Wife went to let the cat in Friday evening and the cat looked at her then looked at homeless transient standing 5 feet from her on our back deck, she screamed like no other shutting the door and tried to lock it running down the hallway.

My first thought was a raccoon or coyote had grabbed our cat but as I'm meeting her in the hallway, she said there is a guy on our back deck and the door is not locked in complete Panick mode. she screamed get your gun! I already had it, daughter called 911 and did a great job relaying everything trying to calm the wife down.

I ran to where I could see the back door but stood behind wall for protection. I quickly went from pistol to ar15 as it as in the next room over.
wife and daughter were down the hallway in a safe non windowed area, our back door is a full glass paneled door and I could see my cat wanting to get in, but he was defiantly looking at somebody, I waited for the police to arrive as the door was unlocked and the police wanted me to stay away from it. they searched outside our house, shop, garden shed but found nothing but as they were leaving received a call of a person in another yard a few blocks away.

it's 3:20 am and I'm in full protection mode and have no desire to sleep. this whole ordeal started at 10:30 pm. one of the first things that came to mind as I was waiting for the police to arrive was some of the things I have learned on this forum, it helped me stay calm and be rationale and let the police handle it, for that I Thank you!

Loved the “already had it” part.

Was the other police call for a trespasser report?

It could of been Jehovah Witness.

I had a similar incident several years ago at 2:30-3:00 in the morning. No apprehension. After the police left I should have gotten up and started my day because there was no going back to sleep. The adrenalin dump was unreal.

After you have a chance to decompress and mentally review I would be interested in what you would do differently.

Drug addicts looking for easy stuff to steal…

He was just trying to contact you about your cars extended warranty expiring soon…

It's usually just some harmless lost soul .... but that does not change the fact that you did the right thing. It only takes one crazed psyco on something to ruin your life as well as your families.

Glad everyone is safe, but the guy was probably just staring at your wife's butt.

Sounds to me that you handled it like a boss. Well done, the family is safe. As for the nerves, yeah the adrenaline dump is incredible and uncomfortable. I’m glad nobody’s hurt.

We responded to hundreds of these prowler calls over the years-often used K9 to search for prowlers. You never know if you are getting a burglar, peeping tom, lost intoxicated person, or some more evil intent. I always asked whether there was anyone in the house who had an ex or a rejected suitor. If you hang laundry outside on a clothesline, is anything missing?

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XLT Said:
our back door is a full glass paneled door and I could see my cat wanting to get in, but he was defiantly looking at somebody, I waited for the police to arrive as the door was unlocked and the police wanted me to stay away from it. they searched outside our house, shop, garden shed but found nothing but as they were leaving received a call of a person in another yard a few blocks away

Great job! For a lot of people, instinct would have been to let the cat in and/or go investigate the back yard. Instead you took a position of cover, could see the cat was safe, and were prepared to defend if someone breached the door.

So many things could have gone wrong if you went outside, and in this case, if you did end up venting the prowler, it only happened because he was entering your castle.

Sounds like you handled it great and no mention of soiling your shorts. Reinforces have a gun always.

We had a Goodwill store open about 3 miles from our house about 5 years ago, and the neighbors all felt great about donating their unwanted furniture and clothing. Fast forward, Goodwill is permitting a squatters camp of homeless people live on the land behind the store. Drug use, panhandling, and police disturbances including the police having a shootout and killing one of the mentally ill violent squatters. Now, incidence like you are describing are happening on a routine basis, many only known about because it is found after the fact on outside surveillance cameras. It’s a matter of time before something terrible happens. There is nowhere to institutionalize the mentally I’ll like there was 50 years ago and we as a society are supposed to believe they can all assimilate in without consequences.

I’m glad you and your family made it through and nobody was hurt. Your story is a reminder for me to reassess our own personal security.

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Great job! For a lot of people, instinct would have been to let the cat in

Not instinct, the wife would have made me get the cat or she would do it her self

Glad you guys are safe. That certainly is alarming, I actually went though nearly the same thing. Change a few details, but my wife alerted me to someone looking through the back sliding glass door. It’ll definitely wake you up and alert you to whatever deficiencies there may be in your response plan. Sounds like did it all right.

Well done!

About the only suggestion I could think of would be to replace the cat with a German Shepherd with steel teeth.

ETA: I wonder about having some obnoxiously bright lights flooding the area outside the glass switched somewhere from a position of cover. Not lights that would normally be used, but lights that would send a clear GTFO message if/when they were ever turned on.

It sounds like you handled it perfectly. I would have been tempted to tap on the glass with the barrel of my AR and waved him on.

Probably the wrong choice because most likely he is on drugs and would see a gun as drug money.

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in complete Panick mode. she screamed get your gun! I already had it

Easy to see the two thought processes.

I already know in a stressful situation my wife is the one going to get us killed.
I wish I could train her to think calmly and not panic.


Glad everything worked out and everyone is safe.

Glad all are safe. And the panicked female thing is kinda universal. I was involved in a number of incidents as a cop where a woman would let out a scream which scared me way worse than what was going on! Wives and GFs did this too. I had no luck training it out of them.
Cats are under rated as alert systems. My cat lets me know right away if someone is outside.
And a note on HayesGreener post concerning laundry on the line: I had a number of cases where prowlers were stealing ladies skivvies off clotheslines. In one of my neighborhoods, I had someone getting into unlocked houses and stealing the female residents underthings. The guy was good! Never caught him and I often wonder to this day if he did not move onto more serious stuff.

Sounds like you did the right thing, not going out there. May I make a suggestion, though? Get rid of the full glass paneled door. A tempting target as it's easy to break into. If you do want something with some glass panels, atleast put a metal security screen door in front of it as well.

Also maybe some training for your spouse; a protocol to follow when letting the cat in/out or going outside in the back yard at night/daytime. Think what might have happened if you had not been home.