Twelve-year-old Bryan Co. girl shoots home intruder

Here is a story that represents the need to uphold the second amendment. This young girl was all alone but was able to defend herself probably saving her life due to the fact that the family owned a firearm. What good thinking for this girl. It is sad that she will probably be traumatized because of this but she did the right thing.

Source.

BRYAN COUNTY, OK - A man who broke into a home near Calera got a surprise Wednesday morning, when he was shot by a 12-year-old girl who was in the home alone.

Debra St. Clair, the girl's mother, said her daughter called her at work to say an unknown man was ringing the doorbell. When the girl didn't answer, the man went around to the back and kicked in the back door.

She told her daughter to grab the family gun, barricade herself in the closet and call 911.

"I drove home at a really fast pace to try to get to her, and when I got here the police were already here. And they had the suspect," she said.

St. Clair's daughter had hid in the closet with a .40 Glock.

But Undersheriff Ken Golden said the intruder kept making his way through the house.

"And what we understand right now, he was turning the doorknob when she fired through the door," he said.

Golden said the bullet hit the intruder, and it sent him running.

"I saw blood on the back of his t-shirt," St. Clair said. "He was sitting down, the policemen had had him apprehended at the end of the block. All I saw was some blood coming down his back. I'm not exactly sure where his injury was, but I saw some blood there."

Golden said the suspect was airlifted to a Texas hospital. They are not releasing the extent of his injuries.

But the girl drew blood. And Golden said for that she's a hero.

reply to post by usmc0311


Well, I don't know about hero, and she could have shot her own mother through the closed door since she didn't identify her target, so not exactly the gun safety I would hope for out of a 12 year old, but I'm still happy she is OK, and happy the intruder was arrested. That must have been quite a shock to think the house was empty and then catch a bullet through a door!! Maybe he'll have a change of career plan if he ever gets out of jail, LOL!

Ahhh... I applaud the girl and feel much better having read the details. She didn't kill him. Good there. She didn't even see him take the hit. BETTER. She just has the hole getting made in a closed door and seeing a guy with a bloody shirt later to know what it did. Not too bad considering, for memories to come back on those dark nights.

I'd say the kid will probably be just fine in the long term. At least I'd hope. She did the right thing, of course. 100%. Too many like her are simply another body found in a house every year and added to the Stat sheets. Good for her in saving herself with what was at hand.

great story. she did the right thing. and maybe at the right time. if the intruder would have made his way into her room, then her life could have been at steak. good on her! i hope she is able to live beyond the trauma and see a brighter side to this.
thx for sharing.

reply to post by zooplancton

her life could have been at steak

Was the intruder a cannibal too?



I think you meant "stake."

Stories like this is why you don't allow a twelve year old girl be alone at home while the parent is at work.

reply to post by usmc0311

 

Well, I don't know about hero, and she could have shot her own mother through the closed door since she didn't identify her target, so not exactly the gun safety I would hope for out of a 12 year old, but I'm still happy she is OK, and happy the intruder was arrested. That must have been quite a shock to think the house was empty and then catch a bullet through a door!! Maybe he'll have a change of career plan if he ever gets out of jail, LOL!

I am pretty sure she knew this was an intruder.... She knew this was not her mom..
Target Identified...

Girls lucky some yuppy dumb ass at the PD didn't try to charge HER for shooting
this crook and tried to put her in a juvenile detention center...

Some places are like that..

I would call her a hero, a hero for the pro-gun movement, a hero to show that she would of been helpless
without the gun..

Originally posted by isyeye
Stories like this is why you don't allow a twelve year old girl be alone at home while the parent is at work.

edit on 19-10-2012 by isyeye because: (no reason given)

Here, here and right on!

It's not amazing to me that the girl shot a home intruder, but that she was left alone at home

reply to post by popcornmafia


I'm glad she had the gun, and knew how to use it, and had the guts to pull the trigger! Definitely a great pro-gun story. Without a gun, a 12 year old girl is no match for a grown man breaking into the house! I see no problem with leaving a 12 year old girl home alone either. Our homes are supposed to be safe.

Just a minor gun safety detail. Her mother was on the way home to protect her, and the police were on the way from the 911 call. Shooting through the door was ill-advised, but I'm glad it hit the right guy!

Don't worry. I'm sure an overzealous gun hating lawyer of some sort will do whatever s/he can to turn it against the girl and the mother and case for taking firearms away from people.

reply to post by darkhorserider

Our homes are supposed to be safe.

Yes, they are suppose to be....but as illustrated in this story, there are criminals that will enter you home, no matter how "safe" you feel it may be. While a gun being in the home can provide protection, I still think it's not the greatest of ideas to leave a child alone and face a situation such as this on their own.

Originally posted by zooplancton
great story. she did the right thing. and maybe at the right time. if the intruder would have made his way into her room, then her life could have been at steak. good on her! i hope she is able to live beyond the trauma and see a brighter side to this.
thx for sharing.

There was a small girl in a nice suburb who was killed by an intruder in just such a scenario, near Chicago, this summer. My thoughts were that the guy ran out of gas on the adjacent highway which is separated by a wall from the division, wormed through the wall, and broke into the first home that seemed unoccupied, and upon seeing the girl come home from classes, killed her just so no scrap of description would be available. Broad daylight.

I don't know how they caught the guy, but they did. The burglar took a life just so he could have a clean escape with his stolen trinkets, nice.

Shooting through a door like that is a bit risky, but if the girl's mother was known to be distanced at the other end of a phone call, that does narrow the risk of an accident. It could have been her father behind that door, of course, or anyone else since she didn't have a clear view at that point, but wouldn't dad have been notified of the danger, and have called out to his daughter? It could have been tragic. In so many ways it could have been tragic.

Thank God the girl knew how to defend herself.

I'd be proud if that was my daughter... .Im not into this whole "pro gun" crap tho... I like guns, n i have guns, but the intruder could have been a family member then this would be a "anti gun" story... Its just news, they need to leave the anti/pro gun crap out of it..

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by usmc0311

 

Well, I don't know about hero, and she could have shot her own mother through the closed door since she didn't identify her target, so not exactly the gun safety I would hope for out of a 12 year old

Gun safety 101: when entering a house where you KNOW there is a person cowering in a dark place with a loaded and cocked gun, you very loudly announce yourself clearly and distinguish yourself from the intruder she fears before moving 5 more feet anywhere. You yell "so-and-so, put your gun down, I'm Officer so-and-so from the local PD, please put your gun down and come out, everything's safe now." Mom would have done that, the police would have done that, only a fool intruder wouldn't have. She was also on the phone with 911, so if there was an officer in the house, they would have told her to put her gun down and she was safe. She did perfectly.

reply to post by 00nunya00


LOL! True, but that is the gun safety 101 for the adult entering the house, not the cowering girl in the closet. She did do just fine. She survived, and the guy got caught, I'm proud of her too!

But, it could have been the refrigerator repair man that her Mom forgot was coming over, or the landlord that thought the house was empty, or even a police officer serving a warrant at the wrong address. It could have been an adult cousin playing a prank on her. Shooting blindly through a closed door can end badly in so, so many ways.

This story had a happy ending, but the stories where a father shoots his own son, or a sister shoots her brother are all too common. Gun Safety 101 is: "Identify Your Target!"

She could have waited for the door to swing open and then shot.

it is a sad statement of our society - there are many kids left home alone.
that's one reason me and my wife decided she would not work - so she could raise our kids.
we always had kids over - we have fed more kids than the vast majority of parents.
i still enjoy seeing them and they still enjoy coming over.

this 12 year old is a hero - she probably saved a life - her own.

btw - another reason to own guns.

wtg

reply to post by usmc0311
S&F

Heroine for my Friday! She did the right thing and reacted the way she knew how.

Good for her! This is why Americans will never give up their guns! And to the people worried about her being traumatized stop she will be fine she as not a victim and knows she can defend herself that does wonders for self confidence and empowerment...

Need I tell the anti-gun crowd wat COULD have happened to that poor girl if she hadn't have been armed.Good for her and her parents for realizing that there are pscho's out there and being ready for them

Originally posted by darkhorserider
reply to post by 00nunya00

 

This story had a happy ending, but the stories where a father shoots his own son, or a sister shoots her brother are all too common. Gun Safety 101 is: "Identify Your Target!"

I went back to check the story closer and confirm how the girl first got spooked to hide...and from the OP

Debra St. Clair, the girl's mother, said her daughter called her at work to say an unknown man was ringing the doorbell. When the girl didn't answer, the man went around to the back and kicked in the back door.

She told her daughter to grab the family gun, barricade herself in the closet and call 911.

I'd say that makes most of this a coulda/woulda/shoulda/ debate for circumstances that didn't happen here on the safety concern.... A magazine solicitor wasn't kicking in the back door after no answer at the front. I'd say she was safe in her assumptions. (Cops would have just taken the front door clean off the hinges if they were coming)

On the other hand, I'd very quickly note that HAD she waited for the door to fully open, her eyes to adjust for the couple seconds it would take from total darkness to the light of the outside room and then aim and fire........the bad guy would likely have taken her gun and been well into beating her with it. Given the actual circumstances, I think the kid ought to get a medal.

Other kids could use the positive example in seeing what courage can accomplish.