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.
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.