Welcome to Aftermath, a portion of our First Line email newsletter where Attorney Anthony L. DeWitt walks you through a real-life self-defense incident and shares his key takeaways.
Mother Shoots Best
An Ohio mother of five faced a deadly threat from a former boyfriend, CT Post reported. The man was subject to an order of protection requiring him to leave the woman alone. It did not keep him from kicking in a window air conditioner and trying to enter into her house through a window at 4:30 a.m. However, a handgun and good marksmanship did prevent him from succeeding in that attempt. According to police, he had a “long and violent past.” He was transported to the hospital with injuries to his stomach that required surgical intervention. He will face charges once released.
Did the homeowner respond appropriately, or would you have done something different?
Yes she did respond properly. However, IMO, with wounds to the perps stomach, she should perhaps get in some more practice.
I realize this is a hard thing for most women to do, especially as they have mostly been raised to be nurturers. But the hard (angry mother bear) side of that nurturing needs in cases like these to be hardened and enhanced. Some knuckleheads like this ex have been known to occasionally have a friend with them. In these cases you can’t be wasting 5 shots on 1, a solid double-tap to center mass is the quickest stop and leaves a safety margin in the gun.
Yes, however, I would like to know what type of firearm (revolver or semi-auto) and caliber she was using. If it was a revolver she could out of ammo having spent 5 rounds in the same perp. That shouldn’t be necessary unless she was using a 22 cal. I hope she had at least a 10-round clip. Otherwise she could be in trouble if another perp showed up.
Yes, she responded correctly. More time at the range would benefit her. Point and shoot at the sternum area that contains bone structures would allow the bone(s) to fragment and hit a lung/heart area. The old saying of " 1 shot, 1 kill, 1 story" comes to mind.
She did absolutely the correct thing. Had she not, it could have been her and her children’s lives at stake. Bad people do not break into your house to help you clean and cook.
Hmmm - - I am surprised that the socialist state of CT (it has changed greatly since I was born there and open carried my dads cal .22 rifle to high school on the school bus for rifle team practice) didn’t decide 5 rounds was excessive force. For me, if the attack continues after 2 rounds, it’s time for the failure to stop drill.
Hint - - I no longer live in, nor would I tolerate, CT politics nor their politics.
I think she certainly acted appropriately. The only thing I might have done differently is shoot him 6 times…or maybe 7. But I also have more than one firearm readily available.
First off congratulations on defending her self. Remember the police are not everywhere all the time.Second it’s a shame that this scumbag will at some point be back on the street to do this again, to another innocent person.
Attorney DeWitt is clearly correct…HOWEVER…he states “…keep in mind that shot placement and being sure of a backstop are important considerations…”. The reality of the situation is certainly different. When faced with such a vicious attack, you can bet the lady wasn’t concerned about sight alignment, sight picture, breath control and shot placement. You can also bet she wasn’t the least concerned about “backstop”. She cranked off the rounds as fast and best she could to stop the threat. Now THAT’s real world!
Only thing she did wrong was by not making sure the guy was dead. Given his past and disregarding the restraining order against him more then likely he will do it again. Can’t do it again if he is dead. Anyone tries to harm my family, especially my kids, are dead. No questions asked.
Easier said than done. She wasn’t at the range with time to take a good sight picture and be concerned about breath control. She was in it for her life. She cranked 'em off until the threat was over. Fortunately, she managed to get 'em into her target.
I agree with you Shane23. She did what she had to do to protect her brood. The fact that she shot him in the gut instead of the head or heart doesn’t matter, she protected her kids. I would add that she should put in some range time and maybe look into a .45cal. or maybe a .44mag.
There was a clear and present threat to her and her children. Makes no difference if it was someone she knew or a stranger. Given his past, although that is irrelevant, the indisputable facts were that a home invasion was taking place and she neutralized the threat. From the description of the shots to the gut it was likely that after kicking the air conditioner out of the window he was going in one leg first to be followed with his other leg and upper body. The target she would have had, at that moment, was his midsection. My primary take-a-way from this story is that she needs a larger caliber weapon.
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When things like this happen, adrenaline is running high. Even police, who train, have missed their intended target, from close range. 5 shots to the perpetrator and they survived. Obviously, needs more time at the range.