I ran into a burglar in my home at 2am.
I woke up at 2am to the sound of my screen door slowly closing. I am not sure how I even heard it. I was on the second floor of my townhouse. The stairs led to my room and a guest room. The guest room was shut and locked. I was very quiet and walked towards my door and the stairway right outside my open door. As soon as I walked through my doorway and headed down the stairway I notice there was a guy dressed in all black creeping up the stairs only THREE feet away from me (I could have reached out and touched him). I yelped in shock....we both ran. I slammed my door shut and locked it (flimsy interior door lock). I am actually embarrassed to admit it but I called 911 from under my covers. I was so scared I almost couldn't even move, I almost felt paralyzed. I've never been so afraid in my life, it was the worst feeling ever. The police arrived in about 5 minutes, and that 5 minutes felt like an eternity. If the guy had wanted to do harm to me he would have had plenty of time. My advice is in addition to a security system get something that will actually protect you from an immediate physical threat, a security system is a must have because it gives you the vital heads up that something is wrong and scares many burglars off, but it is no substitute for having a gun and some training.
The worst part in my case is that if I hadn't woken up, this guy would have been standing above me while I slept, because my door was wide open. This is the part that still lingers with me, and now not only do I have to sleep with the door closed but it has to be locked....otherwise, no sleep for me.
This happened to me a few years back, but I still think about it every time I wake up in the middle of the night.
You probably won't be surprised that I ordered a panic button.
Justin
Sounds pretty intense! We
Sounds pretty intense! We here in Chgo recently got the ok to own handguns. Although they will probably TAX the heck out of us for wanting to own...not to mention the permits etc. I agree with you. We have the "right to bare arms". Use it!
I dread the possibility of
I dread the possibility of having to deal with a break-in/home invasion while at home.
I keep a Glock within arms reach in a biometric gun safe beside my bed.
Also, my lighting in my home is automated and I can press one button (on nightstand) to turn all interior and exterior lights on. If I hear something in my home at night, everything gets lit up. If someone were in my home, the shock of having all the lights on would cause them to reconsider staying. I wish the SimpliSafe system had Z-wave/Insteon compatibility or at least a contact closure output if an alarm were to trip. If this were available, I could integrate all lighting (interior & experior) to automatically come on in the even of an alarm.
Scott