Potential Break-In Thwarted? (State College)

[Bigrepp61]

i thought PA had no right to defend property statutes??? anywho with all the robberies and thefts and breakins at gunpoint recently i think you acted perfectly for what the situation gave you.... the guy knocked.... you asked who it was... no answer... logically in my mind i would think if he isnt answering then he is up to no good..... or he is deaf... i would have called the police anyway just to give the statement.... the more people know about this kinds stuff the less of a suprise a criminal will b e able to have on their prey.....

[TheF00L]

Post deleted by poster, as I am, doing to almost all my posts.

[markshere2]

Do you own a drill?
Installing a peephole is VERY simple.
And they cost almost nothing.

Keep the door closed and if the AH don't leave, call the law.
Keep the safety on until you hear the door being breached.

[ithinkimamedic]

Should have called 911. You live in either SCPD, FTPD or PTPD's jurisdictions, all of which take the whole prowler/potential home invasion call very seriously. Best thing you could have done would have be to get the best description you could have and relayed that to 911 as well as what was going on. There's a good chance they would have been able to at least stopped the person and figured out why they were bangin on your door at such an hour.

Our local 911 is very good a handling these calls, it happens multipule times a week and they relay everything they get as fast as they can to the responding officers.

As for dropping the mag and then recharging the gun and racking the slide. My personal feelings are this is unnecessary and can put you behind the eight ball. What happens when the mag fails to seat properlly or you end up with some other form of malf that is related to this act. You've got something heavy to throw at them now if they come through the door. While I understand the desire to provide a psychological deterrent, taking your primary weapon out of service to do this would have been a last resort to me. Food for thought in the future.

Having no idea where in town you live, I'll throw this out there. There is a STRONG possibility that this was an intoxicated student who thought that your front door was really either his house, a friends house, a girlfriends house or a past location he has lived. All of those are common reason we have heard as to why someone has ended up on a randoms person couch or pooping in their sink as 4 in the morning after breaking and entering into residence. This happens somewhere around once a month or so. We all (PD/EMS) feel it's a matter of time before one of these instances turns violent and someone ends up shot. In fact, just last year I believe on the 600blk of N Atherton an elderly man discharged his shotgun into the door frame of a glass door as he was screaming at a allegedly intoxicated student who was trying to enter his home. He did it to try to scare off the kid, the next shot was going through the glass door. SCPD was there with in a min or two of the call and able to defuse the situation but clearly it had potential.

So, could the situation been handled differently, sure. Did it work out to the positive, yes. Do I feel you've learned a lesson, defiantly! Let's learn from the situation and hope it never happens to you again.

oh and if being a transplant townie at age 23 makes you 46 in townie years how the hell old am I if I am just a plain old townie.... f

[Belasarius]

I would have felt fine with him out and me in and me armed. I think making loading/chambering type noises is a fine way to communicate with the stranger outside my door. It would be a disappointment not to be able to see the expression his face thought. That would be a guaranteed million hits on u-tube.

[Toorop]

Don't fret! I should have been more clear. It's just that I went to college here, took a job here after graduation, and I'm slowly starting to burn out. I'm 23, which makes me 46 in State College Townie years. Put me out to pasture.

I am 28 myself. I am a damned dinosaur on campus.

All in all though I plan to go to PSU for graduate school. I might have a few questions for you later if you don't mind.

[beerhunter]

I think you did a fine job just going off of your description of the incident. I would agree that a call to the po po and a description of the person that was trespassing and potentially considering a B&E would have been a good move.

[Xringshooter]

I am 28 myself. I am a damned dinosaur on campus.

All in all though I plan to go to PSU for graduate school. I might have a few questions for you later if you don't mind.

If you have any questions about the State College area just let us know. There are a few of us that have been around here a while. I was born and raised in this area and just took a 26 year hiatus to see the world with the USAF before moving back.

[fonz]

I am 28 myself. I am a damned dinosaur on campus.

All in all though I plan to go to PSU for graduate school. I might have a few questions for you later if you don't mind.

I am 27. I had to go to the HUB for a PSU employee ID yesterday. You want to talk about feeling old on campus. It was ridiculous.

[ithinkimamedic]

For those who don't live here or pay attention to the news it appears they may have apprehended the suspects from the rash of recent armed robberies. Not confirmed yet but sounds like it based on the radio traffic I was listening to last night.

http://www.centredaily.com/2010/03/0...onference.html