Home Occupant Exchanges Gunfire With Intruder — SPOILER: It Doesn’t End Well For The Intruder

SUMNER, IOWA — Investigators in Bremer County are still trying to figure out why a man traveled out into rural Iowa to break into a home and exchange gunshots with occupants of that home. In the ensuing fight, one of the residents was also shot but survived the encounter.

According to Bremer County Sheriff Dan Pickett’s statement to KCCI Des Moines News, the wounded resident was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The intruder, identified as Steven Anthony, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene. Anthony has been identified as the alleged intruder but investigators are confused why a man would travel 150 miles from Davenport, IA, to break into a home.

The best person to answer that question is deceased.

In the absence of any good evidence or proof that he had a cause or that any of the occupants of the home knew Anthony, investigators are probably going to stick with a self-defense ruling and leave it at that. We can’t be sure, however, because plenty of things do often show up during the investigative process.

Law enforcement is always curious why a bad guy picks a particular home. Sometimes it’s because the bad guy has been told that there’s goodies in the home. Other times, it could be something much more base like a prolonged vendetta. And, yet, still other times it just happens because the bad guy thinks that home just looks promising.

It’s not so much a question the residents of a home really have to answer. Their job is to stay alive. And with bad guys showing up through their door, they wisely invested in firearms for home defense.

Always a good call.

Because bad guys come in all shapes and sizes and possess a wild variety of motivations, it’s near impossible to figure out what motivates any particular one. If a criminal is willing to rob a convenience store for $200 and a pack of Marlboros, who’s to say he’s not willing to break into a home occupied by strangers?

While it’s the job of police to figure all of this out — an often impossible task — it’s the job of us law-abiding gun owners to stay armed and alert even while we’re at home.

Personally, I suggest a home surveillance system of some kind. It’s nice to know who’s trying to break in through the garage at three in the morning.

Nothing quite substitutes the role of the gun in the home. When it comes down to surviving a dangerous unknown — which a bad guy breaking in most certainly is — having the means to protect your life is of the greatest importance. Keep a gun nearby. Ideally, carry it in your everyday concealed carry or open carry holster of choice. It cuts down on the time you need to defend yourself so you can focus on the important things: getting your family to relative safety, finding cover, and calling the police.