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I hope this is the right section to add this... Last night I got home late from work... About 12:30Am this morning actually. I was pretty tired since I had been up since 6:00 AM the day prior, And knowing I have to be up at 6:00 am today.. UGH. Anyways I pretty muched walked in placed my gun on my dresser and went to bed. (normally I keep it on my nightstand). Well at 3:45AM this morning my wife woke me up scared because the dogs were barking in the living room. I jumped out of bed (wide awake) and grabbed my Glock 22 and headed into the living room. Here is were I might have made a mistake... I opened the back door and saw a shadow go around the corner of my house. ( it was dark but I know it was a profile of a person ) I let the dogs go out and I followed them out. My side gate was open as I went around but who ever it was had left. I peered around the corner and my Security light out front had been activated so I could see clearly that no one was around... I called my dogs in and waited for the police. Mistake was no working light in the back yard, Left my flashlight sitting on the nightstand, didnt have a phone, and didnt know if my wife was calling the police or not. Anyways I was up pretty much the rest of the night and am at work now. I thought I would post and see what you guys might suggest.
Thanks in advance for any comments and corrections for the future. Stay safe and stay armed!

- Glock

Where (generally) do you live (so anyone of us reading this may live close enough to be a bit more watchful)

Yuck. You never know what you are going to do when you get woke up from a bone-tired deep-sleep and have to spring into action.
My only suggestion is that you do what many of us on the forum do frequently both in our minds and in our posts...we work out "what-if" scenarios over and over and critique ourselves (peer review).
By doing this repeatedly you find that you actually start acting as you planned when you do actually come upon situations such as you have described. (5 'you's' in that sentence)
I personally don't have too much of a problem with what you did, though the general consensus is that you shouldn't go outside and investigate. What mitigated the situation in my mind is the fact that you had two presumably good-sized and loud dogs precede you out the door. That may have made a big impression on any would-be evil-doer in your yard.

I've also put a lock on my backyard gate. That way, if someone is in my yard, I know they didn't just wander into an open gate, they meant to trespass.

I've actually considered putting motion lights in the side yards. The area between houses are dark, and easy for someone to hide in. Having a big light go off if you even try would seem to be a pretty good deterrent.

Glad everyone is okay!

North Richland hills, Its in DFW. I do have 2 rather large dogs! that was definately a good thing because I would have slept during almost anything. Thank you for the feedback! Locking the gate is a good idea.. I am going to do that tonight.

Respectfully, your mistake was in going outside. I've been in your shoes and reacted the same way. Excaliber very patiently explained why my action was a crucial tactical error. You really had no way of knowing what you were walking into, or whether or not there was more of them than of you, etc., etc. I thought I was protecting my home and family when I did it, but I was really just placing myself into a tactically untenable position and creating a liability for my loved ones.

It's not that you shouldn't protect you and yours, but that you should do it from the tactically superior postion. That would have meant staying inside your home where you control the battlefield and hold the stronger position.

I have heard that criminals often return to the same locations. It seems counterintuitive to me because I'd think they're more likely to be caught either up front because of heightened awareness on the victims' part or on the back side because of more chances of evidence stacking up against them, but I'm not a criminal, so what do I know?

If I were in your shoes, I would walk your perimeter today looking at your property like a criminal would. Do you have anything accessible outside that would encourage people to enter your driveway or yard? Any entry weaknesses on doors or windows? Any thing visible from windows that would say, "rob me!" I'd then change that, especially through outside lighting and inside use of draperies if applicable.

Are you in a subdivision where there's only a 10-12 foot space between houses? Not that-that matters, just curious.

I would put up lighting, not only can this be a deterrent to the bad guy(s) at night, but it may even scare them off(if the lights aren't on when they decide to trespass). If they decide to stay after the area is all lit up at least you can(hopefully) see the perps. I have motion sensor flood lights on each corner of the house, coach lights at the front entry way, coach lights on the garage, motion light over the garage(side load garage) and one of those vapor type lights(kinda looks like a street light) on a separate detached shop/garage(in the back yard). When all those lights are on at the same time(which they rarely are, unless I'm checking for any burned out bulbs) it's like daylight.

-Cain

Well I would even be leery about leaving my locked bedroom area if my dog went crazy late at night. That means someone is either making noise at a door, window, gate or is already in the house. I have no children so obviously a parent’s situation is very different but I would definitely never unlock a door or walk outside.

I would have my girl go into the master bath closet with her gun were there is only one point of entry and the person entering is pretty much turning a blind corner. I would stand in front of the closet door with my 20 gauge, Glock 20 and any other hardware waiting for them to turn yet another blind corner from in the bedroom after they have broken down the bedroom door. All the time my girl would be on the phone with 911 behind a locked door. Of course this is my scenario and everybody’s is different but I would never walk outside.

If you hear a noise or suspect an intruder secure yourself and love ones and call the cops. That’s what they are paid for, to protect us. I rather over react and waste a little tax payers gas then blow it off and start walking around my house or yard looking for trouble. I know it has been discussed here before but if your in a secure area or an area where you have the element of surprise you should not leave it! Just my 2 cents.

P.S. Remember that bullets easily penetrate sheetrock walls and use that to your benefit.

It depends on the home set-up.

My house is very nice to live in, but too big for effective tactical defense. My bedroom is at the back of the house on the ground floor and my kids rooms are upstairs. The only staircase is right by the front door. So if someone does enter my house, I really don't have the option to defend in place.

I have 2 weapons in my nighstand safe. A Glock for me, and a revolver for my wife. Her job is to cover the kitchen area and call the police, while I go the back way (through the Master bath, pantry and dining room) to the front stair case, and secure the kids.

I have an alarm system which should let me know when someone makes entry, but ideally my dogs will give me a little more notice than that and would also give me an idea of where any intruders are located.

Oh, and I agree on not going outside. I have a hard enough time covering the inside.

I agree with the people who suggested more lights, particularly motion activated lights. The cost is very reasonable and it's easy to replace an existing fixture with a motion activated fixture. A new install is more work but still worth it, IMHO, even if you have to hire a handyman.

My CHL instuctor told a story about a former student of his who was woken up in the middle of the night by someone breaking into his vehicle. He went out the back door and snuck around the side of the house with gun in hand to apprehend the guy breaking into his vehicle, only to be shot in the head and killed by the guys accomplice who was waiting on the side of the house. He left a wife and children. Moral? Do not go outside if you do not have to.

SpringerFan wrote:My CHL instuctor told a story about a former student of his who was woken up in the middle of the night by someone breaking into his vehicle. He went out the back door and snuck around the side of the house with gun in hand to apprehend the guy breaking into his vehicle, only to be shot in the head and killed by the guys accomplice who was waiting on the side of the house. He left a wife and children. Moral? Do not go outside if you do not have to.

That's one of the hazards.

One of the others is that the police, who are responding to either your wife's call or a neighbor's (who may have seen or heard the BG first), may encounter you outside with your gun in hand before they find the BG. A sudden meeting like that in the dark can easily have tragic consequences for all involved, and this has happened repeatedly in the past.

In a city or suburban environment, you are in the best position to safely and effectively protect yourself and yours while leaving the bad guy with all of the tactical downsides when you stay inside, take a good defensive position, and let the police handle whatever is outside.

There is no upside in going looking for him or them in a low light, 360 degree threat environment and exposing the most effective potential defender to being easily neutralized (read "shot and killed") by a hardened street thug who will know enough to keep still and wait until you present a target he can't miss.

Cops are in people's backyards for a number of reasons. They could be looking for someone who ran from them on a traffic stop a block away. Granted, if you have a fenced yard, it is less of a concern, but not impossible. I would hate to walk out with a gun in my hand and bump into stressed cops.

Tactically, you gain nothing by going outside to investigate. If it is nothing, then you gain nothing. If it is in fact Joe-Home-Invader, you put yourself at a significant tactical disadvantage. He is the one that is setup on your back yard. Going without a light is even worse. You have no armor, no back up weapon, no radio, and no backup. If someone is outside and wants to get in, you can stack the deck in your favor and set up a (hasty) immediate ambush.

Whoever was creeping around your home now knows you have a couple of big dogs. It seems that scumbag criminals have an aversion to canines chomping at their rear ends, so I doubt he will be back. A good dog beats the most expensive alarm system any day in my book. Too bad the pups didn't get a little taste of the crook before he slipped back into the shadows. Glad you're ok.