steve thank God everything turned out ok for your wife and the kids. trust me not killing the guy is the best for you. my mom was burgled and raped when when she was 76. the officers caught the guy and since i was a po at the time they called me. long story is this guy got 33 to 76 years. he was out in 11. best of luck for you and your family. jim
Here in Texas you can shoot a person for stealing your PROPERTY from your car in your driveway. Side note: This thread stayed civil for 100 posts. A new record for gun threads, I think.
:Smarty: Sorry Steve - seems we may have malappropriated your thread ? Here we go again - EVERYONE walking city streets in the USA (exept a few of us) is carrying heat. DATELINE Buffalo, NY: Monday Feb 1, 2010. Mario Ocasio, living within two blocks of City Hall and 3 blocks of Police HQ in Buffalo, NY, barricaded himself in his apartment after a domestic dispute with a girlfriend at her place. He stuck a shotgun out the second story window. I think he popped off a few buckshots into the air. Someone called Buffalo Police - 911. SWAT and negotiators arrive at the scene. First negotiator - Officer Garcia talks to Ocasio - Ocasio talks back for a few minutes. Shortly thereafter, Ocasio shoots Garcia in the face and retreats into the apartment. After a two hour standoff, Ocasio won't talk to his brother, Jason or others, including more police. At 4:00-ish, he sticks the shotgun out the window again and is obliterated by a handful of well-placed shots from the police snipers, as well as a few simultaneous flash-bang rounds. Suicide by cop. You don't shoot a cop in the face then play bad guy, not here, and not in most places. Can't wait for the District Attorney's interpretation ? Yesterday, Feb 5, 4 days later, Ocasio's funeral is in the AM. Shortly after the funeral; Jason Ocasio, younger brother of Mario, takes someone's 2010 auto, drives over by police HQ, aims the car at an occupied police cruiser, slams down the pedal and crashes into the driver's door. Officer all shook up, air bags worked - officer gets off an "officer down" call on the radio. Ocasio takes off in gray car, front all smashed up, proceeds to lead police on wild chase thru downtown Buffalo, onto NYS Thruway, back off, and back to the courtyard where his brother was obliterated. Stops the car as half a dozen police cruisers arrive. Ocasio gets out, grabs a "weapon" from his waist band and points it at police. If you were the local police, what would YOU do at this point ? Well, miraculously, someone in uniform calls out "don't shoot". Jason gets rushed. One officer recognized the PAINT BALL gun Jason Ocasio was waving around. Mentally, I might have just filled this Jason's gut with a half dozen rounds from my issued police department weapon. No, maybe all of the clip. He's charged with about a dozen traffic violations (stop signs, red lights, speeding et al) - and a "intentional run into a police cruiser" - is that a crime ? Also other "suspended license" charges. Sent to lockup in the County Medicaid Mental Lockup Facility for evaluation. Again, waiting for the D.A. to comment ? Someone on the P.D. deserves a "community medal" for hollering "don't shoot". Everyone's carrying heat these days. No more fisticuffs to speak of - just "off 'em". Should I get armed ? I have been a "no guns" guy ever since my brother died in Vietnam. that's been 33 years next month - life has changed. I need to feel safe walking downtown ? But I don't feel safe going to a Buffalo Sabres game - parking, then walking a block or two - to the game at the nice new HSBC arena. o No: Rip Rohring :Comp:
No, Rip, nobody has mis-directed the thread -- remarkably on topic with no personal attacks or anything over the line. And I truly appreciate your input and eveyone's input. (Though I'm certain plenty of the hard=core gun guys have muttered "typical soft-on crime Democrat" under their breath while reading this.p) We'll see about the counseling thing. I told the wife that if she gets less and less freaked out by the day she can probably do without it, but if the level of freak-out levels out without apporaching zero, it may be time to go, and if the level of freak-out ever rises, it's definitely time to go. (She kinda looked at me like i was nuts when, as an engineer, I suggested she draw up a graph -- what gives?) She just needs to be honest with herself and how she feels -- like some have said, not try to internalize it. If this changes her attitude towards personal security, that's okay -- that's different from being feaked out and paranoid. Only she can determine what is going on, and if she needs help doing it, I'll support her all the way. Then again, she's tough, too -- oughta see her on the sports field. I've been kind of afraid of her for years. Grace (6 years old) told my wife last night, "Mommy, a couple of times a day, like at school, I just hear you screaming.". That ain't right. Hoping that just fades away. Gotta talk with her and keep an eye on things. Maybe the dude got roughed up in jail and it wasn't me that messed him up. Then again, he was in in at 7:00 AM and out by 5:00 PM, so maybe it was me. I'll take credit for now. Still, wife is quite glad he got hurt and has changed my name in her cell phone to "The Crusher" :laugh: -- Steve
I agree. I feel the same way. --------- After reading the entire thread, I'd say you did what was right. Cannot say I would have done the same, but I wasn't in the same situation, so I really cannot say at all. Being that he has all of your information, knows where you live, etc.. What can you do to keep him away? A restraining order won't help. Also, you said the police got him with his "junk" hanging out. Are you going to push to have him convicted as a sex offender? There were kids home when he did this. I understand that you know his family, but what can be done to protect the next lady down the street, or the next teenage girl around the corner from this guy? They may not be so lucky to have someone there to protect them. And.. he has all of your info from the business. Who's to say that this is the first time he has done anything to any of the other customers? Maybe he just hasn't been caught until now, or maybe he's a peeping tom.
(Though I'm certain plenty of the hard=core gun guys have muttered "typical soft-on crime Democrat" under their breath while reading this.p) just because you've made "typical Democrat" statements in the past doesn't mean anybody wanted this to happen to you or your family.
Steve, I think you did a fantastic job and acting correctly. Like others have mentioned, guns are a lifestyle type thing. I carry a gun every day for work. I can go from pistol drawn to hands on fighting in no time at all. When at home and not in duty gear, thats not too easy. If I'm sleeping in a pair of shorts and run out, gun in hand, what do I do with the gun when the guy flees? Tackle him and hope I hold onto the pistol and the POS doesn't get it. You did right man. Remember one thing about that new updated alarm system. There will be a delay from the time the alarm trips to when cops are called and they arrive. Alarms can be fantastic, but don't let them give you a false sense of security. Good job, hope the family keeps improving. By the way, congrats on the new nick name, crusher:beers2:
I was just at a homeowners association meeting tonight and as our guest we had a Rankin Co. MS policeman speaking. In response to a question which I was surprised someone asked, he confirmed that we have the right to do whatever we feel necessary to protect ourselves in our homes. Hedging, he said something to the effect that I'm not going to say what that is. But the intent of the answer was clear. Toe in the door, lethal force is authorized. I would think especially in a situation like that. I hope she can still feel safe in your home sooner than later. My niece in law was robbed in her home last year while my nephew was at work. She still isn't comfortable there. New locks, etc. You lose a sense of comfort forever once it is violated. That's hard to get back but I really hope she will.
By no means was I implying that anyone of any political affiliation would want this to happen -- Good Lord no. Some wackos out there may think like that, but I don't suspect for a moment that anyone on this board does. I was commenting more on people's response to me not working him over or popping a cap in his carcass. As far as the security system delay factor -- yeah, 15 or 20 seconds befor they go off to allow you to punch in your code is standard. Wife got a taser gun donated to her by her Mom's hubby last night, so I'll have to check that thing out when I get home. -- Steve
Steve, the delay I was talking about was the time it takes the alarm company to call your house BEFORE they call the cops. There is also time it takes a dispatcher to take the call, enter it into the computer and dispatch cops to your house. Don't forget about the drive time for the cops to get to your house, they might be at Dunkin Donuts:grin: Figured I would throw the donut comment out there myself before somebody jumped at the chance.
The first cop to show up was your typical donut-eater, if you will. The second was a fine 5'-4" brunette with a nice smile and a shirt full of goodies under that bullet-proof vest. If she had been the first to arrive, I might have jumped up shouting "I'm the perp! I'm the perp!".:laugh: -- Steve
There was a break in with hostage and rape situation just a few streets from me. We did find out that the perps knew the college kids that were renting the house so it was not random. I had been thinking about an alarm system, and that pushed me to get ours monitored. I decided on Safetouch, and am very happy with them - $29 / month They have the 2-way communication system for free. (other companies charge for it) FL law states that because of the false alarms, the security company must try to make contact first. The fastest way is the 2 way communication box at the top of my stairs. When we are home, we usually have the alarm set in "Stay" mode. Basically, only the perimeter of the house is armed. the motion detectors inside are not. As soon as I open a door, the alarm will sound instantly. (the delay happens when the alarm is in "Away" mode to give you time to open the door and disarm the system) Safetouch guarantees a 45 second resonance time, but Ive timed them myself, and its usually more like 10-20 seconds. A voice will come over the 2-way and ask if everything is ok, you give them your name and password and that's it.. false alarm. If its not a false alarm, and you are under duress, just give them your name and any other word as your password, and they will act like it was correct, but send police anyway. Ive had many false alarms, the suggested testing the system as often as you want, its at lease once every couple of weeks that my 3 yr old will open a door when the system is armed. Safe touch also owns all their own communication centers, its not contracted out. They will warranty all your equipment too, Ive had repairs done to builder wiring for free. They gave me wireless key fobs for the car keys too which will arm and disarm the system. Upon request they even setup the siren to "chirp" outside when the house is armed and disarmed. :bla: My house chirps like my car :beer . They even added a contact on my garage door to keep the Buick and tools safe as the builders around here don't put motion or contacts in the garages.
Steve, my comments about the use of a gun in the situation have nothing to do with politics or being soft on crime. I truly believe that for the gun to be effective as a tool in these situations it needs to be a lifestyle thing. A person has to have used guns enough to be comfortable enough with them so that you don't even think about it, you just use it like any other tool. I reload and shoot all the time so that puts me and gun use in a different category than someone who buys one for protection and doesn't shoot it. I don't even think about the gun or how to operate it or the aim when I use it. In the hands of someone who isn't comfortable with a gun, it can be a liability when bad stuff is going down. I am glad that he ended up with a painful injury out of it though! You handled things your way, and your family ended up safe as well as the other members of your community. We have no more important duty than keeping our family safe. Job well done!
