Police respond to the scene of the shooting. NBC News/WFLA.
A eight months pregnant woman used an AR-15 to save her family from two armed intruders, shooting and killing one of them. NBC News. The two men were armed with pistols and were pistol whipping the husband. The woman retrieved the husband's AR and exchanged fire with one of the home invaders, who then fled the scene and died shortly after. The other intruder escaped and is being sought by police. The husband suffered serious injuries including a fractured eye socket, collapsed sinus and wounds severe enough that he needed 20 stitches. The families 11 year old daughter was in the house as well but was not harmed.
A local news station interviewed the husband and that interview can be found here.
My Comment:
Good story out of Florida and I am glad that some of the national news outlets are picking it up. It's not the kind of story I would expect to see on NBC News but I guess since the wave of gun control outrage has died down we will probably see stories like this again. I'm guessing NBC understands that even if they don't like AR's this is the kind of story that grabs eyes and clicks.
Obviously, this was a very brave thing that this woman did. Her husband and daughter were under threat. The robbers were angry with him because he said he didn't have anything worth stealing and were beating him up pretty bad. And they threatened the daughter as well. Things were going very badly very quickly and there's a good chance that someone could have been killed had things continued.
Even worse, the men actually shot at the woman before she got the gun. She then retrieved the gun, shot one of the intruders, avoiding any friendly fire, and driving them off. She, at the very least, saved her family from further violence and may have saved the lives of her husband, her daughter, herself and her unborn child. And she did it while 8 months pregnant! A lot of people wouldn't have been able to stay calm enough in that situation, but she did.
I do hope that this woman gets the help and support she needs. This was almost certainly a traumatic event for her and it can't be easy to both be expecting a child and have to go through something like this. She's a hero, but I don't know if the media attention is going to help things that much. I know if I was in the same situation I don't think I'd want to be a national news story. She saw her husband beaten up, her daughter threatened and almost died herself, and then was forced to kill someone. The outcome was good in the end but anyone would be in a state of shock after going through all that.
It's not surprising that it took a little while for the attacker that got shot to die. People generally overestimate the lethality of modern firearms and just assume that anyone who gets shot will just fall over dead. But even people with fatal wounds can still act for a short time, unless it's a shot to the brain, spinal cord or heart. Thankfully this attacker just fled instead of trying to continue the fight.
The incident also shows that it's important for everyone in the household to understand how to handle guns. I don't know if the woman had an interest in firearms herself or if she was taught by her husband but if she didn't have at least some familiarity with firearms, they might all be dead right now. The husband in this case had no chance to defend himself or his family as he was caught off guard, so it's a good demonstration of why everyone in the house should know how to shoot.
Did the weapon choice matter here? Possibly. I have always thought that rifles are way easier to shoot than handguns. For me personally, I would prefer to grab my AR if someone was breaking in over my handgun. I know that some people are great with handguns but I'd much prefer my AR with my level of skill. Furthermore, an AR is way more intimidating than a handgun, which could work in your favor mentally. Still, any gun is better than no gun at all, especially when the home intruders are armed themselves.
Finally, I think this is a good case to throw at people who whine and say "why do you need an AR?" In this case this woman really did need an AR. She might have gotten through it with just a handgun, but who knows what would have happened to her then? She would have been outgunned by the home invaders and the whole situation could have gone down much worse for her and her family. Thankfully she had that AR and was able to use it successfully.
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