SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA — When one homeowner walked out back into his home after going out into his yard, the last thing he expected was to find a knife-wielding transient standing in his living room. Thankfully, this California home owner keeps a gun on him.
According to NBC 4 Southern California, the intruder was standing in his living room, waving a large hunting knife and advancing towards him. The homeowner was able to get his gun and told the intruder to stand down. When the intruder continued to advance, he had no choice but to shoot him.
The intruder, Timothy Mackay, 37, was taken by police to a nearby hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He is expected to survive and will be charged with multiple crimes relating to the incident.
Even as Californians come under some of the most draconian gun laws in the country, homeowners are not taking any risks with ensuring that their homes are kept safe. It’s also another reason why we continually emphasize the importance of staying armed while at the home. Intruders can be extremely stealthy and do not always announce their presence when breaking in.
Wielding a hunting knife, there’s little reason to disbelieve this intruder’s intentions. At the very bare minimum, there is a direct threat to a man’s life as well as his property. If this homeowner had not been armed and prepared, he may have faced a much crueler fate.
The gunshot wound to the abdomen is a callback to shooting center mass. It’s important to always aim for the greatest mass in a target because it gives us the greatest chance of scoring a direct hit. A gut shot was likely designed to take down his opponent rather than outright kill him — that’s what we mean by shoot to neutralize.
This homeowner did everything by the book and, more importantly, he saved his own life and stopped the bad guy. Kudos to him and hopefully a reinforcing lesson to the rest of us.