Georgia — Donnie Herman called 911 after his wife contacted him at work because a strange man was breaking into their home.
Donnie had prepared his wife, Melinda, for this situation and they had a plan for when the unthinkable happens.
But he didn’t expect to have to listen to it happening to his family and be powerless to help.
Still, when Paul Slater, 32, broke into their home with a crowbar, Melinda sprang into action.
Here’s the first video:
Slater got in the front door and initially headed for one of the Hermans’ nine-year-old twins but the child escaped up the stairs.
Melinda followed the plan: she took the kids and barricaded them and herself in the attic.
She was armed with her husband’s .38 special.
Slater seemed intent on finding them, rather than burglarizing the house.
Police said that Slater broke through a locked bedroom door and a locked bathroom door before reaching the attic door where Melinda and their children were hiding.
Donnie can be heard on the phone to 911, coaching his wife.
“Melinda, if he opens that door, you shoot. You shoot him, do you understand?”
“Just remember everything I told you, everything I taught you.
There was no sound, and then Melinda dropped the cell phone she was using to talk with Donnie and she shot Slater as he broke into the attic.
Donnie relays to police, “She shot him. She’s shooting him!”
You can hear the stress in Donnie’s voice as he tells his wife to keep shooting the man.
Police said that Slater was hit five times, but was able to run out of the house and get into his car.
He was later taken to the hospital where he is in critical condition.
Police reported that Slater had spent six months in jail in 2012 and had six prior arrests.
He will be charged with burglary and unlawful entry.
After the incident, Donnie Herman was obviously proud of his wife’s actions that day.
He said to reporters, “My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did was she was supposed to do as a responsible, prepared gun owner.”
Melinda Herman is a hero, and her husband Donnie deserves a pat on the back.
We can’t always be there to protect our families, and the police rarely make it in time to stop violent crimes in progress.
But Donnie had trained his family and had provided the weapon they needed.
There is no doubt that this story would have ended differently if he had no. Let this be a lesson to us all.