the living room that sounded like a large amount of dishes breaking. Our chocolate labrador begins to freak out as my wife hears continual noises coming from the other side of the locked bedroom door. She quickly grabs the gun, takes the dog, and hides in the master closet while on the phone with 911. While hiding she is trying to mentally prepare herself for the worst case scenario where she is forced to take another persons life. When police arrived she had the presence of mind to ask the 911 operator to verify that the men that she heard asking her to come out were actually the police. There were at least six squad cars and a helicopter overhead to aid in the search of the suspect who was not found. After coming out of the bedroom, my wife sees that our backdoor has been kicked in and her laptop has been stolen. That is the only item that we can discern that was taken. Besides the minor damage to our back door, the busted door jamb, and minor sheet rock damage, the only lasting impact is the loss of security that my wife now feels at home.
It is a very helpless feeling when you are out of town listening to your wife recount the close encounter she had with a home invasion and being unable to do anything about it. I rushed home this morning to oversee the door repairs and the installation of a security system. The one positive takeaway that I got from this is that my wife told me that she was very glad that we had gone over such a scenario before and prepared what we would do. The steps that she took last night has already been rehearsed in her head several times before. While not every situation can be envisioned and rehearsed, it is beneficial to have an outline of what to do in an emergency situation.
I am grateful for my wife's quick and decisive thinking, the police's quick response, and most of all I am thankful to God for watching over my wife and unborn son last night!
While out of town on business last night, I received a frantic phone call from my wife around 1:00AM. She tells me that someone broke into the house, the police are now there, and that she had to hide from the intruder with the bedroom gun hoping that she would not have to shoot someone. We live in a nice, quiet neighborhood in SW OKC along 134th street.
Evidently my wife, who is 30 weeks pregnant, was falling asleep when she heard a sudden noise come from the living room that sounded like a large amount of dishes breaking. Our chocolate labrador begins to freak out as my wife hears continual noises coming from the other side of the locked bedroom door. She quickly grabs the gun, takes the dog, and hides in the master closet while on the phone with 911. While hiding she is trying to mentally prepare herself for the worst case scenario where she is forced to take another persons life. When police arrived she had the presence of mind to ask the 911 operator to verify that the men that she heard asking her to come out were actually the police. There were at least six squad cars and a helicopter overhead to aid in the search of the suspect who was not found. After coming out of the bedroom, my wife sees that our backdoor has been kicked in and her laptop has been stolen. That is the only item that we can discern that was taken. Besides the minor damage to our back door, the busted door jamb, and minor sheet rock damage, the only lasting impact is the loss of security that my wife now feels at home.
It is a very helpless feeling when you are out of town listening to your wife recount the close encounter she had with a home invasion and being unable to do anything about it. I rushed home this morning to oversee the door repairs and the installation of a security system. The one positive takeaway that I got from this is that my wife told me that she was very glad that we had gone over such a scenario before and prepared what we would do. The steps that she took last night has already been rehearsed in her head several times before. While not every situation can be envisioned and rehearsed, it is beneficial to have an outline of what to do in an emergency situation.
I am grateful for my wife's quick and decisive thinking, the police's quick response, and most of all I am thankful to God for watching over my wife and unborn son last night!
