Tawas City, Michigan is a small town on the west coast of Lake Huron. A 66-year-old man owns a modest house there, where he lives on his own. He has a cleaning woman stop by on a regular basis. As with many homes in the rural Midwest, the door wasn’t locked. One Sunday, at about 8:20 p.m., two masked intruders had silently entered the house. From wnem.com:
“I was watching TV and suddenly there was a knife at my throat,” the 66-year-old man said.
He lives alone and smiled as he described the house as a “storage unit” where he sleeps.
“They wore masks. The bigger guy demanded money and guns. I’m thinking ‘how did he know I had money and guns,'” he said.
“They tried to get me into the bathroom, but I wasn’t having it. I thought they’d kill me for sure if I went in there,” he said. “I thought about running for the back door, but they were younger and would have caught me and stabbed me to death by the time I hit the stairs.”
When they came close to his bedroom, the homeowner said he decided to “go for it.” His 30.06 hunting rifle was near the bed, loaded.
“I shoved the guy and went for the rifle. I just grabbed it and fired,” he said.
The Michigan man killed one attacker and wounded the other in his upper thigh. The good guy with a gun exited his house to seek help.
Both attackers had criminal histories. Police are looking for the cleaning woman, suspecting a connection to the “hot burglary.” No surprise there: it’s not uncommon for criminals to develop a ring of sources who keep an eye open for likely places to rob. It’s one of the security risks that’s unavoidable if you allow people into your domicile.
The attackers probably knew that the door was habitually left unlocked. When I was growing up in Northern Wisconsin we never locked our doors. What would be the point, in a house with no visible neighbors? When we were home, the dogs always alerted us to the presence of visitors. When we weren’t, any criminal need only break in unhindered.
Anyway, if the bullet hit bone, the surviving perpetrator is likely in very bad shape. Ammo like .30-06 is designed for optimum destruction of tissue in big game. Gruesome as it may be, score another one for the good guy.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Gun Watch
“A 66-year-old man owns a modest house there, where he lives on his own.”
Is there a modest mouse, in his modest house?
Gimp walkin’.
Slugs for thugs….
Home carry, people.
Preferably a handgun and not a rifle.
Home carry, definitely. More importantly, though, lock your damn doors, FFS!
My Grandfather was counting his poker winnings from the night before in a tree stand, dropped his 30-06 Woodsmaster, nearly tore his upper thigh off. The joke was that they only stopped for beer once driving him to a hospital from deep south Texas
YAY! A wonderful outcome…I believe scum search for a perceivedEZ target. Many of us old guys won’t hesitate to ventilate lowlife animals like these 2..
Only better outcome would have been two dead perps.
God, if I hear of one more imbecile saying ‘I live in the boonies, why should I lock my doors’, I think I’m going to slap them. Where do these people think the ‘underprivileged youts’ and other ‘sons of Obama’ go when they need money? There’s these things called automobiles… really useful for driving into the country to rob people. Lock your freakin’ door and do your own cleaning!
This is one reason why people who live in “nice” suburbs don’t usually push for better public transportation to the nearby city.
not a bad piece of advice.
Okay, I know what a door and a lock are, but what’s this “cleaning” of which you speak? Isn’t that something that women do?
Tawas City is hardly a “rural” area, and most decidedly NOT a “small town.” It is, however, full of delusional residents who think it is. Their neighbors who know better should thank the “never lock the door” types, since burglars pass their homes up until an easier target presents itself. They literally walk neighborhoods going door to door, until one isn’t locked. Generally in broad daylight on weekdays.
Please elaborate. I found the population about 1,800 and dropping. The satellite photo shows lots of woods and farms. The nearest neighbor seems to be a hundred yards away.
Maybe the culture consists of displaced people from Detroit? Maybe their is a growing Meth problem?
The population figures can be misleading. It’s part of a “metro area” of a sort, with East Tawas, Tawas City, Oscoda, Au Sable, and some other townships, both incorporated and not. It’s a short drive to truly rural areas, like Glennie. It’s the population center of the county.
I don’t know why I take it personally, but it irks me when any urban center smaller than New York or Los Angeles is referred to as a “small town.” I’ve even seen Ann Arbor called a “tiny college town.” I’ve lived in places that cover very large geographic areas with official populations under triple digits.
As for the criminal issues, I don’t know, I’ve been out of the area for years. I do know that when the Air Force pulled out of Oscoda, it hit the area extremely hard. The factories do well for themselves, but have a high degree of turnover. The alabaster mines have also completely closed down. The railyards are mostly just pass-throughs now. Even the Wal-Mart seems to be in a perpetual state of downsizing. There are enough unemployed poor native to the area without importing any.
As for drugs, I know there have been several meth scares over decades, but none panned out. Until the last few years, that is. Lots of labs have caught fire.
Real wise, ain’t it easy! I have around 20 doors (only been here 20+ years, never actually counted them) and all are glass to the extent that a big rock would unlock them instantly. And yes, that is the way I like it. If your “youts” come here for free stuff, perhaps their friends will learn from their example why that is not a good idea. My unlocked doors are the least of their worries.
Reminds me of an and Seinfeld episode.
Elaine: “Your door was open.”
Crazy Joe Divola: “I try to encourage intruders.”
Especially in JoMo.
I love happy endings to stories.
I am curious to know how many rounds he fired. I was also wondering if he fired just one round that went through the first guy and hit the second guy since .30-06 has plenty of penetration ability a few feet away from the muzzle.
And I am also wondering if he is partially deaf now.
Glad he’s ok. Hope the perp is not.
But…..if you don’t lock your doors….you’re a dumbass……doesn’t make it his fault……it’s on them.
Lock your doors.
Two for the price of one bullet.
Always remember, when they come for your guns, give them the bullets first.
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