Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Mollie Hemingway, Ed. ·
Jan 5 at 8:26am
This woman is amazing. Only 18, she lost her husband to cancer on Christmas Day, had a newborn at home, and was threatened by two armed men. She called 9-1-1 asking if it was ok to shoot them if they entered her home. The 9-1-1 dispatcher told her she should do what she needed to do to protect her baby. More details here.
I've long felt that I didn't have what it took to kill someone, even if they threatened my family. But seeing the courage this young mother had makes me reconsider. I think I'll be asking my husband for a refresher at the firing range.
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Comments :
Oct '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
What I found appalling is how long she had to wait for the police to arrive. Maybe if the police weren't so busy following up on overdue library books they would have time to do their job?
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
That young woman is pretty remarkable. But what an enormously difficult year she's had...
May '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
She did the right thing. I wonder whether I would have had the stuff to do it.
But I am sorry for her. What a pair of ordeals for such a young woman! May God give her comfort and reward.
May '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Kudos to that dispatcher, too, who said exactly the right words.
It's all too easy to imagine one saying: "Put down your weapon and wait for the police."
Mar '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Thankfully, she was in Oklahoma where the 911 operator had the sense to tell her that she had to protect her baby. In a bluer state the operator might express concern for the perpetrator over that of the baby and mother.
May '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Don't underestimate the protective instrincts a mama bear has for her cubs. It's like the stories you hear about a petite mother lifting a car up when her child is trapped underneath it. Mama bear strength is something I'd never want to mess with.
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
12 ga. is always the best for home defense. Resolve helps too.
Nov '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Good thing she didn't do it in NY. She's probably be considered a criminal.
Oct '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
A friend from church once said that when her first baby was born she knew she could kill someone to protect her child.
The unfortunate aspect of this kind of scenario is that in many states the homeowner is exposed to civil litigation from the criminal. There's a push to have the "Castle Doctrine" enacted into law everywhere. It says that you can shoot/kill the intruder and not have to worry about being sued.
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
I am astounded that a 9-1-1 operator would be willing to stick their neck out by making that sort of judgement call.
The 9-1-1 operator deserves as many kudos as possible.
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
I don't think it would be concern for the perpetrator that would give a 9-1-1 operator pause.
I think it's more likely that an operator would be hesitant to give any sort of advice that hasn't already been pre-approved by a committee of duly appointed "experts", for fear of being reprimanded for exposing the employer to liability and political criticism.
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
The article by her father, on the same site, is worth reading as well. He's the same guy who wrote Raising Righteous and Rowdy Girls.
Edited on Jan 5 at 9:16amMay '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
More guns = less crime, a wise economist once wrote.
Recently in nanny-state California, we've had at least two incidents of elderly people using firearms to defend themselves against intruders. A 66 year-old woman in Redding fatally shot a deranged man as he crashed through her window at four a.m., and just yesterday in Greenbrae, a 90 year-old retired sheriff's deputy and weightlifter exchanged gunfire with a burglar who was holding him at gunpoint during a robbery in his home. Both men were wounded in the exchange.
The Redding woman later stated she did not want to shoot anyone, and I can guess the 90 year-old did not want to, either. However, their lives were at stake and they were left with only two choices, both bad: defend yourself, or take your chances on the good intentions of your assailant.
I'm glad they shot the bad guys, and I'm glad the Oklahoma mom defended herself and her son. I would never want to be in their situation, and I would never want to hurt or kill anyone ever, but, in their place, I would do the same and not think twice.
May '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
According to another news website, she was on the phone w/ the 9-1-1 operator for 21 minutes BEFORE shooting the intruder.
Dec '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Is anyone else bothered that an 18 year old did not reflexively understand the right to protect herself and her child and had to seek approval from the government before exercising a natural right? Just when I was ready to back off my criticism of Santorum...
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
I was just thinking about your post and how this kind of story needs to be read by any Republican politician that thinks the 2nd Amendment is only about protecting our right to hunt.
It's because of stories such as these that I've moved to a position of being more pro-active about self-defense. Living in CA most of my life and not being from a family where we owned firearms I didn't think much of it. Of course, it's easier to pursue now that I'm no longer living in CA.
Edited on Jan 5 at 10:39amDec '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Steven Potter
I was just thinking about your post and how this kind of story needs to be read by any Republican politician that thinks the 2nd Amendment is only about protecting our right to hunt.
It's because of stories such as these that I've moved to a position of being more pro-active about self-defense. Living in CA most of my life and not being from a family where we owned firearms I didn't think much of it. Of course, it's easier to pursue now that I'm no longer living in CA. · Jan 5 at 10:39am
I'm not even a gun nut. I have one weapon, and that took a bit of biblical exposition on what "head of the family" meant to make it happen. I do, however, think the first principles are the foundation our entire way of life is built upon. Any crack in those could prove catastrophic for our future.
Jan '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
This one of those stories that serve to convince me that winning the culture war is more important than the fights over taxes and spending. It is the left's dominance of the culture that has turned us into a society in which this young woman felt she needed the permission of the 911 operator to exercise the most basic right we have. The right to protect her baby and herself is innate and unalienable. All that being said, I am very happy the 911 operator did the right thing and the young lady was prepared and able to defend herself.
Aug '10
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
No kidding, if she was in England, she'd be in jail and the baby with Social Services.
Mar '11
Re: Newly Widowed Teen Mom With Infant Shoots Intruder
Channeling Katievs, Sarah Palin told NRO: “Kudos to the 911 dispatcher, too."
Coincidence?