56yr Old Woman shoots and kills intruder. Audio - Page 3

Sweet Pea · #21 12-05-2009, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

Absolutely. Until it happens to you, you really don't know what you will do--you can only hope that you'll react in the best way possible.

Agreed!

However, there IS something about hearing the pump of a shotgun that would deter most sane and/or sober people when breaking and entering ...... It appears that this man was not sober and who know if he was sane....

This is a heartbreaking incident - I pray that the lady is able to deal with the certain aftermath and mental anguish that will haunt her. She seemed so "together" in the beginning, but was really distraught at what happened. May the Prince of Peace touch her mind and heart!

Jeffrey · #22 12-05-2009, 06:52 PM

I'm not a tree-hugger, but you can say I'm not a huge fan of Wild West culture. Hiding and letting the man take what he needed would have been better. She had a gun, she was safe. Had he discovered her -- game over. The operator made the situation worse by approving her frightened prospect of "i'll have to kill him."

At the same time, I'm not condemning her. We are all just playing armchair QB on this. It's tragic... who knows how each of us would react. This story would have been better had there been no loss of life. The man was likely drunk driving, and trying to help his passed out daughter who was nearby in a car. He was frantic.

Jeffrey · #23 12-05-2009, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Pea

Agreed!

However, there IS something about hearing the pump of a shotgun that would deter most sane and/or sober people when breaking and entering ...... It appears that this man was not sober and who know if he was sane....

This is a heartbreaking incident - I pray that the lady is able to deal with the certain aftermath and mental anguish that will haunt her. She seemed so "together" in the beginning, but was really distraught at what happened. May the Prince of Peace touch her mind and heart!

Yes, her emotions afterward were heartbreaking. "Father, forgive me... forgive me, Father..."

Sweet Pea · #24 12-05-2009, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

She was quite calm before he actually broke in -- and considering, it took him about 5-10 minutes of pounding on the door and yelling a name she didn't recognize.

I understand she was probably petrified. But she knew what was about to go down. The woman on the phone could have helped a bit more.

"I'm going to have to kill him if he comes in."
"I understand..."

Depending on her experience with guns, she could have shot his legs, fired a warning shot, caulked the gun... a number of things. She could evidently see the guy since he walked all around her wrap-around porch. She suspected him of being drunk even.

All hindsight. But all these facts make the story more tragic.

She obviously was familiar enough with the shotgun to know that if she was forced to shoot - there wasn't going to be much chance of his survival (if at very close range)

Esther · #25 12-05-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

She was quite calm before he actually broke in -- and considering, it took him about 5-10 minutes of pounding on the door and yelling a name she didn't recognize.

I understand she was probably petrified. But she knew what was about to go down. The woman on the phone could have helped a bit more.

"I'm going to have to kill him if he comes in."
"I understand..."

Depending on her experience with guns, she could have shot his legs, fired a warning shot, caulked the gun... a number of things. She could evidently see the guy since he walked all around her wrap-around porch. She suspected him of being drunk even.

All hindsight. But all these facts make the story more tragic.

The sad thing about wounding someone they come back and sue you and you lose! It is rediculous but the way it is.

I have not listened to the tape, but if he was drunk, then he could have been out of control. Folks on drugs and some are mean drunks you can't mess around with.

Taking a life I would think would be a tragic thing to deal with.

Jeffrey · #26 12-05-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esther

The sad thing about wounding someone they come back and sue you and you lose! It is rediculous but the way it is.

I have not listened to the tape, but if he was drunk, then he could have been out of control. Folks on drugs and some are mean drunks you can't mess around with.

Taking a life I would think would be a tragic thing to deal with.

I'd much rather someone sue me than me deal with the pain of taking their life when I didn't have to.

Yes, he was drunk. From her perspective, he appeared belligerent, but as it turns out he was likely only frantic, and trying to get help. I've read a few other news stories on this.

I feel for the homeowner... she has to live with replaying all the things she could have done differently.

*AQuietPlace* · #27 12-05-2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

I'm not a tree-hugger, but you can say I'm not a huge fan of Wild West culture. Hiding and letting the man take what he needed would have been better. She had a gun, she was safe. Had he discovered her -- game over. The operator made the situation worse by approving her frightened prospect of "i'll have to kill him."

Imagine what the backlash would have been if the operator had tried to talk her out of shooting him, and the intruder had harmed the woman.

Jeffrey · #28 12-05-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

Imagine what the backlash would have been if the operator had tried to talk her out of shooting him, and the intruder had harmed the woman.

True... with 20/20, and scrutiny, the woman had a good look at the man (and could have seen if he was armed), she recognized that he may be drunk. She has a shotgun. The likelihood of her being harmed in this situation is not great.

But yes, it's hard to see this as she saw it, since we have all the details.

Esther · #29 12-05-2009, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

True... with 20/20, and scrutiny, the woman had a good look at the man (and could have seen if he was armed), she recognized that he may be drunk. She has a shotgun. The likelihood of her being harmed in this situation is not great.

But yes, it's hard to see this as she saw it, since we have all the details.

That is a huge assumption. Regardless if he had a weapon in hand or not, he could still have harmed her, even killed her with his bare hands. If he thought he was in his home and she was the intruder, he could have reacted differently, and felt he was defending his home, using whaterver was handy.

tstew · #30 12-05-2009, 09:08 PM

I feel for the woman in this situation. All I was asking was whether it would have been good or bad to have said something while he was still outside unarmed and she was inside armed. If this were a case where she awoke to someone sneakily trying to break in, ramming a door, or climbing through a window, I say shoot first and shoot often. In this case he spent ten minutes knocking on various doors and windows and loudly calling for Pat. That would not strike me as the actions of a man initially looking to break-in.
She was reasonably calm and identified him as an older man while he was still outside. I'm just saying that in that situation I would probably have grabbed my gun and informed him that I was armed and the police were on the way and there was no Pat in my house.
But once again, I am allowing for the fact that I am a younger man and she is an older woman.