If you’ve got any liberal friends, you should ask them how long they think the average response time is for 911 in their county.
How long does the average home invasion last?
How many times do the cops arrive in time to stop a home invasion in progress?
This story clearly answers the first question with an answer that liberals might not like: not fast enough.
It was just this spring, on April 22, 2019.
The King County, Washington, police department received a call at 2:20 in the morning.
The man on the other end, not identified by the police department, has called for help after hearing someone break a window and enter his home.
He’s already hiding upstairs with his handgun.
He whispers at the dispatcher from behind the door of his bedroom closet.
On the recording, the listener can hear loud noises and crashes in the background of the call.
The intruder clearly things the house is empty, or that they’re not going to face any resistance.
The call lasts for 12 minutes. The dispatcher continually assures the resident that officers will be there soon.
But four minutes into the call, the intruder has located the homeowner…and the cops aren’t there yet. Check out this partial transcript:
Dispatcher: 9-1-1. What are you reporting?
Homeowner: (Labored breathing.) My house is getting robbed…(Inaudible.)
Dispatcher: What address are you at?
Homeowner: (Gives address, later redacted.)
Dispatcher: Do you see someone inside?
Homeowner: Yeah, he’s inside right now.
(Crashing sounds.)
Dispatcher: Okay, where are you?
Homeowner: In the bedroom.
Dispatcher: Are you armed?
Homeowner: Yeah, I have a gun.
Dispatcher: You’re at the house. Correct?
Homeowner: Yeah.
(Continued crashing sounds.)
Dispatcher: Okay, is that crashing I hear behind you—is that them?
Homeowner: What’s that?
Dispatcher: Is that crashing I hear behind you? Is that them?
Homeowner: Yeah. (Inaudible.)
(More crashing.)
Dispatcher: Okay. And you’re upstairs?
Homeowner: Please hurry!
Dispatcher: Do you have any further description on…(inaudible), correct?
Homeowner: I don’t.
Dispatcher: What color is your house?
Homeowner: It’s green.
Dispatcher: How many stories?
Homeowner: Two.
(The homeowner seems to be getting more nervous as the crashing sounds move closer. His breathing seems shallower, and his voice is close to a whisper.)
Dispatcher: Okay. How many vehicles should be in front?
Homeowner: I don’t know. I…
Dispatcher: Okay. What’s the color of your vehicle?
Homeowner: It’s a red truck.
Dispatcher: Okay. You have any other vehicles there, right?
Homeowner: Hyundai. Silver Hyundai.
Dispatcher: Okay. You’re sure there’s no other vehicles there, right?
Homeowner: (Inaudible.) Silver Hyundai.
Dispatcher: Bear with me. Got officers on the way. Okay? Do you live with anyone else?
Homeowner: No. I’m by myself.
(Crashing sounds are getting much closer.)
Dispatcher: Are you able…Do they know you’re there?
Homeowner: (Whispering. Unintelligible.)
Dispatcher: Okay. Stay quiet, okay? Keep yourself safe.
(All is silent for more than 30 seconds, except for the dispatcher typing and the crashing sounds. Officers still have not arrived after nearly three minutes. The homeowner seems reluctant to speak as he senses the intruder getting closer.)
Dispatcher: (Inaudible…) Stay with me.
Homeowner: (Whispering. Inaudible.)
Dispatcher: He just broke out a window? (Pause.) Okay. We’ve got officers on the way, okay? Can you tell how many people are there?
Homeowner: Two.
Dispatcher: Okay. Can you still hear them?
(Long pause.)
Dispatcher: Is your door locked?
(Silence.)
(Four minutes into the call, cops have not arrived.)
(Suddenly, five loud, echoing gunshots ring out. These are followed by a moment of silence, then three more shots.)
Dispatcher: Oh my God!
(A man is moaning.)
Dispatcher: Can you hear me?
(For nearly two minutes the homeowner is silent. There are moans. The dispatcher continues to try to contact the resident.)
Dispatcher: Can you hear me?
Homeowner: Where are you?
Dispatcher: Okay. We’ve got officers coming… What’s going on? What happened? Hello… If you can hear me, I need you to talk to me. I need to know what’s going on.
Homeowner: He came after me. I had to shoot him. I’m hiding in my closet in the bedroom. Please hurry, I’m all alone…
Four minutes after calling for help, the intruder is upon the resident, and the cops haven’t arrived.
The homeowner did what nobody wants to do, but what certainly had to be done on that early morning: he defended himself and likely saved his own life.
The suspect, identified as Joseph L. Anderson, died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds. No other suspects were found.
The homeowner was not charged with any crime.
Share this story with your friends and ask them if they know how long they will have to wait for help—and if they’re willing to take that risk!
Help your friends and family learn to protect themselves. Go with them to purchase a weapon and take them to the range a few times.
Walk through their house and show them things they can do to improve their home security.
You won’t regret it, and nor will they.