Another day, another attempted break-in foiled by yet another granny out to prove her manhood with a gun. “’Back up, you son of a b—-,’ she yelled. ‘Back up! Get out of here! Get the hell out of here! Get your butt out! Now!’” Those were Jan Cooper’s warnings to Brandon Perez as the paroled burglar attempted to open her door. Shortly thereafter, she sent a .357 round whistling past his ear while a 911 operator listened in. Oddly enough, the near-death experience was all it took to convince Perez that the risk of entering the Cooper manse wasn’t worth any potential reward he’d get from rummaging through their belongings . . .
“Jan Cooper has been shooting guns since she was a teenager and said she wouldn’t change her response if someone tried to break into her house again.”
Just make sure not to draw any conclusions from this obviously anomalous happy outcome. As everyone knows, a gun kept in the home will probably be used against its owner. Thank goodness Mrs. Cooper was one of the lucky ones, right? [h/t Louis R.]
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Headline says she shot him, reality is he got a warning. She is alive, and all is well. Apparently he was hiding in a bush brown shorts and all.
Video auto-plays on android browsers.
And iOS
Not my iOS, this time.
It’s amazing how many times these gray hairs armed with obsolete or inadeqaute guns are able to fend off these well trained and equipped groups of super criminals. And she was further handicapped by a lack of tacticool gear. No body armor, no mega flashlights and I’ll bet no diplomas from any of the HSLD schools out there. It’s a miracle she lived.
Well, with a lighter trigger, she might not have missed.
With a better trigger/more trigger time we would be minus one scumbag. Which is never a bad thing.
They deserve a second chance. Sometimes.
Nope, that guy was a repeat offender. Granny should have canceled his Christmas.
I suspect that she intended a warning shot; less red tape, as he was still technically outside.
I’ve never heard a .357 referred to as obsolete or inadequate. It did the job for years before the Wonder Nines showed up.
And I just now realize you were making a joke. Someone put the Stupid Helmet on me.
Can’t, it’s welded to joe bidens head.
Ha! Damn it, sir. I was gonna say almost the same thing.
Still better than ANY effing nine. IMO.
A nine that hits beats a .357 that misses.
Trick statement, Both nine and 357 are 9mm
Never let it be said that the elderly in the US are not total bad asses.
Samuel Whittemore anyone?
Ballsy; good for her; great job!
But if it were you or me, in CA, would we be standing alongside a Sheriff’s spokesman at a news conference, or alongside an intake deputy.
Threat/force disparity at work here in her favor for use of a firearm against a much younger bad actor justified due to her age and the added vulnerability of both her AND her 85 year old husband being present.
Still, if it were you or me…
Point taken, but the gap isn’t THAT big between her justified shoot conditions and mine.
If a perp is attempting forcible entry via my front door, and is not responding to shouted warnings, then unlike the nice lady in the story I’m not going to shoot.
Instead, I’m going to stand back a safe distance (and off-axis) from the door with 911 listening from the cellphone set down nearby, and ensure that the perp gets his final warning before crossing the threshold. It’s not going to be “shots fired” until he makes it partially or completely through the door, at which point he’s in my house and presenting an imminent threat.
That is a very good plan you have there, however, if the Perp was wielding a blade, decided to rush you and you weren’t greater than the old 21 foot mark, you wouldn’t have any hesitation time. Granted, you would already would have drawn your weapon so you would probably still have the upper hand.
If the gentleman would like to play at blades, well, then he needs but ask and I will meet him on the field of honor, aka my front lawn in full view of an HD security camera.
I will bring with me some ridiculous number of hours spent studying Toyama Ryu, and a practical-work-grade katana maintained with a chip-resistant cutting edge. Permit me a moment to introduce my second, standing behind me and to my right with a lovely Weatherby SA-459.
And sir will be bringing? 🙂
Not a CA lawyer, but IIRC CA has a good Castle law.
It does Ralph. But the biden advice of shooting thru the door while the bad guy is still outside will get you in trouble. Bad guy has to be inside. Once he’s in you can assume the worst and do what you have to to protect yourself.
Heh. Hence my comment above regarding “crossing the threshold” — though I’m pretty sure a California DA would take a dim view of shooting someone who’s stuck halfway through a window. 🙂
I am not a lawyer, not even on the Internet, but I believe in NC you can shoot if they are breaking in, but once they are in you have a duty to retreat.
TTACer, I think that NC changed it Castle Law at then end of 2011. I believe that there’s no duty to retreat and that bad intentions on the part of the intruder can be assumed. Other than that, I have no idea what it provides.
Ralph is correct, NC cleared that nonsense up.
I wonder if granny is aware that her politicians want to pre-victimize her and her husband? It’s what the people of Kalifonistan deserve.
Those of us that are gun owners and contribute money to groups like SAF and the NRA and call and contact our gubmint reps and vote our guns deserve bad things happening to us because of our zip code? With that kind of logic I’ll bet you think Lanza represents all AR15 owners.
Lumping a group of people together because of the actions of a few is a tactic the antis use. I’d appreciate some support for your fellow firearms enthusiasts behind enemy lines. And don’t start with that “vote with your feet” bull either. Barring some seriously obnoxious transgressions, CA is still a nice place to be. I’m not a cheese-eating surrender monkey, I’m gonna stay and fight for the (lengthy) foreseeable future. The CA posters on this site are outspoken about the battles our peers are fighting in other states, so it’d be nice to see some of the same directed our way.
Right there with you, LB.
Well, not right there. More like… With you in spirit from 4oo miles north. Anyway. Something like that.
You know, mediocrates, I have owned guns in California for 50 years and supported the NRA, CRPA and CCRKBA in our fight to preserve our Second Amendment Rights with my cash and letters/e-mails/phone calls to State and Federal Elected Representatives, Congressmen and others for over 40 years. There are a large number of Californians who own guns and support the Second Amendment actively. There is also a slightly larger number combined of Socialist-minded Progressives and professional welfare recipients who are destroying the State by voting to keep the Democrats in power in Sacramento. I cannot leave for family reasons and I won’t leave because staying here to fight to preserve and recover Liberty and return California to its proper place seems to be the right thing to do to my mind. It has been a frustrating and painful struggle with no positive outcome yet in sight.
So, while it is easy for you to sit wherever you are and snipe at us, you haven’t walked a mile in our shoes, so maybe you could get over your smug, condescending self and give us some support instead of a kick when we’re already down. If that’s too much for you, then STFU and confine your mean-spirited remarks to the Gun Prohibitionists in your immediate backyard, because you haven’t earned the right to deride us.
The guy is muy lucky. With her shooting experience, it may have been the age-related weakness in her wrist that sent the bullet whizzing by his left cheek as opposed to shredding his left ventricle. Ah well, there’s always a fly in the ointment.
Better luck next time, young lady.
What a great story! Having a 357 magnum projectile wizz by your cheek would have to be pretty exciting, if the guy wasn’t too self medicated that is. Since this happened in CA I hope she doesn’t suffer any legal repercussions herself.
I saw this on the news this morning, couldn’t believe that a pro-gun story was given airtime here in CA.
It’s OK because she’s old and female, you see. Because she’s a sympathetic figure who has a good excuse for being poorly suited to hand-to-hand combat, it’s time to trot out the “granny get your gun” narrative.
Wrong. She’s not a real man because she had to use a gun. Real men fight with their fists, even when they’re old grandmas.
She is obviously compensating for her small penis.
“Granny Get Your Gun” figures into my wife’s self defense claims if she has to shoot. She’s 5 feet tall and a grandmother. She figures she throws in a few tears and she’s home free.
She’s probably right, unless she’s attacked by a member of the Lollipop Guild. That’s when all bets are off.
Short shallow grave in the hills takes care of those guild punks. And they fit in my Toyota trunk without having to be sawn in half. Less mess.
Good point. Guess if I, a 250 lb guy, had shot a home invader I’d be on the news, but in handcuffs for shooting at a poor misunderstood fellow who’s life was taking a turn for the better.
That’s why you have to make sure they contribute blood spatter somewhere inside of the threshold, Wife Acceptance Factor be damned.
If I am ever faced with that situation, I just hope I have a moment to slip on the hearing protection before things get hot. Apparently the screaming and begging can get quite annoying.
Heard some debate as to whether one should load .38 spl in a .357 for inside-the-house use (whether the extra punch is worth the recoil, flare, and noise). Assuming she was using .357, I wonder if that contributed to the “I just sh!t my pants” factor. Perez probably could feel the pressure wave.
Either way, good for Jan. Glad this ended with both parties alive, and here’s hoping Perez is more willing to go straight after his next parole.
here’s hoping Perez is more willing to go straight after his next parole
That’s the funniest thing I’ve read on TTAG this week.
Yeah, wishes aside Perez will be robbing again as soon as they let him out (which will be way too soon), and won’t stop until someone plugs him.
I saw this on the news in briefing this morning, and it warmed the cockles of my heart.
Cooper that name sounds very familiar,good for you ma’am glad you stopped a thug from harming you or your husband!On a side note,over on Gunrights examiner.com there is a news byte about a fellow that was visited by the Secret Service about his speaking out against Boobama,he was coerced to sign a warrant,his house was searched along with a review of his medical records,as they were leaving they told him that if he kept it up,they would come back and take his guns!Don’t we have 1st Amendment Rights?Are the Feds now going to use Stasi style tactics to gag us?Keep your powder dry.
Link? Google on Gunrights examiner brings up quite a few hits.
http://www.examiner.com/article/secret-service-visits-outspoken-critic-of-obama-because-of-twitter
If this is for real I hope he contacted his House rep and senators. Of course, if they are Dems the guy might be SOL.
Was he criticizing, or threatening? There’s a difference, legally.
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