From what I've heard, One-Time, that used to be true. It used to be that if you do what they want, you wouldn't get hurt. Like I said, from what I've heard - I'm only 22. My Mom has said several times "It used to be that if someone said 'gimme your wallet' you give it to them, and they let you go. But now you just run, because they'll likely shoot you because they have no conscience or because they don't want you to report the theft." She doesn't carry, obviously.
Lessons learned from Hayes breakin, rapes and murders
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I remember reading this story in a store shelf rag (People?) while killing some time last year or the year before. Terrible, and a reminder that yes, these things do happen, and hypothesizing about them in order to learn how to be better prepared for them is not paranoia, and very rational.
Number one rule is; do not get taken by surprise. Two is be ready.
If you live in a dwelling that is difficult, expensive or impractical to harden suffiently to preclude an undetected entry there are two options. Well, several, the best being geese imo. Dog(s) or an intrusion alarm.
You could rig up a variety of "mechanical" noisemakers intended to ensnare any unwanted intruders, but they would not be aesthetically pleasing. The simplist and cheapest powered way imo is an alarm in the form of motion and/or IR detectors in each room/passageway linked to a loud noisemaker near the bedroom(s) with an off/on switch. I say near because your guests may decide to charge straight for the "noise" intending to disable it, and run headlong into you in a matter of seconds. Not good.
This could be problematic and depends on the layout to your home - and if you have free running pets like cats and or dogs. You could keep passages to the bathroom etc "free" and make it a rule to stay away from the kitchen after lights out. Or disable it when going to the kitchen. Alarms require a level of operator discipline - including the rest of the family - and need to be working and on to be effective.
A dog or more is fine if they are not friendly to unintroduced strangers. Some dogs are better than others. They must be the kind that will go crazy or at least bark if any stranger enters the house unintroduced.
A handgun is essential. Better is several and a rifle or shotgun. I'll leave firearms at that since it is a topic subject in itself.
Apparently, as has been mentioned, the wife may have made an error in not taking better advantage of the trip to the bank. I would say that her "error" was rather an over estimation of the speed of police action.
Given the severe mental trauma, the stress level and fear for her daughters' safety, she can be easily excused. She probably thought the note would produce immediate action on the part of the bank staff (it didn't, there was some deliberation on their part first IIRC) and a rapid police response and intervention. Which also did not take place as and in such a way she perhaps thought it would.
If she had really kept her cool, and thought of it, she could have passed the note, and after making sure it had been read, feined a heart attack, seizure or a simple feint - fall to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and moan. This would have thrown her escorting badguy into a situation that demanded he either leave right away or "rob the bank". The suddeness of it though would probably caused him to panic and flee - imo. A quickly "recovered" wife could have then have given police a precise scenario and location, and possiblly enough time to intercept the "escort" badguy before he made it back to the house if he chose to go there.
If this were accomplished, when badguy number two at home realized his friend was overdue, he would be in a very tight spot. He would not know whether his "friend" had taken the money and run, made a serious blunder and "got caught", or something else had happened. Again, his likely first impulse would be to flee.
As one poster already stated referencing his own thoughts, mine are conjecture as well in this regard. My impression though is that this was a typical middle class family who were simply totally unprepared for what hit them.
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Je Suis Prest - I am ready
Number one rule is; do not get taken by surprise. Two is be ready.
If you live in a dwelling that is difficult, expensive or impractical to harden suffiently to preclude an undetected entry there are two options. Well, several, the best being geese imo. Dog(s) or an intrusion alarm.
You could rig up a variety of "mechanical" noisemakers intended to ensnare any unwanted intruders, but they would not be aesthetically pleasing. The simplist and cheapest powered way imo is an alarm in the form of motion and/or IR detectors in each room/passageway linked to a loud noisemaker near the bedroom(s) with an off/on switch. I say near because your guests may decide to charge straight for the "noise" intending to disable it, and run headlong into you in a matter of seconds. Not good.
This could be problematic and depends on the layout to your home - and if you have free running pets like cats and or dogs. You could keep passages to the bathroom etc "free" and make it a rule to stay away from the kitchen after lights out. Or disable it when going to the kitchen. Alarms require a level of operator discipline - including the rest of the family - and need to be working and on to be effective.
A dog or more is fine if they are not friendly to unintroduced strangers. Some dogs are better than others. They must be the kind that will go crazy or at least bark if any stranger enters the house unintroduced.
A handgun is essential. Better is several and a rifle or shotgun. I'll leave firearms at that since it is a topic subject in itself.
Apparently, as has been mentioned, the wife may have made an error in not taking better advantage of the trip to the bank. I would say that her "error" was rather an over estimation of the speed of police action.
Given the severe mental trauma, the stress level and fear for her daughters' safety, she can be easily excused. She probably thought the note would produce immediate action on the part of the bank staff (it didn't, there was some deliberation on their part first IIRC) and a rapid police response and intervention. Which also did not take place as and in such a way she perhaps thought it would.
If she had really kept her cool, and thought of it, she could have passed the note, and after making sure it had been read, feined a heart attack, seizure or a simple feint - fall to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and moan. This would have thrown her escorting badguy into a situation that demanded he either leave right away or "rob the bank". The suddeness of it though would probably caused him to panic and flee - imo. A quickly "recovered" wife could have then have given police a precise scenario and location, and possiblly enough time to intercept the "escort" badguy before he made it back to the house if he chose to go there.
If this were accomplished, when badguy number two at home realized his friend was overdue, he would be in a very tight spot. He would not know whether his "friend" had taken the money and run, made a serious blunder and "got caught", or something else had happened. Again, his likely first impulse would be to flee.
As one poster already stated referencing his own thoughts, mine are conjecture as well in this regard. My impression though is that this was a typical middle class family who were simply totally unprepared for what hit them.
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Je Suis Prest - I am ready
Deanimator
Member
Always assume that your assailants don't plan to leave witnesses and act appropriately. They CHOSE to put you in reasonable, immediate fear of life and limb. Let the consequences for that fall on THEIR heads, not YOURS.
The elderly leftist whom my old boss allows to use part of the office is wildly, irrationally anti-gun, and even anti-self-defense. I asked him what he'd do in a home invasion. He said he'd just give them what they wanted and he'd be ok. Wildly out of character for myself, I didn't ask him what he'd do if one of the things they wanted was his 30-something daughter with Down's Syndrome. He'd probably be tied up and couldn't even put his fingers in his ears.
You can put blinders on, but there are always a Kommisarjevsky and Hayes out there to knock them off of your head with a ballbat.
The elderly leftist whom my old boss allows to use part of the office is wildly, irrationally anti-gun, and even anti-self-defense. I asked him what he'd do in a home invasion. He said he'd just give them what they wanted and he'd be ok. Wildly out of character for myself, I didn't ask him what he'd do if one of the things they wanted was his 30-something daughter with Down's Syndrome. He'd probably be tied up and couldn't even put his fingers in his ears.
You can put blinders on, but there are always a Kommisarjevsky and Hayes out there to knock them off of your head with a ballbat.
benEzra
Moderator Emeritus
Here's another recent case of a criminal home invasion in the news; the family and a visiting friend were murdered, and the daughter abducted (later found alive, thank goodness).
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/lo...nox-county-missing-family-mourns.html?sid=102
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/lo...nox-county-missing-family-mourns.html?sid=102
Deanimator
Member
That's not all that far from where I am.
They haven't (to my knowledge) released any statements from the survivor, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if they thought that they'd be ok so long as they went along.
Home invasion is NOT a property crime. It's a crime against people, namely those in the occupied dwelling. In ANY such situation, assuming that cooperation = survival is betting one's life (and those of their family members) on the basic human decency of someone who thinks nothing of violently forcing their way into a home and putting innocent people, including children, in reasonable fear for their lives.
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