Defensive Carry banner

So my wife wakes up to find the front door open...

14K views 29 replies 27 participants last post by  Hot Wing 
#1 ·
This happened back on April 7 of this year (I remember the date because it was the same day my grandmother passed away - this becomes important later). Sorry it has taken me so long to post the story here. It is a long story, so stay with me.

We live in a two-story townhouse. It's not in a very nice area, but we don't fear for our safety. We know and like our neighbors.

Let me give you a little bit of background of how that morning started. I left for work at about 7:30 that morning, arriving at about 7:45. At about 8:00 AM, my dad called my cell to tell me that my grandmother had passed away that very morning (she had been ill for sometime). I work in a corporate environment, and I was starting to get a little choked up at the news, and not wanting to break down at my desk (hey, real men cry, right?), I decided to call my wife for some emotional support. She didn't answer, but when I left home she was still asleep, so I assumed her phone was on silent (it was). I went back to my desk and tried to pull myself together. I was really trying to focus on my work, but it was tough as I was very sad. At about 9:30 am, I felt my phone vibrate, and it was my wife calling. I had finally gained my composure at that point, so I decided I didn't want to answer her call becuase I knew I would become emotional as I explained about my grandmother. I decided to call her back on my lunch break at 11:00. That's when she told me about her morning.

She woke up at about 9:25 and went into the bathroom to get ready. We have two bedrooms upstairs with a bathroom in between. There is a 6'x6' landing at the top of the stairs serves as the common area between the two bedrooms and the bathroom. From the top of the stairs, you have a direct view of the front door down below. My wife was washing her face, and our dog Molly (dachsund-pitbull mix, but that's another story) was at the top of the stairs. Molly's hair began standing up and she started barking furiously down the stairs. My wife peeked around the corner at the top of the stairs and saw that the front door was halfway open.

What was my wife's first instinct? Duck into the bedroom, grab the Sig .40 from beside the bed, roll over and duck behind the bed, and cover the bedroom door with the Sig (you go girl). She also allowed our dog Molly to go downstairs and check things out. Her next instict was to call me. This would have been at about 9:30 when she called me, and it was the call I didn't answer because I assumed she was just returning my call about Grandmother. When I didn't answer, she called my best friend (who lives in Memphis - 5 hours away), but he didn't answer. She told me later that all she needed was someone to tell her what to do. She didn't know if she should call 911 or not, because she wasn't sure it was an emergency yet and didn't want to tie up the emergency line if it turned out to be nothing. And by this point, Molly was downstairs and was no longer barking, so my wife really didn't know what to think. Anway, my best friend didn't answer (he was working), so she called her boss at work. He basically told her to hang up and dial 911. She hung up with him but STILL wasn't sure she wanted to call 911.

She decided she wanted to check things out for herself, so she started walking down the stairs slowly with the Sig trained on the front door. This is the point that she realized she was wearing only her underwear and pointing a Sig down the stairs (this could be scary, funny, or sexy depending on the situation). Luckily there was some folded laundry on the steps waiting to be taken upstairs, so without lowering her weapon, she slips on shorts and a t-shirt while standing on the stairs. She made it to the bottom of the steps, closed the front door, and peered 180 degrees around the corner to the living room. From this perspective you can see the entire downstairs including the kitchen. There was no one in sight. However, the wall directly under the stairs (now on her left) literally has 5 doors on it, leading to a closet, a bathroom, the water heater, and the washer and dryer. All these doors were closed, and she was not about to clear each little room, so she finally decided to call 911.

As soon as the slew of police vehicles arrived (including a highway patrol motorcycle), she laid the Sig down in the middle of the floor. The very friendly police officers swept the whole place and found nothing. They complimented her on her actions (and her choice of weapon) and told her she could pick up her weapon and put it away. They told her "Good job," and never to be afraid to call them.

So once I finally did get on the phone with my wife and got the whole story, I was sure to praise her first on her actions. I didn't want to start criticizing any of the finer points, as I was overall pleased with how she handled it. In fact, she was already analyzing her actions and pointing out things that she wished she'd done differently. I was sure to tell her to never be afraid to call 911. The police officers would much rather respond to a false alarm quickly than respond to the real thing too late.

We never positively figured out how the door came open. I am religious about locking doors, but that morning I did have both hands full of things that I was taking to work, and I was running late. So it is possible that I didn't lock the door. However, our door does latch when you pull it closed, so it seems unlikely that the wind could have blown it open. Maybe someone decided to try turning a few door handles and see if they were unlocked, and maybe Molly's bark scared them off. Or maybe I really forgot to both lock the door and pull it closed, and the wind blew it open. We'll never know for sure.

My wife learned a lot, and I am proud of her. I am also proud of our boys in blue for their professionalism and quick response time (less than 3 minutes my wife said). I welcome comments, questions, advice, and criticisms.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
What don't kill us makes us stronger, your Mrs handled the situation far better than most would have. Now the two of you have a base experience on how to plan out handling the next situation that may occur.

A suggestion is to have a short emergency code you can text to each other rather than trying to call.
 
#3 ·
Interesting story. We've had several such incidents in our house too over the years. We've never called 911, though. In our case, it is usually hearing an unusual noise in the night. My wife is a heavy sleeper and a nuclear blast wouldn't wake her up. I am a light sleeper and the slightest unusual noise will wake me up. There have been several occasions over the years where I've heard a crashing sound, jumped out of bed, grabbed the Glock 19, chambered a round, and slowly cleared each room of the house. In some cases I never did figure out the noise. In other cases, one of our cats have knocked over lamps and other objects as they are playing at night. Also we have had people outside of our house once too. I saw their shadow as they walked past the window and heard them talking. By the time I got dressed and went outside with the gun, they were gone. Our yard isn't very big so it is hard to say exactly how close or far they were from the window. There is a slight chance they were walking legally down the street, and the moonlight was shining at just the right angle.

Sadly, in most cases my wife is still asleep after I'm done clearing the house. Even the sound of chambering the gun doesn't wake her up.

One thing is for sure, I would rather respond with preparedness to a false alarm than to ignore it and it possibly turn out to be a real situation.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like your wife did a good job OP. She'll probably call 911 sooner if something like this ever happens again.
 
#7 ·
SigHawk: I am not a dog expert, but in my many years of owning dogs, I don't think I have EVER had a dog that raised its hackles where there was not an actual threat--We have lots of folks on this forum who ARE experts in dog behavior, but I'd be inclined to assume that there was really and truly the start of a home invasion.........
 
#9 ·
Yup. The only false alarm my dog has ever given was when he seen his reflection in the glass of the gun cabinet. :rolleyes: He's not the brightest, but he's a good dog. Never fails to sniff out a coyote or other predator getting too close.

Good for her for not trying to clear the house. I'm sure she realizes she should've called 911 sooner, so there's no need to beat that one to death. Nice response time too, btw. I'd be lucky to get 3 hours out here. lol.
 
#11 ·
So, did she get dressed before the Police arrived ?? LOL
 
#14 ·
Well, that's her story, and she's sticking to it. :rofl:


The only criticism I have, you and your wife already addressed, so I'm just going to reiterate it.

Don't hesitate to call 911. When you've been asleep and the first thing you see is an open entry door, that is an emergency. No need to him-haw around about which number to call. DIAL 911 and let them handle it.

However, all the rest your wife did, was great. Before anything, she armed herself and waited in a protected area until she could do some additional assessment.

BTW... Good story and good read. Thanks for posting it. :hand10:
 
#13 ·
I would suggest that next time she secure the upstairs and call 911,We live in a one story home and to get to the back any BG's would have to come down the hall and meet my wifes 00 buck
 
#18 ·
Your wife did a good job. Like others mentioned, call 911 first. I always tell my wife, if the alarm goes off, leave the German Shepherd to do her business. Get the kids to the safe room. Arm yourself. Dial 911 if the alarm co hasn't called back yet and try not to shoot our dog if things go south.

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
 
#20 ·
Good story. Thanks for sharing.

Great idea on the text or code signal. Back in the days of beepers we would add a 911 to our number if that person was to call us immediately.

On the dog's hackles, sure a dog will raise its hackles if something is amiss. The dog looked downstairs and saw a door that was open that is typically closed. Some dogs pick up on much smaller things like that. It's up to you whether or not you want to encourage alerts for what could be a minor thing. Who knows, maybe somebody did open the door, heard the wife and saw the dog and decided to leave. Scary stuff.
 
#21 ·
Glad everything turned out OK. I'd like to see a picture of your dog I just can't picture that mix. One time I was taking care of the neighbors pets, looked over and saw the door open and I was sure I closed it. Decided to call the police and let them check thing out. Turned out I must not have gotten the door closed all ended well and the police got a little practice clearing a house.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Here's a picture of her lying on the couch with my father-in-law. You can see she has the length and stubby legs of a dachsund and the muscular frame of the red-nose pitt. And get this - the mama was the pittbull, so she must have had a very brave father who also had a stepstool.
 

Attachments

#24 ·
I am sorry for your loss & proud of your wife for doing the right thing. praying there is no next time, but just in case, I am sure she will do even better.
 
#25 ·
Take that lady out to dinner. She did a very good job of handling that situation. And then suggest to her that you both take some good training courses where you get to hone the skills she has demonstrated she already has. And get that awesome dog something special as well. She did her job quite well also!
 
#26 ·
My wife would have likely tossed a flash bang down the stairs, popped smoke, rolled in with the AR and flood the area with 7.62 NATO. But hey, that's MY wife......
 
#28 ·
I'm certain that you've already critiqued the entire scenario numerous times.

Glad that you had a great outcome and now (for sure) the Mrs. knows the feeling of having to react with a pint of powerful adrenaline kicking into the bloodstream. :yup:

That's a worthwhile lesson in and of itself.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top