Home invasion- what would you do?

[Bullhead]

Just wondering what some of you think. Not sure of the laws on this one-
You confront an intruder in your house, you have a weapon- he starts to run out of your house- Do you shoot or let him go?

[Ed Wagner]

That is a NO SHOOT situation, years ago Ohio changed things so that LEOs could no longer shoot a fleeing felon( I am a former Deputy Sheriff). Castle Doctrine before legislature may or may not change this depending on final wording of the bill.

[bowhunter1023]

Can't shoot 'em in the back. I would have shot before he turned :mischeif:

[Bullhead]

That is why I stated that he was leaving the house- I think everybody would shoot if you confronted him and he was not leaving- just want to see how many would still blast if he was trying to get out

[jackalope]

DIRECT FROM THE LAW....

"In Ohio, there is no duty to retreat from one’s own home.
There is no duty to retreat if there is no manner by which you can
retreat safely. However, being in one’s own home is not a license
to use deadly force against an attacker. The person who is
attacked in his own home, without fault of his own, may stand his
ground and use deadly force only if he reasonably and honestly
believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent serious bodily
harm or death. If the person does not have this belief or he created
the confrontation, he cannot use deadly force and must leave the
situation, even if he is in his own home."


The key to this whole thing is....
"only if he reasonably and honestly believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent serious bodily harm or death.

In the chest or in the back you need only to prove you "honestly believed you were in serious threat of bodily harm or death" The Ohio Revised code doesn't define serious bodily harm. but does define what it is not.... Serious bodily harm does not include, bumps, bruises, scrapes, minor cuts or minor broken bones injuries consistent to a minor struggle"

your out in this situation is " a minor struggle with an intruder, that may gain access to your firearm must be avoided at all costs" this is to say that if a minor struggle is immanent and you are armed, the minor struggle is for your firearm, not to beat you up." placing your life in immediate danger....

generally shooting someone in the back is a no no.. in a court of law in Ohio with self defense. YOU ARE GUILTY UNTILL YOU PROVE YOURSELF INNOCENT. The prosecution or DA needs not prove his case against you. but you must prove your defense against the prosecution.... Luckily juries tend to side with the homeowner. but you will still be arrested and charged with a homicide.

I shall also leave you with this parting memento "Dead men can't hire lawyers or lie to a jury." if you shoot someone in your home shoot to kill, and succeed... do not shoot to wound. as criminals have won civil suits for cruel and unusual punishment for a maiming..

Hopefully Ohio will pass it's castle doctrine and limit these BS Civil lawsuits against people protecting themselves.

My belief is.. If someone is willing to break into my house... They already made a choice that they were willing to die in their endeavor... Every criminal before they break into a home knows there is the chance they could die... If they break in anyway.. They have accepted that risk, and are willing to die to take my things... If some is willing to die to take your things.. They are willing to kill for it also. Time and time again it has been proven that logical burglars will avoid and occupied home at all costs.. A person who knowingly breaks into an occupied home is going to kill or rape you.. If they are willing to accept that risk, I will oblige their willingness. because when secconds count the cops are only moment away.

The supreme court has held up time and time again that the police are not there to protect you. And they have no loyalty or constitutional duty to your safety. Police are the clean up crew, they exist to solve the crime and put the guy that killed you and raped your wife behind bars.

[Thisbucks4u]

DEFINE CONFRONT????

Do you mean yelling "hey, why is it that I happen to find you in my home, this is unpleasant for me and my family ?"

~OR~

Do you mean you had to shoot him twice, because the first confrontation didnt send him to his maker?

[uglykat26]

i have a two year old daughter in my home, if he makes it past my dog, he is getting shot, and if he makes it outside , he is getting shot and drug back in the house:whistle: :whistle: :whistle: but in all seriouseness i wouldnt have to drag him back inside my dog wouldnt let him out of the house kinda hard to run with a pissed off boxer attached to ya, my dog is the first line of defense if he makes it past the dog then he is fair game for mr smith and mr wesson in my eyes anyway

[Thisbucks4u]

Not that your boxer isnt up to snuff- But they one thing that amazes me is that discovery channel show "It takes a thief" is how uninterested dogs can be when people who arent familiar are in their home. Some of them are pretty funny to watch.

[TheCream]

Can't shoot 'em in the back. I would have shot before he turned :mischeif:

My thoughts exactly.

[roger23]

no body .....what intruder?????

[deerhunt45]

Just wondering what some of you think. Not sure of the laws on this one-
You confront an intruder in your house, you have a weapon- he starts to run out of your house- Do you shoot or let him go?

Interesting question and some different opinions as well. jackalope's post pretty well sums it up...regardless "the laws", it's serious business when you shoot and kill someone, and shooting someone in the back is not acceptable unless the intruder has done you or someone in your house bodily harm or is in the act of same. You better be able to prove it.

I think I might be tempted to whiz a round over their head, let them know I have something on the business end. Hopefully just cycling the action will get their attention for I certainly want them to pay for their crime. Home intrusion for any reason is a serious crime. But I have a hard time with thinking it warrants death or dismemberment. Every scenario is different I realize and I hope I am never faced with such a traumatic life altering one as this.

[uglykat26]

Not that your boxer isnt up to snuff- But they one thing that amazes me is that discovery channel show "It takes a thief" is how uninterested dogs can be when people who arent familiar are in their home. Some of them are pretty funny to watch.


i have watched it takes a theif and almost peed myself laughing from some of these WATCH DOGS , i have been training dogs since i was 9 years old back then it was for hunting i didnt start training dogs for defense until i got my first german rott when i was 16 , these watch dogs i see on it takes a thief are kittens compared to how i have my boxer trained you yell "Angriff " at my boxer and he is all bussiness, angriff means attack in german, not to change the subject or anything but some of these places that have watch dogs are a joke you throw them a bone and your theyre best friend which comes from training a dog with treats , you never wanna train a watch dog with treats always train them with vocal commands and never train a dog with english words always train them with german words for some wierd reason beyond my knowledge they respond better to the german language then they do english just had to throw that little bit of knowledge in

[OHBOW76]

I would have to say that I wouldn't shoot someone in the back fleeing from my house.

Other then that any intruder in my home is fair game.

[TheCream]

I would have to say that I wouldn't shoot someone in the back fleeing from my house.

Other then that any intruder in my home is fair game.

Then just shoot 'em in the leg so they can;t get away. ;) :D

[Jakeman27]

If i had gun in hand, Very Likely. But if no gun (or weapon) i would probably be under the bed.:gaga: LOL

[XX78]

Okay one route to my bedroom is thru the kitchen. What if said guy is heading toward my room and I confront him. Shortly after that he turns around and runs. He could be running to leave or running to get one of the knives in my butcher block. How could I know for sure?

[bakerboy]

Definitely running away, I follow him out and put a few rounds in the ground. The slightest hint of a threat, and I'm going to unload on him.
JB12B4CB6. I'll be judged by 12 before carried by 6.

[cjd3]

I would probably go w/ the warning shot if the bad guy was running out with his back to me and had nothing but the TV in his arms....HOWEVER if he were discovered deeper into the house and I hear my wife or daughter screaming...He's a dead man.

[jackalope]

Okay one route to my bedroom is thru the kitchen. What if said guy is heading toward my room and I confront him. Shortly after that he turns around and runs. He could be running to leave or running to get one of the knives in my butcher block. How could I know for sure?

If he grabs the knife smoke his ass.

Clearing your home.
Back to all cleared areas. keep you muzzle up... Keep good position on all entrances to the room your in... watch your corners.. Expose very little. Clear the next room 5 feet from the door, not from the threshold then move forward to the door and clear the left right corners. move through the room to the next entrance.. stay in a slight crouch.... Slow is Smooth, Smooth is fast.

And the one thing a homeowner should do is practice..... sometimes when the wife isn't home. practice clearing your home.... You have the home turf advantage here.. practice on it. .Do it during the day.. and do it in low light conditions.. No flashlights as a flashlight will give away your position. I have those little indeglow luminescent plug in night lights in every room in my house The ones that cost like 5 cents a year to run and don't have bulbs.. they look like a little greenish 2 inch screen. . It provides enough light to see into dark corners of rooms...

If you and your wife have cell phones, and no land line make sure you take a phone to your room every night.. I see too many people just leaving them in the living room, or in a bowl by the door, or charging on the counter..... Before you leave the room instruct your wife to call the police...

If you have the suspect alive at gunpoint inform the police that you are the home owner you are armed and what you are wearing.. when the police arrive you will be instructed... DO NOT place the weapon on the ground close to where the criminal is, or lay down within arms reach.

If heaven forbid you shoot someone...
1. Shoot straight and shoot to kill from the start....
2. If you hit him good but he's still kicking, you can fumble with the phone for a min before making the call. Things like clearing the intruder for more weapons. securing his hands... These things take time...... Even if he's dead instruct 911 to send an ambulance.. Don't say he's dead they'll figure that out... "Hello Please help me, I shot an intruder in my home, he's hurt real bad... Please Hurry...." Don't cal 911 with "I shot this ******* in my house right in the head" you will hear that recording again and it will either be against you, or for you... You make the decision.... Attempt first aid and CPR, even if he's dead. When the police arrive say nothing, Only the obvious... He broke in,,, I told him to stop,, he didn't.. I was in fear for my life... I think i might need a lawyer.... don't be cocky. you are still the victim, even though you won... The cops may act friendly, asking questions and being your friend.... They are fishing for anything to nail you on.... If you don't give the cops anything, they can't take the stand later as testimony of your verbal statements.... If all you say is the above, then that’s all they can say on the stand when the prosecution asks about your first words...

I hope to God none of you ever need this advice... But if you do, be logical.. don't incriminate yourself with statements. stay calm... Be the victim...

[jeffmo]

i pray that i NEVER have to make that decision.in todays world you just never know what the outcome would be if it ended up in court.
that being said though i will say that i keep one of my shotguns handy in my bedroom and it has 3 rounds of 00 buckshot in it.IF,and again i pray that it never happens,someone would break into my home,i don't care 1 bit if they're posing any threat to me directly,by the simple fact that they are in my home they are posing a threat to me and my family.i seriously doubt if they would care to discuss at that moment if they are there to simply steal,kill,or,both! in that situation,after making sure it was an intruder,they would get shot if they didn't run out of the house first(that would be fine by me!).
my older brother was a front line marine in the nam from '69 to '70 and i remember him telling me once how a winchester loaded with 00 buckshot didn't miss and could take out a bunch of gooks in a close firefight.in that situation i don't want to miss and i don't want them getting back up,that's why i use 00 buckshot instead of a handgun.
after that hell,i think the chips would simply have to fall where they may as far as the law is concerned but,i'd rather spend the rest of my life in prison because i shot an intruder in my home than i would live my life out knowing that i let someone hurt one of my family and i did nothing to stop it.
again, i pray that i'm never face with the situation.

[ap0317ah]

Both jackolope's posts are right on. If I was faced with a home intrusion and the intruder made for an exit dont shoot STAY in cover but dont lose eye contact until you believe the threat is passed the police would be on the way because my wife would have called them as a left the bedroom.
If you are faced situation where you have to shoot always shoot to kill a wounded intruder can still pose a threat. I had a guy tell me once that he always aims for a knee cap or shoulder this is a really bad idea because the intruder will probably shoot back if he is capable to do so.
audio is very important mostly to make sure it is not you wife, child, or welcomed guest.
Just because you got your CCL doesnt mean your ready to defend your home practice clearing rooms, practice with your firearm, tell your wife and childern what to do. Pay the money and go to a defence school.
I hope noboby has to deal with a home intrusion.
Tom