This is the story of one family’s experience where the training and coaching they received quite possibly saved their lives.
The Unthinkable Can Happen to Any of Us
Nick and Nora have two children and live in Portland, OR. They often travel abroad and had worked with us on several occasions to learn common sense safety and security considerations for traveling, as well as training and coaching to address safety concerns around their home and local community.
One thing they learned during their home safety workshops was to never leave their garage door open if they weren’t right there. Even if they were in the house or working in the back yard, they knew they should keep the garage door closed.
One hectic evening, with the two of them taking care of the children and trying to get them ready for bed, Nick completely forgot to check the garage door before shutting everything down for the night.
At around 1:00AM, Nora woke up to a strange noise. She listened for a few seconds and heard something else that gave her alarm. She quietly woke up Nick and told him she thought someone was in the house.
They both listened silently. Then they both heard the definite sound of someone in their living room. Nick turned to Nora. “Remember what Eric taught us. This is it. Just do what we were trained to do.”
He held his wife’s hand and they each took a deep breath. Nora slid out of bed and pulled the 12 gauge self-defense shotgun out from behind the bedroom dresser. She knew it was loaded but it had not been racked. That would come later – if needed. She grabbed her cell phone.
Nick grabbed his SIG P226 pistol from under the clothes in his nightstand. His pistol had a full magazine but did not have a live round in the chamber. He pulled back on the slide, and with just enough light coming in through the blinds, visually saw the round was caught and ready to move into the chamber. He carefully closed the slide as quietly as he could.
They looked at each other and went to the bedroom door. It wasn’t fully closed. Nick slowly opened the door with the pistol at his side. The hallway was clear. The kids were asleep only 15′ away – down the hall in the opposite direction from the living room.
Nick stepped into the hallway and got down on one knee with his pistol aimed toward the living room. Nora very quietly slipped out behind him carrying the 12 gauge and went down the hall to the kids’ room. She got down on her knees partially hidden by the rocking chair and held the shotgun in a position that would make it easy for her to rack the slide when it was time.
Nick glanced over his shoulder and saw that she was in position. Nick then shouted down the hallway. “You need to leave this house right now. We both have firearms and we are both well trained in how to use them. The police have already been called. Leave this house now or you will be shot.” At that point, he flipped on the laser dot from his special pistol grip and slowly got up and started moving toward the living room.
Nora had already dialed 911 and the police were en route. Nick moved almost to the end of the hallway and started spraying the laser beam around the living room area. Nothing. Then came the reflection of police car lights that seemed to light up the entire neighborhood, followed by the shouts of police officers calling to the two intruders to lay down on the ground. It was over. The two thugs who had robbed several homes over the past few months had been caught right there in Nick and Nora’s driveway.
This scenario could have gone several different ways. Fortunately, Nick and Nora maintained their composure and reacted effectively to the situation.
The consultants at Noblemen Security have helped many families just like Nick and Nora’s to be better prepared for when the unthinkable happens. We’ve helped our clients to think about security and safety at all times. And with scenario-training, we’ve helped them learn how to react and take the appropriate action when necessary.