“I looked for a white shirt. I was afraid to look at his face and I just shot the white shirt.”

That’s 66 year-old Donna Hopper describing how she defended herself against 37 year-old Jesse Edward Theiss as he tried, for a second time, to invade her home at around 4:00 AM Friday morning. She’d already fired two warning shots, temporarily driving him away. Theiss has now assumed room temperature and will no longer be invading the homes of widows. One more time…you don’t need years of covert operator training or super ninja stealth skills to defend yourself in your own home. All you need is a firearm you know how to shoot and the willingness to use it if necessary.

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36 COMMENTS

  1. Ask Mikeb302000 if he still thinks gun owners are too stupid to know what to do when Americas Finest Criminals try to enter at 4 AM. Wearing a white shirt. After two shots are taken at them. Gold star for this lady, they should name a day after her.

    My God, take a look at the mugshot of that lunatic. he won;t be missed by too many people,

    • G650g
      While nothing warms my heart like good guys saving themselves (and the rest of us in the process) from bad guys, I’m afraid I can only vote for a silver star in this case.
      The article states ” She’d already fired two warning shots…”. This would be bad enough if it were true, but it is not. Firing warning shots is never advisable, but especially not in a residential area. This woman stated in the interview ” I just remember coming into the doorway and firing two shots wild.”. Warning shots are a deliberate action, they are aimed shots and they are dangerous. There is no control over what they will impact ( unless fired into something with enough mass to contain them) and they will impact something. Several years ago in the city where I reside, some genius fired a .22cal. rifle into the air on July 4th and struck a child standing on her front porch in the head, killing her. What this woman did was blindly fire not one, but two unaimed shots in the general direction of an intruder, with no knowledge of where they would go or concern with what they would impact. Then she goes on T.V. and informs the world. Sounds like gun grabber fodder to me. Don’t they love to rant about how we irresponsible civilians with no knowledge or training, purchase handguns, load them, put them away , forget them and eventually end up killing family, friend, or neighbors with a handgun we did not need and should not have had in the first place. When I hear this woman’s interview, I picture an elderly woman living alone who did just that. Purchased a gun for defense, put it away, forgot about and then when confronted remembered she had it, retrived it and started wildly blasting away.
      Other than the facts that this woman is still alive, bad guy is dead and no one else was injured, I can’t see any good here. You may say that this is enough, but think about it. The whole incident was just dumb luck. We could just as easily be reading about an elderly woman who was murdered in her home after blindly firing at an intruder and killing three of her neighbors. Or scaring off intruder and saving her own life while killing two neighbors. Is this the kind of neighbor you want? Is this the kind of publicity responsible gun owners really want? Is this woman a responsible gun owner ? I have to answere no to all three.
      I also have to disagree with the last line of this article. I would like to see it amended to read, ” All you need is a firearm you know how to shoot well, enough training and common sense to use it wisely and the willingness to use it if necessary.
      Now that I think about it, I’ll vote for a bronze star.

  3. I love it when thugs attack the defenseless who have decided to defend themselves. He would see her as weak and unable to stand up to him – and he was right, except the gun made the point moot.

  5. Good for her.

    It’s unfortunate she has to deal with the emotional aftermath, but at least she’s getting plenty of support.

    I love that she aimed for the “white shirt”. One shot was all it took. I wonder what caliber she used.

    The fact that this 66-year-old widow had the correct tool and presence of mind to shoot this scumbag, is very heartening. Imagine if this had happened in the UK, or any other country whose government has disarmed its population. She’d be rotting in jail. Of course, this wouldn’t have happened in the UK. That population seems to have bought into the notion of not resisting their fate.

  6. It’s a clear case of suicide by widow. Lesson learned: a widow home alone is an easy mark. A widow home with her gun is a hard target.

  7. I happy she took out this lowlife, but the first two shots should have been aimed at center mass.

  8. The perp was released that day after the jail became full! What a terrible state (government wise). Cali imprisons legal gun owners while letting crazy and evil men out of jail due to space concerns.

    • she needs to file a suit against the cali dept of prisons. she probably won’t win but this needs publicity

      • I get your point. Technically, he was released from the County Jail not the State Prison System. I have read recently, because of over crowding and lack of finances, the State of California has allegedly recently given early release to tens of thousands of non-violent criminals from prison. All of those selected for release were women inmates and not men.

  9. BRAVISIMO. Lets get her on the cover of Guns and Ammo and every other gun mag that still exists. Someone call MAIG, the BRADy’s,……….. don’t forget Holder. Every insident like this should be reported and made public.

    Hey MIKEY! Question ? Why didn’t or haven’t you posted this one? This is a perfect example.

    • I’m sure him and his co-bloggers are trying to come up with new ways to insult those who venture into his blog comment section. How inviting!

      • I think she proved something- that she can handle a situation that merited deadly force. It may surprise you how often regular average people do the right thing, as you have a dim view of humanity in general. The one thing I like about you is that you’re not in control.

  11. Once again “gun availability” causes a senseless, needless death. (“Another case o’ stagnation o’ the lungs.” “Lungs! You said n’owt ’bout lungs young man!”)

  12. The judicial system is severely flawed. Murders get a few years. People who commit lesser crimes get longer. It depends on how much you can spend on a lawyer. Prison rarely reforms anybody, it just makes them more careful.

    At least this guy won’t be clogging up the courts or prison system.

  13. Focus on the front sight, put it in the center of mass, and fire. Repeat until the criminal collapses or leaves.

    Dealing with the emotional aftermath of protecting herself would seem to be preferred over dealing with the emotional aftermath of being beaten, raped, and possibly killed.

  14. They should charge the county for the broken window, after all they let him out of jail due to overcrowding.

  15. Ironic that the dispatcher was in the interview. If you listen to the 911 call, the dispatcher clearly told Mrs Hopper that the police were almost to her house. She told Mrs Hopper that she SHOULDN’T pull the trigger. Had she listened, Donna might just be dead now. That dispatcher should receive a reprimand (or be fired) for such poor advice.

  16. Wait… wait… I thought all the mall ninjas would be clamoring because she did not use a Glock with extended magazine or an AK or AR or an M41-A1 Pulse Rifle that fires standard issue caseless 10mm explosive tip, light armor piercing ammo. I mean, if you even insinuate that maybe a double barrel shotgun might be enough to defend your home it is routinely panned. And here, this brave women had to fire 3 times.

    Actually, she only had to fire once. The first two were justs humanity’s way of warning the soon-to-be departed.

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