How'd I Do?

Hey guys. I'm new here. I usually tread in the Chevelle forums, but heard of you there and thought I'd check you out. Very interesting. I'm a former Marine reservist with lots of active duty training and served in the Gulf War in Saudi and Kuwait, so I'm not completely ignorant about weapons and tactics.

Something happened in my home a few days ago that I'd like to get some expert opinions on. I work strange hours in my truck driving job, so I hit the rack pretty early. I was fast asleep at 9:30pm when I awoke to hear my wife screaming, "Get out! Get out!"

I came out of my bedroom and asked her what's up? She said somebody was in the kitchen. All three kids were accounted for. I asked her if she was sure about the presence of an intruder, and she said she just saw movement and heard noises. I wasn't sure if anyone was in the house or not, and I heard nothing and saw no unusual movement from my vantage point. I had not entered the kitchen or the entry way to the kitchen up to this point.

I called out to the kitchen area and demanded that if anyone was there that they should leave with much haste. I also told my wife to call 911 immediately. Keep in mind that I had just come out of a deep sleep and that I still didn't know for certain whether anyone was in the house.

While the wife was calling 911 from our back bedroom, I was grabbing my S&W model 39-2 and racking a Black Talon into the chamber.

I exited the back bedroom and went down the hall to a doorway of another bedroom closer to the kitchen area. I crouched down in the bedroom doorway frame, and announced that the police had been called, that I had a gun, and that I WOULD shoot them if they didn't leave immediately. I was positioned in such a way that I could clearly see the entryway to the kitchen. I still did not see or hear anything. I got up and slowly advanced to the kitchen and peered around the entryway and saw that the kitchen was empty.

During all this, my wife was still on the phone with the cops, and I was telling her to tell them that I was armed and that I had cleared the kitchen. By now the police were at my front door and were also searching my backyard and detatched garage for any perps. I told my wife to ask the cops to advise me on what to do next (for all our safety). The police told me to put my pistol away in the back bedroom and come unlock the front door and let them in. I stashed the Smith and went to the front door, announcing that I was there and was going to unlock it and open it for them. I did so, showing my hands, and two officers entered my home with pistols drawn. They checked out the kitchen, and one officer exited the back door to do some searching, while the other talked to my wife and I. This all happened much faster than it took to type it or read it...at least it seemed to!

As far as I can tell, the perceived movement my wife saw was the kid's artwork on the fridge being blown around by the kitchen ceiling fan...the shadows cast by the billowing paper creating an illusion of human movement! I suspect that the noise my wife heard was the shifting of dishes in the drain rack! (we are too friggin' poor for a dish washer!)

The wife's feeling pretty stupid, but I told her not to worry about it...better safe than sorry, right?

Anyway, I swear the above story is true. Did I over-react? To all you cops and tactical experts, where did I mess up? What could I have done better? Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks.



[This message has been edited by Walter Zoomie (edited 09-02-2001).]