MACON, GEORGIA — One homeowner awoke at 4:30 a.m. to find an intruder in his home. Coming out of a deep sleep, the homeowner quickly grabbed for his Glock 22 and gave pursuit to the intruder. Both the intruder and homeowner were very alarmed to run into each other but the homeowner was set on not becoming a victim.
via the Macon Telegraph
“When you wake from a dead sleep like that it takes you a minute to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “When I leave my room, I’m not sure if my brother’s there and he’s hurt or shot or gone. … So I’m hollering for my brother as I’m running through the house.”
According to the news article, the man had some “choice words” relating to what he would do if he caught up to the intruder. The gist was, “hope I don’t catch up to you.”
The intruder rushed out of the house and onto the front lawn. That’s where the homeowner finally caught up to him and discovered that the intruder had managed to steal a few of his guns before he woke up.
“As I was coming out of my house and he ran around to the front of my house, I heard my gun that he stole go off. … I don’t know if he was shooting back at me or what,” the homeowner said. “He ran off through the night toward the Flash Foods.”
As it turns out, the intruder ended up ditching the guns in a bush and left $800 obtained in his burglary on the front lawn. A wise decision.
Police showed up and discovered no one had been hurt. The homeowner’s heart rate was probably still sky high by the time they arrived. In his recollection of the events, he says that most of the response had been a blur. Coming out of a deep sleep and having to go immediately into “fight” mode, the body has a delay before a lot of cognitive processes kick in.
The one realization the homeowner had made was that the thief must have observed his pattern-of-life movements prior to the home invasion.
“Whoever it was obviously knew my routine. They waited till my brother left before they came in the house, assuming it was me leaving,” he said. “I’d have shot him, there’s no doubt. If I’d have been coherent enough when he came in my bedroom, they’d be doing an identification instead of an investigation.”
Needless to say, it’s probably a good thing the thief ditched the goods and prioritized getting the heck out of dodge.
Unfortunately, the thief wasn’t caught and police are still looking for clues. One thing is for certain: that thief knows there’s a homeowner that gets as angry as a bear if he’s woken up.
This is a terrific example of the real planning that goes on prior to a home invasion. Sure, some thieves just randomly pick a house and take their chances. But most thieves with any experience in this field will try to stake out a home to figure out when they’re going to make their move.
In this thief’s case, he was just off by one. The homeowner’s brother, who also resides at the house, just happened to leave and that may have gave the intruder the impression the house was clear. It wasn’t.
And prior to the thief abandoning ship, he had managed to obtain loaded firearms and cash. Between these two things, the thief could have done a significant amount of damage.
This is just a reminder that if you’re not using a gun, it’s probably best to lock it up. Keeping a gun by your bed is a pretty swift move if you need to react to a threat. Cash should obviously not be stored where it’s easily accessible. These are things a lot of people don’t think about until after the fact. If you’re reading this, you have the advantage of being proactive instead of reactive.
I’m glad to see the homeowner was able to secure his home without injury to himself or others. I’m also glad that he called out for other residents in the home to ensure that they didn’t fall into the line of fire. These are just some of the major considerations any homeowner should have when reacting to an intruder.