By James England (via concealednation.org)
A Macon, Georgia homeowner awoke at 4:30 a.m. to find an intruder in his home. Coming out of a deep sleep, the homeowner quickly grabbed for his GLOCK 22 and gave pursuit. Both the intruder and homeowner were alarmed to run into each other, but the homeowner was dead set on not becoming a victim.
“When you wake from a dead sleep like that it takes you a minute to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “When I leave my room, I’m not sure if my brother’s there and he’s hurt or shot or gone. … So I’m hollering for my brother as I’m running through the house.”
According to the news article, the man had a few “choice words” about what he would do if he caught up to the intruder. The gist: “Hope I don’t catch up to you.”
The intruder rushed out the front door. That’s where the homeowner discovered that the invader had managed to steal a few of his guns before he woke up.
“As I was coming out of my house and he ran around to the front of my house, I heard my gun that he stole go off. … I don’t know if he was shooting back at me or what,” the homeowner said. “He ran off through the night toward the Flash Foods.”
As it turns out, the intruder ended up ditching the guns in a bush and left $800 obtained in his burglary on the front lawn. A wise decision.
Police showed up and found no one hurt. The one realization the homeowner had made was that the thief must have observed his pattern-of-life movements prior to the home invasion.
“Whoever it was obviously knew my routine. They waited till my brother left before they came in the house, assuming it was me leaving,” he said. “I’d have shot him, there’s no doubt. If I’d have been coherent enough when he came in my bedroom, they’d be doing an identification instead of an investigation.”
Needless to say, it’s probably a good thing the thief ditched the goods and prioritized getting the heck out of dodge. Unfortunately, the thief wasn’t caught and police are still looking for clues. One thing is for certain: that thief knows there’s a homeowner that gets as angry as a bear if he’s woken up.
There’s a lesson in this. Some thieves randomly pick a house and take their chances. Those with any experience in the field will try to stake out a home to figure out when they’re going to make their move. Maintaining operational security and prepare accordingly (keeping a GLOCK by your bed) isn’t a bad way to go.