Posted: 2/4/2008 2:39:35 AM EDT
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Tonight at around 11:50 PST I heard a female scream. At the time I was watching "First 48" on A&E, it took me just a few seconds to figure out that the sceaming was not from the TV show. I jumped off the couch and began digging through my range bag for my .45, this noise and the screams woke up my girlfriend in her bedroom. She asked me what the hell was going on when I heard a knock at the door. I was not ready but what the hell, I opened the door to find a young woman crying and asking me to call 911. With one hand I pulled her inside my girlfriends apartment, with the other I closed the door and relocked the deadbolt. Since going outside and being discreet didn't matter any more I got the FS2000 out of its case and clicked the EOTECH on, while dialing 911 with the other hand. In the middle of this my girlfriend had gotten up and dressed and composed herself. She must have seen me arming up while I'm on the phone and noticed the frightened young woman in her living room. Goddamn I'm a lucky man, instead of asking stupid questions or trying to get me to calm down, my girlfriend promptly began attending to the victim. The 911 operator said something I couldn't understand so I just said "Tigard PD please", this was enough to get the ball rolling. The operator wanted to know my emergency, I told him I didn't know what was going on. Only that I had heard a woman scream and was looking for a weapon when I let a young woman inside that asked me to call 911. He asked if we were safe and I said yes, he then asked if I was armed, yes again. He told me that units were on the way, and wanted to know how I was armed, I replied "a .223 caliber rifle". At this point the 911 operator said he understood my right to defend myself and others, and that when the officers showed up I would need to put the weapon away. While waiting for Tigard PD to show up he asked me some questions about the victim, and if we needed medical services. I told him "no" she had no visible cuts or wounds. Turns out she had one hell of a shiner under her left eye, but the light was low and I didn't see it right away. He asked me some more about the incident and I was able to get a little info out of the victim to relay to the operator. Now the cops show up. The operator tells me that his boy's have arrived and to put the rifle away. I leaned the rifle up against the back of the couch about the same time I get a knock at the door. After confirming that its the Tigard PD I opened the door and kept my hands visible, the officers came in and grabbed my weapon while I hung up the phone. The officer holding my weapon said " I'm gonna hang on to this for now, you need to stay away from it" I responded " Well if thats what you feel like you gotta do." He firmly replied " yeah thats what I feel like I need to do" . I moved to the other side of the room and kept my hands visible. I stood still while the two cops interviewed the young woman, and suprise, suprise one of the officers had been in contact with her within the last couple of months. This whole time my girlfriend had been tending her wounds, comforting her, and listening to her story. At this time I finaly noticed the lumps on her face. One of the officers went outside to look for her cell phone, her boyfriend had tossed it when she tried to call 911. The other officer, the one the victim knew, got more detailed with the interview. We all came to find out that the abuse had started two towns over after her boyfriend got high as fuck on coke and started smacking her around, and somehow believed it was a good idea to hit her some while he dropped her off at her apartment. The remaining officer told me that he needed to go outside to chat with the other cops. I told him that I wanted to case my weapon and sit down. At this point they had figured out that I had nothing to do with any crime, and told me go ahead. My girlfriend got the victim an ice pack and I brought her a chair, untill then she was happy to sit on the floor. Then the cops returned to take the victim to her apartment. The officers came back to take my info, we bullshited about firearms for a few minutes and they took off. I'm very happy about how this all turned out. Aside from the young woman being battered I can't think of a better outcome. My girlfriend is ok, the victim is gonna be ok, I'm still high on adrenaline but ok. And I didn't have to shoot anyone, and the cops are ok. I would like to thank Tigard OR PD for being polite and proffesional. Most of all I would like to thank my girlfriend. She was calm the whole time, and did everything she could to make the young victim feel better. |
Yeah why didn't you keep you rifle slung and argue with the officers about how it was your right to open carry a rifle in your house , and disarming you would be unconstitutional . You big pussy , a disgrace to the 2nd amendment 
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I would like to comment as a Police Officer... When dealing with a situation like this, here is my thought process.... A situation occurred at or near your house which caused you to feel as if you needed to retrieve a firearm to protect yourself, great no problem at all. Then because what boils down to the fact that you are not trained (presumption only so far) to handle an apparent domestic violence case or an assault case you felt you needed to call the police. If you are comfortable handling a situation by yourself, go ahead. You called the police...who are armed and trained to deal with a variety of situations. Those cops have no idea who you are, what they are walking in to and what is about to happen. You put your weapon down and an officer picked it up to control it until he figured out no one was a threat to him. Then when he was satisfied he allowed you to control it and you put it away... Those cops weren't driving around your neighborhood looking for someone to disarm, you called them. Why is it never ok for us cops to make sure we go home to our families? Just one cop's opinion/rant... WHEN I SAY "YOU" I MEAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC NOT THE O.P. |
I agree with you, I work the same streets as you my friend. I meant it sarcastically. |
I know you did ! I am directing this at the guys who are probably going to bitch and moan... Like this--->
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Uh ... that was sarcasm too ... hence the clown face ... |
Ok, glad to hear it... |
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Good job. My only criticism stems from the way you describe letting her in. Goblins take advantage of the "damsel in distress" thing. Be careful. I'd have covered the door, finger off of trigger, and asked the girl to "come in" after unlocking. You want to stay clear of the door in case there's a crew of thugs ready to pile in when you unlock the thing. |
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I've expressed dismay at police overreaction and exceeding authority in other threads, so I will chime in here in agreement with those that say the OP and the police both acted appropriately in this case. But really, this is how we expect EVERY ONE of these incidents to play out. It's the exceptions that make everyone all riled up. |
Yeah, I forgot to mention this was a great post and a great job on the OP's part... |
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I couldn't leave her outside after hearing her srceam, letting her in was the only option. The breezeway that leads to each door in the apartment complex leaves no where for the normal bad guy to hide. I'm sure that a group of highly trained and motivated assholes could use a damsel in distress situation to try and trap me, but I don't run in circles where such a thing would be likely. Later in the week I will go down to the local PD and ask for a copy of the report. Most of the weapons that were in the apartment at the time spend most of there time locked in a safe 30 miles away. A buddy and I went to do some shooting at the local range before the ball game yesterday. I think that a burglary is very unlikely in this area, and I think its worth the risk to have a few weapons stashed at her place. Even if I had not been at the range that day I still would have been well armed. Again I would like to thank Tigard PD and my girlfriend for acting perfectly durring this emergency. |