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Weapon In Hand, Heart Pounding

Paul605

.410
...got off work saturday evening at 20:00...home and a quick sandwich and to bed...

...woke up at 02:00...to the sound of a child being beat in the backyard...horrid screaming...there is no alley between my back yard and the backyards opposite me...so my iniitial assesment was plausible...yep...kid was being beat...

...slipped on some jeans...and pulled a 1911 out of the holster...condition one verified...and sat on the edge of my bed for just a second or two to clear my head and listen...yep...same thoughts...the kid is in trouble...dial 911...explain quickly...tell them i am armed and headed to investigate...they say response will be < 7 minutes...i live in a very upscale neighborhood...and right next door to a police captain...

...out the door i go...around the garage...being careful to not get profiled...

...spot my police neighbor coming around the side of his house...he was profiled...lol...got his attention...and he directed me north...as he slipped south...then we both went west...about 100 feet apart...the screaming was horrendous...

...closer to the sound...but things don't seem right...can't see a damn thing out of the ordinary...can't see anybody...the screaming is close...should be able to see what is going on...can't catch a glimpse...

...tomcats...two damn tomcats...really?...tomcats...

...was a little sheepish when we greeted the responding calvary...i was sheepish...my neighbor was down right emberassed...lol...
 
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Regardless of the fact that it was a false alarm, you had the right mindset and follow through. You were being responsible and level headed. Had it been an emergency you very well may have saved a life that day.
...thanks for the praise...but it is really undeserved. in retrospect i can come up with several things i did very wrong...
 
One night my dogs are just going totally bazonkers at 2am. Got somebody cornered in the backyard?....because minutes earlier I was woke up by a police helicopter flying low over town.

I'm half asleep and I'm starting to think that there's a some kid caught in my backyard after he hopped the fence and realize he'd stepped into a trap.

I went for the 9mm, but my wife says no she said it's just a cat. To me it sounded like maybe a 12 year old. So instead I grabbed a big stick and went out to confront the possum who was driving my dogs crazy.

Rolling out of bed and getting ready to shoot something at 2am . . . it's not a business for Old Men
 
One night my dogs are just going totally bazonkers at 2am. Got somebody cornered in the backyard?....because minutes earlier I was woke up by a police helicopter flying low over town.

I'm half asleep and I'm starting to think that there's a some kid caught in my backyard after he hopped the fence and realize he'd stepped into a trap.

I went for the 9mm, but my wife says no she said it's just a cat. To me it sounded like maybe a 12 year old. So instead I grabbed a big stick and went out to confront the possum who was driving my dogs crazy.

Rolling out of bed and getting ready to shoot something at 2am . . . it's not a business for Old Men
...exactly right! this sounded so much like a human child, that i let it get me into more of a rush than i should have been in.
 
...i own a FLIR Scout-BTS thermal viewer...i failed to even think i might need it...i might have opted to not take it with me because of it's size and awkward handling...but the point is i never thought of it. i also had the ability to bathe the entire area in light...i did not consider it...being army "own the night" trained i did what came natural...the point is, i never even considered it. i could have grabbed a less lethal weapon in addition to the .45...i did not consider that the only force multiplier i had with me was very leathal...never even considered it.
 
...thanks for the praise...but it is really undeserved. in retrospect i can come up with several things i did very wrong...

I'm sure, but how many ppl can say they can perform at there best when coming out of a stooper from being asleep anyways. The fact that you even paused to make sure your head was on straight before acting speaks volumes to me because I know plenty of other guys that would have been all gung ho and done something really stupid or dangerous.
 
I remember the first time I heard a fox crying. I thought the same thing, that a kid was being beat to death. I was 19 and didn't own a firearm of any kind. I lived in the ghetto which was a weird place for a fox.
 
It will be nice to be out of town and into a very rural area next spring. My little town of 30,000 has become a crime riddled cesspool. I will miss the ability to be 5 minutes from work and groceries. That said I will be able to have a 2000 meter shooting lane from my back porch.
 
Thank-you. I appereciate your thought. It still made me conscious of things I could have done better. And, it does have some humor value. Glad it turned out to be innocent...lol.
The best thing out of this incident is that you had the opportunity for retrospect analysis. I have a few incidents in my life that I think about all the time because of "better" routes that were available to me.
If I were in your position, I would have a meeting or two with Captain Neighbor and go thru some after-action analysis. He might be looking for the same thing.
 
The best thing out of this incident is that you had the opportunity for retrospect analysis. I have a few incidents in my life that I think about all the time because of "better" routes that were available to me.
If I were in your position, I would have a meeting or two with Captain Neighbor and go thru some after-action analysis. He might be looking for the same thing.
We sat last night and had a beer. It was interesting to hear his thoughts. They were sorta on the same level as mine. He is on a constant state of alert because of the seemingly pervasive threats against LEO's. We agreed to a "plan" for each of us to involve the other if necessary and if the on duty officers were unavailable or going to be slow in response.

I do not envision a situation like we had...but it is very possible he could come under "attack" and need a second set of eyes and maybe a back-up.
 
We had a kid next door who would let out blood curdling screams about bedtime. We listened at the wall and listened some more, sure he was being beat or tortured. But we could hear no other sounds, no moving of furniture, nothing banging the walls, nobody screaming at him, etc..

We were concerned, but had no clear idea what was going on. It weighed upon us but was a mystery. By day the kid looked ok. We live in a rural area of Latin America, so calling the law is out. You mind your own business.

With time we found out that the kid was a big crybaby and his parents chose to ignore him completely, not a peep out of them.

Then one day our step son saw him outside and told him he was a big crybaby. The screaming stopped dead and never returned.
 
That has happened to me before when I was still a teen. I thought it was a young women. And I felt like a idiot. It was actually one of my own cats.
 
Being startled in the wee hours is something I think of often. I hope if the need arises I perform as necessary. This is something so many of us have no training for. I like to read others analysis and try to take useful information from it. Thanks for sharing.
 
Being startled in the wee hours is something I think of often.

I was having a beer outside the other night in the dark (power was out, ie: Matthew) and a tree frog jumped out of nowhere onto the hand holding the beer and caused me to jerk and exclaim "OH!" as I spilled the beer! :eek: Totally unexpected--I guess the frog was thirsty! :D Don't tell anyone about my panicing, OK? It will be our little secret... ;)
 
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