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People living at a home in Dunes City, Oregon, just south of Florence on the Oregon coast, have described being in fear for almost an hour and a half, while they waited for the Lane County Sheriff's Dept to respond to a home invasion last weekend. One family member shot the intruder in the leg, slightly wounding him, and everyone fled the home and went to the next door neighbor's house, where they barricaded themselves.

The intruder continue to yell and scream threats to the family, while they hid inside the neighbor's house. Finally, heavily armed Sheriff deputies did eventually arrive, and they arrested the man.

But the concern being expressed by people who went through the ordeal is this: It took almost 90 minutes for help to arrive, despite the existence of a police department in Florence, only a few miles away. However, this crime took place outside of their jurisdiction, and was thus not their responsibility.

What should people do, if a crazy person breaks into your home while you are present, and proceeds to terrorize you? Should people run and flee from their home, like this family did?


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In situations like these there may be more than one "right" or "correct" answer.
The "right" or "correct" answer being the solution that means that you and your family survive.
In this case the shooting of the home invader and the family hiding at the neighbor's house worked.

As to the question "What should people do...?"
You need to decide what you must do in that situation in order to live.
( Not what someone else says they would do or necessary what they say you should do )
It may the the same thing that the family did in the OP ... or not.
Also something to consider ... If this does happen to you and you survive , remember that if it happens again the same solution may not present itself or work.

At the end of the day you need to be the one in charge of you and your family's safety.
You must also come to terms with what you did.
If you and your family survived , then you made the "right" choice.
Andy
 
From Wikipedia:
The US Forest Service manages 48% of the lands within the county boundaries. The federal land, which can not be taxed, previously generated hundreds of millions of dollars in logging-derived support for government, but that support was sharply reduced when various environmental regulations curtailed logging by approximately 78%.[25] Although Congress subsequently passed a series of revenue replacing bills culminating in the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000, the federal subsidies have not been adequate to fully replace logging as a means of supporting basic government services.[26] Today, according to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission Report of 2009, Lane County crime rates are bad and continuing to worsen, but county law enforcement programs and services, from investigation to jail capacity, have been reduced to as little as 15% of state and national average capacity for a jurisdiction of similar size.[27]
***end citation***
Short changing essential public services means cops take forever to show up and your house will burn down before the first fire truck arrives but it's worth it, right? Personally, I'm up for paying taxes if I know it goes to giving Mr Policeman and Mr Fireman everything they need to do their jobs. In Lane County the revenue just isn't there. Living in Multnomah County we have plenty of tax base, but they have "other priorities" to squander it on so we have underpaid, underfunded, and unhappy cops: just who I want showing up at my door...eventually :rolleyes:
 
The delayed response time doesn't surprise me at all. In-laws lived in Florence and told us about the response times. There is even a state police barracks in Florence but because of the area they patrol, the response times can be long.
 
I have to agree with AndyinEverson on this one. There is no one size fits all in these situations. Unless one lives in a perpetual condition yellow mode every day in your own home and have the ability to provide 24/7 observation posts, it is possible to get caught "with your pants down" so to speak. Imagine yourself at home after a long day doing what you do to relax and someone kicks in your front door. What is your immediate line of defense? Where are the spouse and kids at that moment? Where's the dog? Where are your defensive "weapons"? Can you effectively deploy them in 10 seconds? Do you have the wherewithall to immediately defend effectively against the threat? What if you have had a couple of relaxing adult intoxicants? Will you be able to think straight and see what you need to see? Are you able to be effective in an immediate life or death situation? You can see where I am going with this. Everyone will have different scenarios to react against. What if you have not prepared for a "different" kind of home invasion? Say like the knocking on your door at a very unusual hour? FYI- already had that little scenario at my house twice last month. Don't know about you but these questions and others like them can keep me awake at night. I am not anywhere near being a home defense expert. The wife and I have have thought through a couple of most likely scenarios that "might" happen where we live. We have prepared for those based upon local PD response times. Our defense will be up to us for anywhere between 10-20 minutes. Will we escape unscathed? Maybe, maybe not. But we have decided there will be a fight! Old school says the best defense is always a good offense. We will do our best to be as offensive as heck while the PD is on the way. I hope everyone else will be too in their own home. Be safe out there.
 
I hate reading about things like this! I hate that our police force is under funded, I hate that good people have to run from there homes to protect themselves and I hate that the politicians don't do anything about it.

This is why I started carrying every day and why there are two pistols by my bed every night. We carry and train so that we may protect our loved ones and ourselves from people who wish to do us harm. @AndyinEverson is correct in saying that one thing may not work every time so stay frosty and watch your six.
 
Being rural in an underfunded county I can relate. Columbia county is going through the same thing due to lost timber tax revenue. Our sheriff sent out a letter a few years back letting us know we would be our own 1st line of defense while waiting the approximate 30 minutes for assistance to arrive. Most rural people understand that, we wouldn't even be able to bail to a neighbor in a timely manner. Just by our nature rural folks tend to be more independant, suspicious, clanish and prepared for 'things'. Signs like 'we don't call 911' or 'trespassers will be shot' aren't too uncommon. Stuff does happen, you can't be around all the time but I'm pretty sure a leg wound would be the least of someone's worries if they catch me at home with bad intentions. Getting to know the neighbors is always a good thing, mine would bring the shovel :)
 
Carry every single day, even at home, never know when the security of the domicile might be breeched... Took my wife a while to become accustomed to my carrying at home, but I've educated her as to what happens to those who are unprepared...

Sidearm is sufficient to begin the engagement, with more firepower quickly accessible...
 
What should people do, if a crazy person breaks into your home while you are present, and proceeds to terrorize you? Should people run and flee from their home, like this family did?

Kill him! Kill the hell out of him! If he's armed, doesn't surrender or flee? That's why I have Mr Beretta's finest by my chair. If he does surrender or flees he's safe from me. But, while he's advancing, one of us is dead. BTW, I'm old, I've served in the military, some random 25yr old punk howling at me isn't going to put me into shock.
Response time? Hell, I live in the middle of the largest population center in the state and I don't even consider response time.

We are all on our own!

Living rural, you need planning, early warning systems and firepower. Oh, and cookies and milk for when the LEO's arrive!
 
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Like most others write, glad that this worked out & will mimic that each and every scenario is it's own entity. Can't be replicated, as what we'd do may or may not be what someone else might do.

@Lance Jacobs , thanks for the reminder. And since you started the thread, what is it that you & yours would do?
 
Should people run and flee from their home, like this family did?
IF a person & family has the opportunity to SAFELY and EASILY flee I would say yes. I am no expert but I suspect if the 'invaders' encounter no resistance they might proceed to rifle through the contents of the house instead of pursuing and looking for the residents. Also there is the possibility of the resident(s) to gain a better position to observe, call for help and most importantly gain a better defensive position.
 
IF a person & family has the opportunity to SAFELY and EASILY flee I would say yes. I am no expert but I suspect if the 'invaders' encounter no resistance they might proceed to rifle through the contents of the house instead of pursuing and looking for the residents. Also there is the possibility of the resident(s) to gain a better position to observe, call for help and most importantly gain a better defensive position.

Obviously the case, however, the exits are both on the same side of my house. I would stand much too great a chance of running into an ambush that the attackers hadn't even planned! 'Twould suck indeed!
 
It sounds like they were out in the country, not near condensed housing. The correct answer would haven been to grab an ar10 and start blasting indiscrimanently through whichever wall/door the suspect was shouting from.
 
Whether you are in the country or not , shooting indiscriminately can lead to bad results... Not the least of which is not knowing for sure where your bullets are ending up.
It is not a course of action I would recommend.
Andy
The correct answer would haven been to grab an ar10 and start blasting indiscrimanently through whichever wall/door the suspect was shouting from.
 
and start blasting indiscrimanently through whichever wall/door the suspect was shouting from.
While shooting 'indiscriminately' is a BAD idea shooting THROUGH a wall/door violates the 4th Commandment of Gun Safety - be sure of your target and whats beyond it.
 
Ya know, coming from a position where a family member (close inlaw) was murdered (stabbed might i say) in her home, i carry EVERYWHERE. This dude wouldn't have made it very far in my house. I woulda killed him and not thought twice.....So would my wife......just sayn. I have absolutely ZERO empathy or remorse if i ever had to do it....
 
I woulda killed him and not thought twice.....So would my wife......just sayn. I have absolutely ZERO empathy or remorse if i ever had to do it....
I'll have to agree with BDAs position - I have ZERO REGARD for criminals, dope addicts etc or anyone who would bring about harm to a family such as a home invasion - which I consider to be one of the worst premeditated (or impulsive crime - I don't know which is the statistical reason) criminal acts of all. I really don't think I would suffer much remorse either if I had to kill someone in this circumstance - especially looking at the pics of those who who commit these crimes - some of them are downright scary looking and would be better off dead.
 

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