Bad guys’ strategies evolve. Yours should as well.
Defending Against a Home Invasion
by John Boch
Rocco Wlodarek from Black Flag Firearms Training delivered a presentation on defending against home invasions.
Wlodarek introduced himself with his credentials. He started his training over ten years ago in the law enforcement community and today trains both cops and civilians at Black Flag. A training counselor with the NRA, he also is one of the leaders in developing force-on-force coursework for civilians.
He raved on the proven benefits of force-on-force training, and on its availability to civilians at a tiny handful of schools nationwide.
His company offers FoF to both civilians and cops in Chicagoland, and he pointed to GSL Defense Training’s classes in Central Illinois – which he characterized as excellent from all he’s seen and heard about them – as an example of the sort of training that can and will save lives for concealed carry license holders. The pain penalty helps make learning a whole lot quicker. “How many times did you need to touch a hot plate to figure out not to touch something that’s hot?” he quipped.
From there, he talked about the newest technique of lazy bad guys: the home invasion.
In Illinois, cops seldom catch home invaders in the act, and even when cops solve these attacks, they are usually charged under other statutes, making the “apparent” number of incidences much lower.
The reality though, he says, is that a home invasion crew can break into a home, take a family member hostage, and force them to open gun safes and retrieve valuables quickly and without a lot of fuss. If a home owner doesn’t want to play ball at first, they will usually change their tune once their child or spouse loses a finger or two.
The criminals committing these attacks are ruthless, evil and willing to do horrific things to innocent people to make the attack financially worthwhile.
How do you counter this?
First of all, you must get small, get quiet and wait.
Take the ensconced defender position in your saferoom. Have your significant other quietly call the police to report a home invasion.
If you have kids, you’ll take the ensconced defender position just inside the doorjam to your bedroom, guarding the hallway to your bedroom and those of your kids, keeping them safe.
Unlike burglars of days gone by, today’s night-time intruders are seeking occupants, not avoiding them. Once they have a hostage, they’ve won. If these bad guys wanted to avoid the homeowners, they would have come in during the day when everyone was at work/school.
Get small, get quiet, and wait. In the dark, humans’ vision becomes that of a T-rex. You’ll see contrast and movement and little else.
Racking your shotgun will only give away your position and that you know there are intruders. Get small, get quiet, wait for the bad guys to move with your muzzle pointing into that fatal funnel where the bad guys will come for your family. Be prepared to fire at a moment’s notice after ensuring the potential target isn’t an innocent. (No, you can’t shoot your daughter’s boyfriend who snuck in to see her.)
The veteran home invader is going to remain quiet for 45 seconds or more to listen and to allow his eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. Be patient, and as Rocco explained it, you’re effectively hunting predators that are hunting your family.
“The person who moves first loses,” he said. “Don’t squander the advantage you have as the defender!”
About a week after Mr. Wlodarek delivered this presentation, this happened:
HOME INVASION CREW: Six dead in Chicagoland home invasion
Murder City, USA lives up to its name.
Six members of the Martinez family were found dead in a gruesome crime scene earlier this week. All but one perished from stabbings and blunt force injuries while one was shot.
This incident has all the tell-tale signs of a gang-related home invasion, perhaps MS-13 or similar. The break into a home knowing people are home, then take one of the members hostage and order the remaining people to surrender valuables, open safes, and submit.
CHICAGO (DNAInfo) — The family of the victims of Chicago’s most deadly violent incident since 2003 are picking up the pieces in Texas and Chicago Friday after all six members of a Gage Park family were found dead at a “gruesome” crime scene in their home.
Autopsies on Friday afternoon revealed how the six members of the Martinez family were killed, though the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office did not release the names and ages of the victims, pending “official” identification.
An older woman and middle-aged man were stabbed and beaten, autopsy results showed. An older man and two boys were stabbed to death, and a middle-aged woman was shot.
All six deaths have been ruled homicides, the medical examiner’s office said.
Police acknowledge that the family was targeted. Well, gee… you think? Anyone willing to kill six people for what’s inside a home either knows there’s significant valuables present, or they are particularly ruthless and evil. Or both.
CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago police say the family of six found dead in their home in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood were “targeted”.Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Friday night the killings could have occurred during a robbery or a domestic incident. He says it’s also possible someone in the home “was involved in something that could have targeted them.”
A friend was up there. Said Rocco is sounding like our own Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. That was meant as a high compliment.
That’s th reason I never go to Chicago.
That’s the reason I always carry at home. Even though we live in a very quiet neighborhood, we have had home invasions very close to us.