Home Invasion Tactics

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I working on developing a new plan in case of home invasion at night while we are sleeping.

Previous plan was grab gun, wake wife, we travel across the hall to my daughters room. My wife calls police while I cover the door to the room in case anyone tries to come in.

However, we now have two children. My sons room is on our side of the hall.

Should I modify the plan to have my wife get my son and bring him to my daughters room? Should we split up, each taking a gun with us? and then meet up in either my daughters room or back in our bedroom?

I weary of spliting up but I also want to get to my children as fast as possible.
 
I do not know how your house is arranged or the floor plan, BUT I would say that you should:

1.) Wake wife
2.) Have her call 911
3.) Cover the hall

I would think that you would want to minimize moving around, as in tense environments people can get hurt.

Since you have kids, make sure that you get a peice that has pictanny rails and can fit a weapon light. In your position, I would prefer the below to an auto.


Model 327 M&P R8 - 8 Shot, .357 Magnum Revolver
170292_large.jpg
 
So your wife is not the one that goes: "what was that!" 50 times each night?
:D

More seriously, if the hall is a dead-end to the 3 bedrooms, might you more quickly take a position to cover the hall, avoid the ruckus of moving around, and draw any fire to yourself without having your kids in the same room?
 
Here's my plan......
1) Grab shotgun
2) Wake wife, tell wife to bunker down and take care of the kids
3) Rack shotgun
4) Announce that I'm releasing my 50# pit bull to handle them until the cops arrive
 
A little more info about the layout. Two story house, all bedrooms upstairs.

If I am confident that intruders are all downstairs, the situation is easy, laydown at top left of stairs using wall and floor as concelment. Night light at bottom of stairs will let me know if intruder is attempting to come up stairs at which point I turn on my very bright flashlight to 1) temporarily blind intruder and 2) allow me to positively identify intruder as unfriendly.

While I'm covering the stairs my wife dials 911 and keeps my daughter out of the hall. Since my son is in his crib, he can't leave his room and become a target.
 
Modify the Plan a Bit

1. Wake wife.
2. Call 9-1-1 and give Address First, State the Problem and tell them you're BOTH Armed.
3. BOTH of you Get your Shotguns with Weapon Light attachments.
4. Release German Shepherd AND barking Jack Russell Terrier
 
As always the number one thing is to harden the perimeter of your house- doors, windows, lighting, security system etc. If you can back off from the house itself and establish fences and gates to better control access to your property, so much the better.

Being upstairs- the whole family- gives you a significant advantage in your case, IF there is only one stairway to the upstairs and any other access is difficult. Your plan should maximize that advantage to your best ability.

I'd want the kids under complete control and bunkered down behind cover in the event of intruders. That means if you are going to take point in covering the stairs, mom will have to gather the kids, then continue commo with the cavalry via 911. IMHO the best idea is still to establish one or the other of the kids' rooms as a 'safe room' with substantial furniture, loaded bookshelves, etc as cover- maybe even a bomb blanket or ballistic blanket if your furnishings are sparse. But you can accumulate a LOT of old National Geographic magazines for what a ballistic blanket costs, and shelving is pretty inexpensive.

Using one of the kid's rooms as a safe room will mean one less trip in gathering the children and getting them under cover than bringing both of them to your room. That's an advantage. Mom will be busy enough tossing down the activated Chem-light with the spare set of housekeys attached for the city's finest when they arrive, carrying on communication with the 911 operator/dispatcher, keeping the kids happy and out of harm's way etc. BTW, mom's going to need a cordless phone AND a cell phone upstairs, to make sure any intruders downstairs don't shut down your commo by cutting the phone line or taking a downstairs extension off the hook.

Definitely look into remote control lighting for downstairs. The X10 components are inexpensive and pretty readily available- the last Radio Shack I visited still stocked them, or they are widely available via the web. They install by plugging into existing outlets and are dead simple to set up and use. Power failure lighting of some sort downstairs is another good idea- there are simple versions available that just plug into existing outlets. Sometimes intruders pull the power before they break in... .

A pressure mat with a noisemaker or something simple like that would serve to warn you of someone at or on the stairs. Better yet IMHO is a family dog downstairs. The woofer might even be enough to discourage a lot of intruders all by itself.

Your best position is proned out at the top of the stairs with a firearm, with multiple lights blazing downstairs. You'll want to be back from the edge of the stairs far enough that nothing is visible of you or your weapon from the bottom of the stairs. You'll have to get over the desire to see what's happening down there, of course. If anyone with 'bad intent' IS down there, you definitely don't want your noggin visible above the top step.

I'd strongly suggest getting a copy of http://materials.nrahq.org/go/product.aspx?productid=ES 26840 and/or http://www.paladin-press.com/product/129/73 and reviewing the material covered before formalizing your plan.

HTH,

lpl/nc
 
Lee's advice is about as good as you're going to get.

In the case of a real home invasion when all of you are asleep, you are not going to have much, if any time to make multiple trips anywhere. Best bet would be to get the kida hunkered-down and defend the stairwell from intruders, -you don't want any sleepy-eyed kids sticking their heads out the door if you are exchanging gunfire with BGs moving up the stairs.
 
Yep

Calling 911 can be a liability sometimes. I would not call 911 and say that
it all happened so fast I could not get to a phone.

But I would call my police department dispatcher direct.
 
Just a heads up- a lot of people imagine a home invasion as a dramatic and loud event, during which you can rally the troops. Start conditioning yourself for this more likely version:

Ding dong. Door bell rings at 9 pm. A little late but you see a woman out front and you are curious why. Door opens, you hear a story about a flat tire... and before you are able to answer, they spring the attack. It could be with the woman shoving a pistol in your face, or simply three guys "bum rushing" through your front door right over top of you.

You should mentally rehearse for all types of situations- not just the one you expect.
 
Lee touched on it, but lighting plays a huge role. Lighting should illuminate the threat, and provide concealment also. Experiment with different flood light positions above the stair well. Find one that is in front of where your position of cover will be. If done well, an intruder will see lights only, and be unable to ID the threat.

Buck00 has a very good point also. Security screens are a must (though one with a firing port may be obvious) for dealing with people at the door. They also help to camouflage the person answering the door. (lighting is also important here) A lot of attacks occur when leaving/entering the home. Looking outside the peep hole anytime you open the door is not a bad idea.

NRA has a lot of armed citizen archives. Read through them with your wife/family. Talk about each one. Brainstorm. Discuss what they did right and what they did wrong. Discuss what you would do different, if anything. Measure distances in your home. Shoot at those. Pattern your buck shot. Work on strong/support hand shooting.

I applaud you for posting the question here. It means you are thinking, open to feedback, and have a desire to get better.
 
Welll........here we go!

First... ADT screams to a mind deafining decible rating ......making...

Second......All 5 dogs go NUTS ........making.....

Third.......wife screaming......whats wrong.......SHUTUP! DOGS!...making......

Fourth.......Me waiting to see what in the heck will happen Fifth......with my pistol clutched in my hand under the pillow :) while I wait for Law Enforcement to comb neighborhood for freaked out burgular! :confused: :eek:
 
When I answer the door, most of the time, I'm "cocked and locked" with a gun behind my butt cheek and struggling to get the dogs to shut up. I have one outside and two inside, and nobody sneaks up on my house. I have neighbors on three sides who also have dogs... so the "dog alarm" goes off if you simply ride down the street. I have motion sensors on outside lights and some other "private alarms" that warn me of people approaching.

I look out the window before I ever even think of opening the door, and if I don't know who someone is, they get to put up their id to the window before I even engage them in conversation.

Now, I used to be a nice, open individual who would open their door to anybody until our crime statistics came out with the illegals invasion into my neighborhood. Our county had 23 murders last year, and 17 of them were in my zip code. Home invasions and gang activity is becoming almost an everyday thing, so I'm giving "strangers" the appropriate screening. If you don't have an appointment, or an invitation, you're at the mercy of the "Castle Doctrine" in South Carolina.

I've been "bum rushed" at the ATM by a vanload of illegals, and all it took to turn them around was racking my S&W .40 cal 4006 behind the windshield... no shots fired, but they were ever-so-close to finding out if they had reservations in heaven.

I also have weapons strategically placed all over the house, since only my son and I live here now (my wife passed away a year and a half ago) and I shoot every weekend to make sure I don't kill the old lady waiting on the bus down the street if I shoot. As an ex-LEO, I know the bad guys are out there... and I handled some of the worst. If they crash my house, they won't be showing up in apellate court. If they break in while I'm away, the dogs have a "special treat" for them.

One of my "nerd" friends is setting up my computer so I can monitor my house from my cell phone, and it will have specific alarms and cameras set up that I can monitor from anywhere. A few motion detectors and I can tell "friend or foe" almost instantly... with a 250-gig hard drive specifically designated to "recording events" digitally.

I'm not paranoid... I'm careful...:D ...and with the situation in my neighborhood now, I'm almost the centerpoint of a personal "community watch"... cause when I get all the cameras installed, I'll be able to monitor the entire neighborhood from my cell phone...:what:... and mostly with free software.


WT
 
Some valuable points of view here.


buck00,

That scenario has reportedly played out in this area a few times (Palm Beach Florida), but with a twist...
The BG's are posing as cops, people open the door and these "Cops" take over.
Lose-Lose situation.
One such example...
http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/C7A81376AEDDAD41852571790061BEE4

Something to consider:
I have a buddy with security cameras set up for those late night knocks, JIC.
The cameras are positioned to cover the entire area of the entry and with the press of a couple buttons the camera displays on the television screen.

That said, what do you guys think of something similar for the interior lower floors displayed on the upstairs TV?
I am not sure of this idea myself, due to the potential for distraction, wasted time, the tell tale screen glowing, etc.

Regarding the original questions...The thing I'd like to suggest, which was implied previously, is a means of alert at the base of the stairs.
You don't want them up there before you are aware of their presence.
Even something as simple as one of those cheap driveway alarms that beep when the beam is broken will suffice IMO.

To take that one step further...
Integrate that beam into the lighting previously mentioned.
They break the beam; your blinding lights come on by default.

To add to the question...
How exactly does one get alerted and shake the cobwebs out rather quickly in such an event?
That one has been bothering me for a couple days.
 
Welll........here we go!

First... ADT screams to a mind deafining decible rating ......making...

Second......All 5 dogs go NUTS ........making.....

Third.......wife screaming......whats wrong.......SHUTUP! DOGS!...making......

Fourth.......Me waiting to see what in the heck will happen Fifth......with my pistol clutched in my hand under the pillow while I wait for Law Enforcement to comb neighborhood for freaked out burgular!
Click to expand...

Oh. You've been to our house......

I haven't laughed this much in weeks. And you can PM me about where to send the new keyboard....

Springmom
 
Posted by buck00:
Just a heads up- a lot of people imagine a home invasion as a dramatic and loud event, during which you can rally the troops. Start conditioning yourself for this more likely version:

Ding dong. Door bell rings at 9 pm. A little late but you see a woman out front and you are curious why. Door opens, you hear a story about a flat tire... and before you are able to answer, they spring the attack. It could be with the woman shoving a pistol in your face, or simply three guys "bum rushing" through your front door right over top of you.

You should mentally rehearse for all types of situations- not just the one you expect.
Click to expand...

Good points.

They often don't even bother with knocking on the door and giving a phony story. Your average wood frame door with a standard deadbolt lock can be fairly easily kicked open by an average sized male.

Home invaders are virtually always armed, and usually don't work alone. Two or three perps is common, but occasionally there are even more. A lot of people are under the false notion that they usually only strike late at night after everybody's in bed, which simply isn't true. They may strike in broad daylight or just after dark, busting in while the entire family is still up.

Don't rely solely on high dollar electronic security systems (ESS), because they often don't work as advertised. ADT, the world leader in ESS's, currently has a number of law suits pending against them, because their systems quite simply failed to do what they were supposed to.
 
Today remote monitoring, wireless, is an option. Motion detectors, controllers to turn on lights, sound alam ... cameras to take images under a given macro exist. I plan to hunker down, turn on downstairs lights, log into remote monitoring site (PC, or cell phone option) and clear the house without leaving my room.
 
Armor the door. The standard paneled wood door is a cheap POS. The panels can kick right out, reach through and pop the deadbolt. The cheap metal doors are garbage also. 5/8" thick wood frame with aluminum wrapped 1/4" around over a foam core. Crap. Most door frames are crap. One kick and the strike , which is screwed into the frame with 3/4" screws, pops out. If you want to be halfway secure, get a steel door ( yes, the ugly gray warehouse door) with a steel frame, and install it. Veneer wood on it if you like.
You do not have the invaders favorite, do you? (sliding glass door?) Get rid of it.

Alternatives- use 3 1/2" #14 screws through your hinges, and deadbolt strike into the framing. Use a door reinforcer around the deadbolt area. Use a "bulldog" strike.
Remember, what you are buying is time. It takes a hell of a lot longer to bust out and crawl through a window than to kick in a door.

Now do the same to your bedroom door, and the kids doors. Put a gate on the stairs, to prevent access to the second floor.

Ideally, you want the BG's out on the lawn running away. Second is to have them bottled up in a zone inside the house.
 
First: Have an alarm system installed in your home that's tied into a central alarm station who will immediately call you and the police. Make sure they also have your cell phone number in the event the intruders cut your phone lines. Make sure the alarm is loud enough to startle the intruders and also for neighbors to hear as well. Then do what the others have suggested in compliance to the lay out of your house.
 
this is the one good thing to come about our 3 year old son refusing to sleep in his own bed. If anyone kicks down our door, I can lock our beedroom, grab my AK loaded with steel core FMJs, and dump mags through the sheetrock. Make it rain.



I'm kidding, of course. Mostly.
 
despite what Hollywood may have you believe, odds are you will be in a much different circumstance, whether alone on the road, spooking a thief in the middle of the day, etc. While I commend you for considering how to protect your family at night, I suggest you put just as much, if not more emphasis on other scenarios
 
I have had someone attempt to break into my apartment so I make sure my fiance and I are on the same page for any future problems.

1) I grab my bedside pistol.
2) I wait in the room with her while she calls the cops (letting them know i'm armed).
3) She then arms herself and we wait it out. I would rather worry about our well being then step out into the other end of the apartment for a potential shoot out.

Now if they head towards our bedroom, it becomes an issue of us or them. I would stack the bodies high to defend my fiance and myself.
 
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