Why Does This Story Bother Me?

March 10, 2010 / 10:42 am • By Dr. Melissa Clouthier

A 7 year old boy calls 911 and begs police to come save his family from a home invasion:

There is no mistaking the terror in the boy’s voice. On the 911 recording, you can feel it like a physical object.

“They come. They come. They open and ring the door. They have guns. Can you come, really fast? And bring soldiers, too,” the unidentified 7-year-old says in 911 tapes played on TODAY Wednesday. He gasps for breath after each burst of words, his voice filled with urgency.

“They” were three men who had forced their way Tuesday morning into a home in Norwalk, Calif., a town in suburban Los Angeles. While the men held the boy’s mother and father at gunpoint, the boy and his 6-year-old sister hid in a bathroom and called 911.

As Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies rushed to the home, the dispatcher attempted to get more information.

“Stay on the line with me. Don’t hang up,” she told the boy. “Listen to me. We’re coming to help you. But just listen to me, OK?”

“OK,” the boy replies.

“When you were in the house, tell me exactly what happened, OK? Just stay where you are and don’t hang up whatever you do,” the dispatcher continues.

The boy started to respond, saying, “OK. The guys, they have …”

At that point, blood-curdling screams fill the tape. The home invaders had heard his voice and had broken into the bathroom. Deputies said one of the suspects grabbed the boy and asked who he called.

“911,” the boy said.

When the suspects heard that, they fled the house, driving away in a car without taking anything or harming anyone, deputies said.

Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35794401/ns/today-today_people#ixzz0hmvXutwh

When do the police ever get to the scene of a crime on time, ever? They never do.

And if they had, there would have been a hostage situation.

If these homeowners had been armed, however, this story would end differently. Or could.

The helplessness of common citizens before an armed and aggressive criminal should make every American want to buy a gun, load it, and keep it handy.

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  • http://darthkeller.com DarthKeller

    It’s almost as if our founding fathers knew stuff like this could happen, so they wrote a provision allowing us to protect ourselves…. Nahh…. That HAD to be a dream I had /sarc

  • http://www.shawnwilson.wordpress.com Shawn Wilson

    I agree if we all own guns and learned how to properly use them (as in dealing with these kind of situations, school shootings, etc.) we would have less crime!

  • fuster

    the utter stupidity of thinking that having a gun in the house would likely thwart a surprise attack from three armed intruders is nearly unfathomable.

  • Philo

    Fuster,

    One thing you seemingly fail to consider, or maybe you’re just conveniently ignoring, is the matter that criminals don’t generally target people that give the impression of being willing and able to defend themselves. That’s where the gun comes in. Just the knowledge that there is an increased potential for taking a double tap to the chest (or one to the cranio-ocular cavity) from an armed homeowner is a deterrent. If you and I were neighbors, I’m reasonably certain you would be the one getting the surprise attack, not me. :) Or do you actually use a gun for home protection, and just jumped in with the comment about not being able to defend a surpise attack in an effort to be a bit contrarian?

  • http://melissaclouthier.com Dr. Melissa Clouthier

    For me, it’s about helplessness versus power.

    And what IS unfathomable is believing that being without a gun makes one safer.

    Waiting for police never works. It just doesn’t. And I can think of a couple people right off hand who were armed and defended themselves and lived to tell the tale but the intruder did not.