“If you don’t want to die, don’t break into someone’s house—pretty simple if you ask me.”
There are those times when you read a headline and have to do a double take to make sure you read it correctly. You read it again and see that you were not mistaken. That’s when you have to shake your head.
That happened just yesterday when I read an article titled “Family member of teen burglary suspect killed in Wagoner County break-in speaks out” in my news feed regarding the recent shooting in Oklahoma where three men were shot by the homeowner’s son using an AR-15 style rifle. I recently wrote an article on this shooting and thought that would be the last I heard of this particular story until this one surfaced.
So, of course, you can guess a lot of what’s in the article to include quotes such as this from the grandfather of one of the intruders, “They knew they could be punished for it, but they did not deserve to die…What these three boys did was stupid.” You think so? But then he makes the statement that I expected all along, saying “Brass knuckles against an AR-15, come on, who was afraid for their life.” He forgets that they also had a knife, were dressed in all black, had hoods over their heads, and broke into someone’s home.
Imagine yourself sitting at home. You hear a noise at your front or back door, and you grab your home defense firearm, whatever it may be. Then three adult-sized, black-clad, masked people come in your door. What would you do? Say, “Hey what are you armed with? Oh, just brass knuckles and a knife? OK wait, let me get mine and we can punch it out.” Is that what this thug’s grandfather thinks? No, he is just trying to rationalize the fact his grandson was shot and killed while committing a home invasion. Instead of putting the blame on the suspects where it belongs, he is trying to transfer some of the blame to the victim, who used a rifle instead of a handgun or shotgun or baseball bat. The weapon the victim used does not matter other than that it was a good choice for multiple suspects since he was able to shoot and stop all three suspects.
This is not the first time I have read where the family of a criminal has tried to justify the actions of the suspect and make the victim look like the bad guy. Trayvon Martin’s mother comes to mind as one who has done this; you can read about it here. This is becoming a very typical thing for the family members of these types of criminals. Maybe, just maybe, they should have worried more about the suspect and done more to steer them in the right direction rather than to try and make excuses for them after they are dead.
If you break into my house, regardless of whether there is one, two, or ten of you, I am going to shoot first and worry about what you are armed with afterward. I have a wife and son to defend as well as myself. If you don’t want to die, don’t break into someone’s house—pretty simple if you ask me. Oh, and I will use whatever firearm I happen to have available at the time. Maybe even my AR-15.
Chris Wagoner is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. He has been in law enforcement the last 35+ years. He specializes in LE Firearms Instruction, and is in charge of a large Police Academy in North Florida. In his spare time Chris is a freelance Military Reporter and owner/founder of the Largest Military Videos Channel on YouTube “3rdID8487”.
To contact or book OpsLens contributors on your program or utilize our staff for your story, contact [email protected].
