Incident Last Night: How'd I do?

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A

A Cleaner

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My fiancee and I were watching TV last night around 10:30p. The doorbell rang. Then it rang again. I had my KelTec in my hand and chambered in less than a second. I did not answer the door, as it is uncommon for our neighborhood. We don't have any kids around that ding-dong-ditch people and all our friends and relatives would definitely call first because they were instructed to.

I waited 30 seconds and then quietly advanced to the front of the house to carefully look out the blinds from a dark room. I saw a ybm, early 20's, approx. 5'10" standing suspiciously between two cars and ducking back every time he saw a car pass by. I immediately called 911 while I still had him in my line of vision and gave an accurate description. The police arrived in roughly 3 minutes.

They ended up catching the guy and talking on the sidewalk several houses down for about 5 minutes. I obviously didn't know what all was being said but the guy being questioned looked agitated. Two police cars and two officers were there. After the sidewalk discussion, one of the officers and this guy walked across the street to the police car. I don't know if they took him into custody or if they let him go, my line of sight was blocked by trees.

Thoughts after the fact:
1. Glad I had a loaded gun right by me.
2. I hope this guy rang more than one bell <or> I hope the officers didn't bring up the ringing of the doorbell.
3. I'm glad I called 911 and made sure they didn't stop by the house afterwards.
4. I'm ok with not answering the door but I hate not knowing why the guy was there.
5. Is there any way I can follow up and find out what happened, what this guy was doing lurking around our neighborhood at 10:30 at night?
6. I'm very proud of my fiancee for saying, "Don't answer the door." (which is what we discussed is her best option when home alone) and she (the fence sitter who's slightly gun friendly) said, "Get your gun." (no more fence sitting for her).

Let me know what you guys think. What did I do right? What could I have done better? (Yes, I mean besides have the HD shotgun nearby instead of my KelTec.)
 
sounds like no mistakes were made on your part, i might've sent the fiancee to a safe room in the house if your tv room had alot of windows or a sliding glass door or something like that.

even if the police didn't mention anything about your house for the reason they were picking him up i would still keep an eye out and maybe make sure your fiancee knows that he might be back.
 
Two of your statements seem to conflict.

You said you were glad you had a loaded gun

You said you had your Kel-Tec chambered within a second.

By my way of thinking a hadgun without a round in the chamber :uhoh: isn't loaded ......or much good to you either.
 
Excellent.
Inquire with the police as to the outcome of their intervention.
Watch your six for the next few weeks.
 
If you are in your own home, then there is no reason to not have a gun bigger than your Kel-Tec. If you are in your home and answering the door with a handgun, then there is no reason not to have a spare magazine with you. If at night, no reason not to have a flashlight with you.

I thought it odd that you said you hand your Kel-Tec in your hand and a round chambered in a second. Was that after the first time the bell rang, or the second? I gather from what you describe that you don't carry your Kel-Tec with a round chambered. Unless you are doing something perverted with your fiance and Kel-Tec on the couch, together, then there is little chance you hand the Kel-Tec in your hand and a round chambered in a second...but maybe we don't need to hear about those goings-on.

Being armed is good.
Not actually answering the door is very good.
Calling cops is good.
Giving an accurate description is good.
Messing up the time with the fiance was bad.
 
Please allow me to clarify.

First,I said "loaded gun" as a lighthearted reference to all the naysayers who say you don't need a "loaded gun" sitting around the house. Sorry the attempt at humor caused some confusion there.

Second, I do not carry my Kel-Tec with a round chambered. After the second time the bell rang, I had the gun in my hand and had chambered a round (it sits directly in front of me on the coffee table). If you want to debate that I did this in less than a second, I did not actually have a stopwatch handy that read 1.000 seconds. No quantifiable data handy to substantiate my claim. I was merely estimating, not bragging about how quick I can chamber a round. This isn't a "carry chambered vs. carry unchambered" thread in disguise.

Third, I agree that I definitely should have something bigger around the house and you can bet that, from now on, I will.

Finally, thanks to everyone for their input so far. Keep it comin'.
 
One thing, I would find out from the PD what the guy told the LEO he was doing on your property ringing your doorbell for. They should be able to tell you something. Whatever you can learn to find out what is going on for intel reasons on what might be happening. Something to talk to your neighbors about (if you have them).

Why did you not want to talk to the PD afterwards?
 
If the suspect was still in the area & had rang multiple door bells, talking to the police would have essentially ratted him out. Now whether the perp would be able to put that together remains questionable...
 
Jhaislet

Exactly. I didn't want this guy watching the police approach one of the very houses at which he had just rang the doorbell 10-12 minutes ago. Thanks for that.

A little follow up. No police report yet. I did, however, speak to some neighbors on my left and right. He did ring more than one bell (that's a relief), he also was addressed by my neighbor across the street and two houses down. This neighbor works for the railroad and owns two Rottweilers...not the guy to piss off. Good guy though. Anyways, apparently this nogoodnik walked into either D's house or his mothers (right next door to D's house). That's only heresay at this point but I will talk to D. as soon as I can.

I will either get the report or get ahold of our neighborhood association Public Information Officer to ask him some questions. Thanks again guys.
 
Cleaner, we need to get you some bigger guns! :) (okay, bad inside joke, but I'm working on it!)
 
talking to the police would have essentially ratted him out
Click to expand...
I didn't want this guy watching the police approach one of the very houses at which he had just rang the doorbell 10-12 minutes ago.
Click to expand...
He did ring more than one bell (that's a relief)
Click to expand...

Not to poke at a personal choice, but what is all the fear here about? Am I missing something here? Seriously, I don't know why some here would cower away waiting to not be "identified" by a strange person on their property and neighboorhood.

I can see why you would want to stay back and not be right into the mix, but I would have no problem coming out to the police when they were on scene to find out about and help them out about the situation. Sometimes that's what LE needs, someone to come out and say - yep that's the fella.
 
I think it would help if you could have had your wife armed as well. In case things went down hill. Twice the firepower that way.

Chris
 
Let me know what you guys think. What did I do right? What could I have done better? (Yes, I mean besides have the HD shotgun nearby instead of my KelTec.)
Click to expand...

You need something other than a Kel Tec. No I'm not "dissing" Kel Tec, or their use as CCW weapons- they are small CCW weapons and not the best suited for home defense. You should have a shotgun, pistol caliber carbine, .223 rifle, or at least a full size 9mm/40/45 or a nice service revolver in .38spl or above. Of course, while I have all mentioned (except a full sized .40, my full sized autos are 9mm and .45, my .40 is a compact) I am most likely to use either my Taurus PT 140 Milennium Pro or my Taurus 85CH snub as my home defense weapons (they are often on my person when at home, while other guns aren't as comfortably carried around). I could see it if the Kel Tec was what you had at hand or on body so it was what was in your hand, but I'd feel better if you said that X (insert larger gun) was nearby or that you sent your fiance to get it.

Now on the other end, and I'm sure many here will disagree, I might not have totally ignored him. Satisfy your curiousity, no need to be so paranoid. Just because you don't know the guy doesn't mean he doesn't have a legitimate reason to knock on your door (he may have broken down without a cell phone and need to borrow someone's phone, he may be selling something, he may be one of those annoying missionaries, he may be a guest at a neighbors house and have the wrong residence and your help may be useful, etc). I'm not saying you necessarily should open the door (though with the gun actually in hand you are well prepared should he try something), but you could call through the door to see what he wants and then tell him you don't open the door for strangers. Then if he simply needs to be told which house is his buddy's you can tell him, if he needs a phone you can tell him where the closest gas station with a public phone is located, if he is a missionary or salesperson you can tell him whatever you want.
 
way to keep your head in the game and call 911.Good job on behalf of your LEO. Now for the next few days keep your eye open BG might case the area and I would tell the neighbors know to do the same.

sp40cal
 
Correia: Amen, brother. Ready when you are. :D

odysseus: As I said, they got him. My theory is, "Everything to end a confrontation, nothing to cause it." I did what I thought was right. If I was single and didn't have to worry about my fiance home alone at various times of day and night, I may have acted differently. Better in my opinion to avoid that kind of risk if it involves her.

crofrog: Believe me, I'm working on it. This event may have clearly illustrated to her the usefulness of her being armed.

chaim: First, to address your concern, my KelTec was the one almost in hand. It's not that I don't own other guns, I just had the KelTec closer at the time. I have three 12g shotguns that would have fit the bill nicely and a Glock 19 that would also suffice. I had some firepower on hand which is better than none but not as much as I would have liked, given that I was at home with the whole cache. Having said that, you can bet that while I'm at home, the 870 HD will be resting neatly beside me at all times from now on. :D

As to me being "paranoid", again I think that I did the right thing by not satisfying my curiosity. No need to advertise that I own guns by answering the door with one, no need to deal with annoyance if I don't have to. My objective was to leave this guy with the impression that, regardless of the reasons for his actions, that kinda stuff doesn't fly in my neighborhood. No need to put a face with a house number that he can remember. You can be sure, however, if I heard him try the handle after ringing the bell, the story would change right there. :scrutiny:
 
I think you did well. Except ...
Second, I do not carry my Kel-Tec with a round chambered. After the second time the bell rang, I had the gun in my hand and had chambered a round (it sits directly in front of me on the coffee table). If you want to debate that I did this in less than a second, I did not actually have a stopwatch handy that read 1.000 seconds. No quantifiable data handy to substantiate my claim. I was merely estimating, not bragging about how quick I can chamber a round. This isn't a "carry chambered vs. carry unchambered" thread in disguise.
Click to expand...
Suppose that instead of one guy who rang the doorbell, there had been two or three or four guys who just kicked in the door. You'd be sitting there with an UNLOADED (no round in chamber is NOT a loaded gun) gun on the table. By the time you pick it up and rack the slide (if you don't drop it because you're so surprised and nervous), they're on top of you.

If you're going to have a gun for self-defense, for heaven's sake have a loaded gun.
 
I had my KelTec in my hand and chambered in less than a second
Click to expand...

Keep one in the pipe, brotha. Next time you might not have that one second to rake the slide.


-my 100th post. my how time flies.
 
Btw with the kel-tec's DA trigger it shouldn't be a safety issue to have a round chambered. Other than that you did good. Better to have a kel-tec with you than a 1911 in the safe.
 
KT's are terrible clubs Load that sucker It safe with the long DA pull. I agree with most people at home should have a bigger gun ready. Other than that I think you did good. GF should have been armed also would have been iceing on cake.
 
Ok, new policy:

Every gun, when at home, is chambered and ready. Within reach at all times in the house is an 870 HD carrying 00 buckshot. In addition, sometimes the KelTec is near, sometimes the Glock 19 is near. Now if I can just find a way to conceal the 870 for EDC...:D

Thanks guys for you input. It's really hard to ask advice outside of this forum due to the high concentrations of the chemical "itwon'teverhappentome-uhthane". This forum, on the other hand, has been declared free of this toxic substance. :D

P.S. Here's the great news: My lady asked to be taken to the range to become more familiar with the Glock. I think this could be the beginning a beautiful relationship. I've never enjoyed my time at the range more than I did this past weekend. <bragging> At 10 yds. she put all 15 in a 9 inch target, 8 of them in 2.5 inch circle. Not bad for her second time ever shooting, first time shooting a Glock 19.</bragging>
 
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I think you did a great job..after all, you and your partner are safe.

One thing though: How many entrances do you have to your home? While you were looking out the window, was anyone covering the rear?
 
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