Twelve-year-old Bryan Co. girl shoots home intruder

Good for this girl!

Like another poster said, girls down here in the south don't play around. Most have been taught how to fire a gun and are prepared to use it if needed. Here in Oklahoma, our school children get a full week off at Thanksgiving because most are out hunting to stock up on meat for the winter. As soon as they are big enough to hold up a rifle, they are learning how to shoot and hunt.

I think a 12 year old is plenty old enough to stay home by themselves. The girl knew to call her mother immediately when some stranger knocked on the door. She knew how to handle the situation, and she knew how to protect herself. She did exactly what she should have done. If she was my child, I would be very proud of her.

~OkieDokie

reply to post by cavtrooper7

'....and survivors of the week's combat training will be introduced to the wonderful world of Canine dietary supplements and how much one man can serve the purpose.



Any scum who would enter a Residence, especially.....has already made the decision to injure or kill. None of them are going in without even having THOUGHT about finding a housewife or even a lone man in the house by surprise. Criminals are stupid for high level thinking, in my experience. They lack absolutely nothing for cunning and the endless capacity to inflict more harm on victims who get in their way, IMO.

So, hey,..the dogs need love too, right?

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by usmc0311

 

Well, I don't know about hero, and she could have shot her own mother through the closed door since she didn't identify her target, so not exactly the gun safety I would hope for out of a 12 year old, but I'm still happy she is OK, and happy the intruder was arrested. That must have been quite a shock to think the house was empty and then catch a bullet through a door!! Maybe he'll have a change of career plan if he ever gets out of jail, LOL!

You clearly failed to read the article or watch the video in the article.

The man knocked on the door and she looked to see who it was and did not recognize him. She also called her mom first to ask what to do. It was her mother who told her to get the gun and go hide in the closet.

So no, she would not have shot her mom through the door, and yes she did identify her target as a stranger who was outside her home and made his way inside her home. She fired the weapon when he came into the room where she was hiding and turned the doorknob to the closet she was hiding in.

This is a perfect example of why Americans have guns. Self protection.

Save the nonsense about calling Police... she was on the phone with 911 when she fired the shot. Fact is, Police can not always be there to protect you and this case highlights this point perfectly. Had there been no firearm in this home, this story we would be discussing would probably be about a dead or missing 12 year old girl who god only knows what could have or would have been done to her.

In New York City it takes Police and estimated 8.4 minutes to respond to a 911 call. When you have an intruder in your home- that is 8 minutes too long... and response times are actually longer now than they were in 2007 when it took Police 7.1 minutes to respond.
source

In a city like Atlanta which ranked #2 in 2011 for violent crimes it takes Police on average 11 minutes to respond and in 2010 Atlanta's violent crime rate was higher than the national average by 165.49%. If you are home alone and a criminal breaks into your home, that is 11 minutes too long to wait.

People have every right to defend themselves from criminals, especially in their own home. Why do Americans want guns? Why do we need guns? Well, read this story and now you know why.

Originally posted by darkhorserider

But, it could have been the refrigerator repair man that her Mom forgot was coming over, or the landlord that thought the house was empty, or even a police officer serving a warrant at the wrong address. It could have been an adult cousin playing a prank on her. .

I know what you mean. Hey. Lets take "could have been" game a bit further. It could have been an alien come to give us the secrets of the universe. Dammit. Now I guess we will never know.


Or hey. It could have been the great pumpkin Charlie Brown. Now what ever will we do this Halloween?

Ooh. Ooh. It could have been amnedinajad that her mom forgot she invited over for dinner! That girl really is a hero!

Or perhaps it could have been Ed McMahon with her publishers clearinghouse sweepstakes check.

Point is, " coulda been" game is friggin stupid. It could have been anybody. But it wasn't. Good for her.

reply to post by darkhorserider

But, it could have been the refrigerator repair man that her Mom forgot was coming over,

Do refrigerator repair men usually kick the back door in if nobody is home? Is that normal in America?

if it was the girls mother or the police they would have been calling out her name so she knew it was the intruder at her door

I'm surprised they didn't charge the parents for not having the guns locked up with trigger locks...

Would have been awesome if this were in one of those States where guns are required to be unloaded and behind lock and key, you know for the safety of our children and all...

I am all for this...all of our home defense weapons stationed around the house are loaded and easily accessible. We have several revolvers from .38 to .44 magnum in various places along with several shotguns at key choke points.

My daughter (15 now) has known how to shoot all the guns in the house since she was about 8. She's got her pink 410 - "Flo" behind her bedroom door loaded with 5 Winchester PDX1 Defender's in there. She also has the Kel-tech .22 magnum with a 30 round magazine as back up. Her instructions if she is here alone and someone tries to get in is to 1 dial 911 - then stay at the top of the stairs and cover the "kill zone" at the turn in the stairs with "Flo" - if the person isn't me or your mom as soon as you see them come up the stairs start shooting - shoot all 5 rounds don't stop till it's empty. Don’t go check them out leave them there to bleed out regardless of what they say. Response time out here is about 30-45 minutes on average for an emergency call. Only one Deputy is on duty for the whole county at a given time.

As for all the stupid “what if” commentary here - no one comes out the house uninvited to repair things, I certainly wouldn't schedule repairs when only my kid is home. Those kinds of arguments are silly. If someone is in your house unscheduled, unannounced and busts in they are a threat - period. We always announce ourselves when we enter the house anyway. With “I’m home” or “hey where are you guys”.

Bottom line is where I live if someone is in your home or even in the act of breaking into your home you can blow them away with impunity. They don't have to have a weapon, or threaten you or any of that other nonsense. It is assumed that once they have entered unlawfully that they are up to no good. One of the reasons I chose to live here.

reply to post by usmc0311


Yes, I heard about this story this morning and at the time, all I could think of to say was " Good for her!". It's bound to be a scary thing for anyone, let alone a little girl, to have some one breaking into your house.... And she handled it perfectly.

I am proud of this kid for how she handled it. She is safe now.

I agree that this is a good reason why the right to bear arms is so important.

this is a great story, now put a baby brother or sister infront of that door, it ended up well in the end, but really, if your going to have a gun in the house, the kids should be at least taught to stand ground or face a closed door not just shoot through one, what if the guy left and the mother opened the door ect ect, or worse a cop and bam shes off to jail lol.

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by usmc0311

 

Well, I don't know about hero, and she could have shot her own mother through the closed door since she didn't identify her target, so not exactly the gun safety I would hope for out of a 12 year old, but I'm still happy she is OK, and happy the intruder was arrested. That must have been quite a shock to think the house was empty and then catch a bullet through a door!! Maybe he'll have a change of career plan if he ever gets out of jail, LOL!

Originally posted by isyeye
Stories like this is why you don't allow a twelve year old girl be alone at home while the parent is at work.

edit on 19-10-2012 by isyeye because: (no reason given)

Stories like this are why YOU DON"T BREAK AND ENTER SOMEONE ELSE' S HOUSE.

Sorry, one liner but it needed to be said.

In calif they would have arrested the mom for not having a trigger lock on the gun or storing it in a gun safe so that her 12 year old could not use it.

at 10 i had my own rifle and knew how to use it and shot in a NRA program every weekend.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by isyeye

I must ask, what age is appropriate to leave a child home alone? Does it depend on the demographics of the neighborhood in which the child lives, demographic of the school they departed after a day of 'education', social status of the family?

I would like to believe that any individual (of any age) be able to defend/protect themselves from harm, kidnapping, etc.

My children were taught a secret pass-phrase that would be known only to those who where authorized to pick them up from daycare and school. This pass-phrase applied to police, family members, or anyone other than us (the parents). They were also taught (and practiced) various kidnapping drills revolving around screaming "not my mommy, not my daddy" while making it as hard a possible for them to be moved.

I support a appropriately trained child properly protecting themselves and others using a weapon.

reply to post by usmc0311

this is why a 12yr old should never be left home alone never mind in the knowledge that ther is is a firearm there let alone how to use it.2nd ammendment you are having a laugh.glad the young girl is safe.but this justifies your 2nd ammendment?

Since this guy showed up right after the girl got home, I'll wager he was watching. He came to the front door first just to see if an adult was home.

If he passed up the electronics in the living room and headed straight for the bedroom closet. I'd say the only valuables he was after was the girl.

He was wounded in the shoulder, he's in custody and more importantly LE has his prints/DNA on record.

She may have unwittingly saved the life of another child by getting this parasite incarcerated. He's in the sights of LE now and I'm sure they suspect he was after more than money/valuables. Good for her. I babysat for all the neighborhood kids when I was 12 and I'm not 100.

for every case like this there are many more cases where a gun kept at home is used against the owner, or someone the owner knows.

sleep better tonight, but tomorrow some 12 year old is going to blow his brains out with a gun kept in the house

I support the 2nd ammendment, I support our right to own guns, but since this was posted only to show that on rare occasions a gun in the house saves someone from an intruder, the reality is guns kept in the house normally result in tragedy and misery

so If you feel the need to keep a gun in the house, lock up the ammo, have a gun safe and or a trigger lock

that depressed 12 year old knows where it is and how to use it

Originally posted by bthek13b
reply to post by usmc0311

 

this is why a 12yr old should never be left home alone never mind in the knowledge that there is a firearm there let alone how to use it.2nd ammendment you are having a laugh.glad the young girl is safe.but this justifies your 2nd ammendment?

12 years old is more than old enough to me home alone - when I was 12 I was babysitting other kids...making their diner, changing diaper and putting them to bed. All for 10 bucks a night out.

I stayed by myself, got myself up for school, made my own breakfast, came home alone after school and in many instances cooked diner before my Mom came home from her second job. This started at the age of 8. It’s not about an arbitrary one size fits all age thing, which is why the government need not be involved in such decisions.

It is the parent’s decision to choose when the child is mature enough and self sufficient enough to stay at home.

Just like it is my decision to decide to teach my child proper gun safety and use and make them available to her as a form of protection rather than the government taking that option away from me and requiring I lock them up.

A gun in the house unloaded with a trigger lock might as well be a candlestick, pipe wrench or butcher knife...it's just about as useful if not less. Unless Colonel Mustard or Professor Plum are home they are not going to be of much use...
..
Every child is different. Every family situation is different. Are there irresponsible parents out there who have poor judgment - sure, but I think the government mandating some silly law with a mandatory jail sentence for those who don't lock away their guns is silly. If they think that punishment is worse than the life sentence of guilt the parent will feel if their kid kills himself or a friend with an unsecured firearm they are crazy
.