I posted this on another gun board but wanted to put it here as well just as a heads-up to people who might live in this area. We live around NW 178th and May in OKC.
About 3:45 this morning I woke up and then heard a slight bump. I looked over at my wife and she was stirring so I knew she had heard it too. Our nieces are staying the night and they are very much night owls so I said "the girls are still up?" and then there is a LOUD, wall shaking crash and we both sit up, wide awake and say "what the hell are they doing?" as we are both getting out of bed and heading for the door. My wife heads toward the room where they are sleeping and I happened to notice the front door was open about 6 inches. I mentioned that they had left the front door open and then I noticed that the outside door frame trim was still attached to the door!
It took a couple of seconds to realize the implications of that and as my wife comes back somewhat puzzled and says "they're still asleep" I'm rushing back into our bedroom to grab my Glock. I inform her that someone has kicked in the door and it takes a few seconds for the fact to actually register with her.
I went to the front door and peaked out and the outside motion-sensor light is still on so I know the person hasn't been gone long. I also notice a car driving down the street and my impression was that the lights were off but I wasn't sure because I only caught a glimpse. I then went to the back door and the backyard motion-sensor light is also on and the back gate is open. I told my wife to call 911 and I stood and monitored the backyard while watching the front door.
A few minutes later there's a knock at the front door and a police officer identifies himself. I check the peep hole to verify (a worthless gesture as the door won't even latch at this point) and set my pistol down and answer the door. As he came in I pointed to the pistol sitting on a crate about 4 feet away and emphasize "that's mine" and he just smiles and nods in acknowledgement.
To make a long story short, there were 3 officers there and they asked me if I had seen the perp or the car and I told them my story. They said that a neighbor called in a suspicious person/car report after a black guy knocked on her door and asked for a "Mr. Davis". After being told there was no one there by that name, she said she watched him walk over to our front door.
As the police were checking the yard my wife speculated that the fact that we had not picked up our newspaper in a couple of days made the would-be burglers think nobody was home and I immediately realized she was right. The police later verified that this was likely and the guys were looking for empty houses.
Lessons learned:
1) Don't leave newspapers sitting in the driveway overnight
2) If you hear a large bump in the night, assume the worst (eta: and grab any tools you deem necessary to defend your family)
3) We need better locks and barriers on our doors
4) We need to use the alarm and have it monitored
5) I need to take those handgun and shotgun self defense courses I've been eyeballing.
I've had a life-long paranoia about someone breaking into my house and I often jokingly refer to it as paranoia but I also emphasize that although it's never happened to anyone I know, it does happen. I've always wondered how I would react and if I would be too terrified to actually act. I was very surprised to find that the only emotion I felt was rage and was quite ready to take on whatever threat materialized. That is a somewhat comforting feeling.
I later learned that this guy went to a third house and was repeatedly beating on the door and ringing the doorbell while rambling on about collecting money for a paper or something. It sounds like this guy was probably on something, which is scary. I don't really expect him to come back and I'm actually hoping they weren't even in a state to remember where they were last night but I've upgraded my response plan to include far more firepower.
About 3:45 this morning I woke up and then heard a slight bump. I looked over at my wife and she was stirring so I knew she had heard it too. Our nieces are staying the night and they are very much night owls so I said "the girls are still up?" and then there is a LOUD, wall shaking crash and we both sit up, wide awake and say "what the hell are they doing?" as we are both getting out of bed and heading for the door. My wife heads toward the room where they are sleeping and I happened to notice the front door was open about 6 inches. I mentioned that they had left the front door open and then I noticed that the outside door frame trim was still attached to the door!
It took a couple of seconds to realize the implications of that and as my wife comes back somewhat puzzled and says "they're still asleep" I'm rushing back into our bedroom to grab my Glock. I inform her that someone has kicked in the door and it takes a few seconds for the fact to actually register with her.
I went to the front door and peaked out and the outside motion-sensor light is still on so I know the person hasn't been gone long. I also notice a car driving down the street and my impression was that the lights were off but I wasn't sure because I only caught a glimpse. I then went to the back door and the backyard motion-sensor light is also on and the back gate is open. I told my wife to call 911 and I stood and monitored the backyard while watching the front door.
A few minutes later there's a knock at the front door and a police officer identifies himself. I check the peep hole to verify (a worthless gesture as the door won't even latch at this point) and set my pistol down and answer the door. As he came in I pointed to the pistol sitting on a crate about 4 feet away and emphasize "that's mine" and he just smiles and nods in acknowledgement.
To make a long story short, there were 3 officers there and they asked me if I had seen the perp or the car and I told them my story. They said that a neighbor called in a suspicious person/car report after a black guy knocked on her door and asked for a "Mr. Davis". After being told there was no one there by that name, she said she watched him walk over to our front door.
As the police were checking the yard my wife speculated that the fact that we had not picked up our newspaper in a couple of days made the would-be burglers think nobody was home and I immediately realized she was right. The police later verified that this was likely and the guys were looking for empty houses.
Lessons learned:
1) Don't leave newspapers sitting in the driveway overnight
2) If you hear a large bump in the night, assume the worst (eta: and grab any tools you deem necessary to defend your family)
3) We need better locks and barriers on our doors
4) We need to use the alarm and have it monitored
5) I need to take those handgun and shotgun self defense courses I've been eyeballing.
I've had a life-long paranoia about someone breaking into my house and I often jokingly refer to it as paranoia but I also emphasize that although it's never happened to anyone I know, it does happen. I've always wondered how I would react and if I would be too terrified to actually act. I was very surprised to find that the only emotion I felt was rage and was quite ready to take on whatever threat materialized. That is a somewhat comforting feeling.
I later learned that this guy went to a third house and was repeatedly beating on the door and ringing the doorbell while rambling on about collecting money for a paper or something. It sounds like this guy was probably on something, which is scary. I don't really expect him to come back and I'm actually hoping they weren't even in a state to remember where they were last night but I've upgraded my response plan to include far more firepower.
