2:30AM Christmas Eve Alarm Activation

[Diddle]

Mods, this probably belongs elsewhere but not exactally sure where.

After having to have our nearly 19 year old feline family member put to sleep Thursday my wife and I were not in the mood to do or say much and after some mumbling we decided to go out to eat.

For what ever reason I decided to switch from my LCP or 637 to my SW9VE. I check the gun over, made sure the mag was full and was ready to go. Since I was not carrying the 637, the wife decided she would carry it.

When returned home, I placed the SW9VE on the night stand as usual, and the wife, rather than handing the 637 back to me, she layed it on her nightstand.

Four hours and thirty minutes later I hear a BEEP BEEP BEEP from the alarm keypad which means a door or widow has been opened.
Quietly, I tell my wife someone is in the house, stay here. I grabed the SW9VE and flashlight and quietly moved through the house. Since the house sits on a hillside 5 windows are high enough that entry would be dificult so I know I have 6 windows and 3 doors to clear.
Moving from the bedroom, I can see five windows and the rear entry door. Everything is clear here.

I see the outdoor cat sitting on the dining room window ledge. He is easly scared so that told me the front door and windows are probably clear.

Two other options, laundry room window or entry door to the garage. Both are in the same room. I now see the entry door to the garage is ajar. I remember I forgot and left the garage door opener in the truck outside. So, I hit the garage lights and aim to the only point in the garage where someone could hide.

Nothing! It appears that when we came in, we failed to fully close and lock the garage entry door and the wind was blowing enough to create enough pressure to push the door open slightly.

When I announced CLEAR and returned to the bedroom the the wife was secure and ready to fire if necessary.

Now a few lessons were learned here.
1) Keep a gun on both sides of the bed
2) Make sure ALL doors are closed and locked
3) Never leave a garage door opener in a vehicle out doors.
4) Leaving interior lighting on is well worth the cost of enegry
5) Know your surroundings & possibilities well in advance.
6) If you have an alarm system, use it!
7) Use the ready/not ready light on the key pad as an indicator to internal movement.
8) Watch where you leave a gun. I forgot and left my LCP on my desk in the laundry room next to my laptop! How convenient... for the BG.
9) If your vehicle has a remote panic button on the keyring, keep it close at hand. If you need a destraction, this could buy you a few seconds.
10) Have some sort of game plan of who does what and when.

Respectfully,

Craig

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jumper2501]

I'm glad all worked out, and it's great that you're using the experience as an instructional tool. Thanks for posting for all of us to benefit. Complacency is the enemy.

[jahwarrior72]

Now a few lessons were learned here.
1) Keep a gun on both sides of the bed
2) Make sure ALL doors are closed and locked
3) Never leave a garage door opener in a vehicle out doors.
4) Leaving interior lighting on is well worth the cost of enegry
5) Know your surroundings & possibilities well in advance.
6) If you have an alarm system, use it!
7) Use the ready/not ready light on the key pad as an indicator to internal movement.
8) Watch where you leave a gun. I forgot and left my LCP on my desk in the laundry room next to my laptop! How convenient... for the BG.
9) If your vehicle has a remote panic button on the keyring, keep it close at hand. If you need a destraction, this could buy you a few seconds.
10) Have some sort of game plan of who does what and when.

Respectfully,

Craig

excellent things to point out, and think on.

and, i'm sorry about your cat. 19 years is a long time to be part of a family. a few years ago, i lost my dog of 15 years, a pit bull, and it's only within the last 6 months that i was able to adopt another dog. you have my sincerest condolences.

[nutz4utwo]

My condolences over your kitty.

[kybandit]

so sorry to hear about your kitty-kat.

[TX-JB]

Glad things turned out okay. Sorry to hear about your cat... Losing a pet is really difficult...

[Thumper]

Good reminders Craig, thanks!

I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend.

[logan]

Sorry about the cat! Lived a long life though.

Thanks for sharing the story, lots of good pointers there.

Happy holidays!

[torontogunguy]

excellent things to point out, and think on.

and, i'm sorry about your cat. 19 years is a long time to be part of a family. a few years ago, i lost my dog of 15 years, a pit bull, and it's only within the last 6 months that i was able to adopt another dog. you have my sincerest condolences.

Condolences. Time to go out and get a dog. Big or small but trained to bark only when someone is at the window or at the door, like ours is. He is a maltese-poodle cross and guards his pack well. Barked the other night at 3 a.m. and I quickly got out 'protection', pushed the alarm panic button and dialled 911 while looking out the front bedroom window at two thugs with pry bars and guns trying to pry open our front door(s). The police arrived and took them down at gunpoint, waiting a discrete amount of time before knocking at the door. That's twice we have had attempted burglaries/invasions. Our first line of defense has always been a dog, followed closely by a ULC monitored alarm system, followed closely by business tools. We were shaken but comfortable in the knowledge that these two would have left feet first had they made entry. The crazy thing is that with the siren going, the police coming down the street with lights on, the dog barking and all of the lights automatically turned on downstairs (not upstairs), they continued about their business - probably higher than kites because guess what? The doors are half glass. Go figure. We keep the business tools closer at hand these days although up here there is a fine grey line of what is legal in terms of storage. Since I sleep on my side I can sleep with the magazine of .45's in my pocket. Or for that matter, in the drawer, while the business tools are in a Gunvault that takes about 1.5 seconds to open. Have been thinking about suggesting to them that they install an output to set off the panic button on an alarm system when the Gunvault is opened in the dark. Our dog, as small as he is, earned his keep that night and has been eating a bit of steak every time we BBQ.

Guys, be safe. You have to use your noggin' when it comes to self defence and you have got to hit the range regularly. That pie plate looks smaller as I get older... and when high on drugs there's no guarantee that once inside with the adrenaline pumping that you are going to be able to stop your assailants - even with the .45 Gold Dot +P's that we use.

I do know one thing for sure though. The three tiered approach to protecting our home will always be the case. I cannot imagine having woken up to two armed thugs standing in the bedroom doorway. You have to agree that it is a scarey thought. And in my humble opinion, the best lethal force encounter that you meet up with is the one that you can avoid for a little kibble every day.

[JimmyC4]

Glad it was a false alarm.

Sorry about losing your kitty...we have two and love them dearly, so can imagine the grief.

Remember, there a lot of wonderful cats needing a good home and loving family...

[gottabkiddin]

False alarms are great for a true sense of reaction time and steps and procedures of what to do in the event someone does actually gain entry. I have a similar alarm system and have done pretty much the same thing before. Feeling the adrenalin rush through the system when the chime goes off and you know it shouldn't, will get your attention for sure.

I like having our media room on the second floor so I can have the time to gather my wits when/if I hear the chime go off when it shouldn't.

+1 on the pets, my cat is the same way. He'll run and hide if anyone new comes over and wont come out until it's clear. My dog will bark at anything out of the ordinary and has alerted me on several occasions to someone coming to the door before they even ring the doorbell.

GBK

[PileDriver73]

Awesome rundown! I typically forgot about having the door opener in my truck. We have a keypad now, but there were many nights an opener was in my unlocked truck.

I feel your pain on the kittie. Me and my fiance had to put down our 19 year old yesterday. You have my condolences. Waking up this morning and not having her following me around... basically sucks.

[TedBeau]

Barked the other night at 3 a.m. and I quickly got out 'protection', pushed the alarm panic button and dialled 911 while looking out the front bedroom window at two thugs with pry bars and guns trying to pry open our front door(s). The police arrived and took them down at gunpoint, waiting a discrete amount of time before knocking at the door. That's twice we have had attempted burglaries/invasions. Our first line of defense has always been a dog, followed closely by a ULC monitored alarm system, followed closely by business tools. We were shaken but comfortable in the knowledge that these two would have left feet first had they made entry. The crazy thing is that with the siren going, the police coming down the street with lights on, the dog barking and all of the lights automatically turned on downstairs (not upstairs), they continued about their business - probably higher than kites because guess what? The doors are half glass. Go figure.

"Well I don't care who you are, thats downright right SCARY"

It's probably a good thing the police arrived before the idiots thought to break the glass to gain entry. I'm sure you would have been ready to defend yourself, but this way saves you the price of the glass, a clean up bill and a lot of lost time and cost in legal fees defending your actions.

[rolyat63]

Condolences. Time to go out and get a dog. Big or small but trained to bark only when someone is at the window or at the door, like ours is. He is a maltese-poodle cross and guards his pack well. Barked the other night at 3 a.m. and I quickly got out 'protection', pushed the alarm panic button and dialled 911 while looking out the front bedroom window at two thugs with pry bars and guns trying to pry open our front door(s). The police arrived and took them down at gunpoint, waiting a discrete amount of time before knocking at the door. That's twice we have had attempted burglaries/invasions. Our first line of defense has always been a dog, followed closely by a ULC monitored alarm system, followed closely by business tools. We were shaken but comfortable in the knowledge that these two would have left feet first had they made entry. The crazy thing is that with the siren going, the police coming down the street with lights on, the dog barking and all of the lights automatically turned on downstairs (not upstairs), they continued about their business - probably higher than kites because guess what? The doors are half glass. Go figure. We keep the business tools closer at hand these days although up here there is a fine grey line of what is legal in terms of storage. Since I sleep on my side I can sleep with the magazine of .45's in my pocket. Or for that matter, in the drawer, while the business tools are in a Gunvault that takes about 1.5 seconds to open. Have been thinking about suggesting to them that they install an output to set off the panic button on an alarm system when the Gunvault is opened in the dark. Our dog, as small as he is, earned his keep that night and has been eating a bit of steak every time we BBQ.

Guys, be safe. You have to use your noggin' when it comes to self defence and you have got to hit the range regularly. That pie plate looks smaller as I get older... and when high on drugs there's no guarantee that once inside with the adrenaline pumping that you are going to be able to stop your assailants - even with the .45 Gold Dot +P's that we use.

I do know one thing for sure though. The three tiered approach to protecting our home will always be the case. I cannot imagine having woken up to two armed thugs standing in the bedroom doorway. You have to agree that it is a scarey thought. And in my humble opinion, the best lethal force encounter that you meet up with is the one that you can avoid for a little kibble every day.

Sounds like these BGs incorrectly relied on one of the reasons we carry: When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away...most times.

[dralarms]

Seems like it's going around. My wife and I had settled in a couple of week ago and long about 12:30am came this horendious crash. I grabbed my protection (after grabbing her to stop her from"checking it out") and proceeded to inch into the main living area, all clear so I proceed to check out the kitchen (5 windows all ground level at the rear of the house and dark).

What I found was my new washer (the front load type) had vibrated enough to shatter a glass in the kithcne cabinet, the only problem was it was a "stand" for about a dozen other glass and ceramic items. needless to say we had a mess of glass to clean up and after it was all over with I reitterated that she is not to go "check things out" unless I'm not there (never happen) and not to go unarmed.

But as far as reaction time, I switched my alarm to a cell backup and forgot to turn off the "alarm on phone line option" so it would just beep the keypad if the cell unit went down. well somewhere around 3am one morning the cell unit takes a powder, sirens blaring I jump up grab my 45 LDA and make a line to the keypad (that way I can see where the sob came in) only to find out it's the "phoneline supervision" took nearly 30 min to calm down enough to go back to sleep. Now that day she was right behind me.