Man fires shotgun blast through floor as intruder flees
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PORTLAND, Ore. – A man fired a shotgun round through the floor of his Northeast Portland home early Tuesday morning when he said he heard an intruder inside the house.
Police said there was no evidence to suggest the intruder was hurt by the blast. The homeowner, Read Williamson, told police he heard someone speed away in a car after he fired the gun. His home is located in the 2100 block of NE 37th Avenue.
Williamson, talking to reporters on Tuesday while holding an infant, said he was asleep upstairs at 3:17 a.m. when his golden retriever “started whining, which she doesn’t do.”
He thought the dog might need to go out but then he heard a noise come from the downstairs area, the dog barked loudly and then ran downstairs. “At that point, I could hear somebody moving around,” he said.
“There’s somebody down there,” he told his wife. With their cell phones out of reach downstairs, Williamson said he grabbed a shotgun and loaded it with bird shot.
Williamson said he heard the intruder run for the back door and at the same time “I shot a hole straight through my floor.” He said the entire incident took place in the span of about 30 seconds.
He said he didn’t see the intruder but knew he was at the bottom of the stairs, which leads up to where he and his wife were sleeping.
Williamson said he’s “never thought about someone coming in” to his house. “We leave our windows open all the time, we leave our doors open all the time,” he said. “Not when we go to bed, but…”
Police investigators said the suspect apparently got into the home through a ground-floor window. Nothing in the home was stolen.
Williamson said the incident has upset his wife. As for shooting through his floor, Williamson said “I don’t know how smart that was, in retrospect.” But he added “I’d do it again. I mean, it was the loudest thing I had. What else would we have done?”
“It did work,” Williamson added. “They were gone just like that. They didn’t touch anything.”
This is the second incident in recent days where a homeowner fired at an intruder. On Saturday, police said a Vancouver man shot and killed an intruder in his home.
Anyone with information about the suspect in this case is asked to contact the Portland Police Bureau at CrimeTips@PortlandOregon.gov.
I wonder how many piles of 'leads' the suspect had fall out of his drawers after this dude acknowledged his presence with a .12 gauge blast? It'd be interesting (though unlikely) for KATU to tell us what kind of drugs and what level of saturation the forensics lab found in those 'leads'.
I believe in protecting your family and the right to bare arms. Im not at all against that. But every one that says "to bad he missed" obviously has no idea the ramifications that this could have played out if he did shoot the man.Â
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Just because someone is in your home, doesn't mean you can shoot them. They have to be immediatly threat to yours or someone else's life. Just because there in your home, Doesn't mean they are wanting to hurt you. Even if you feel threaten.Â
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Now, that doesn't mean you can't yell out a warning that you have a gun, or rack a round into the shot gun, or if you feel confident, approach the suspect with the weapon. All of these options the suspect will most likely leave. If he advances towards you, that in its self is an act of aggression and shows that he's not interested in fleeing.
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Now as for him shooting into the ground. Im shocked he didn't get hit with bird shot. or even the other people in the room. Besides that, the blast would make your ears ring for a bit. I think that was a bad decision on his part and shows lack of self defense skills. I would encourage him to get some training.
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Just think for a min, what if it was one of his kids down stairs. this could have been a lot different head line.
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If your going to have a shotgun in the house, and if you have a choice, buy an 18 barrel or saw the barrel off at 19. nothing like trying to go around a corner with a 30 inch barrel. Get a pump, the sound of a shell being racked is an international sound that no one can not mistake for anything else. Use 2,4, or 6 birdshot, (inside a house birdshot will make a hole as big as the buckshot). At close range birdshot won't go through walls like buckshot 00, or 000. second to last get an adopter so that one can fix a flashlite to the barrel of the shotgun. PRACTICE shooting in any conceivable position you can think of.  trying to shoot a shotgun with one hand while holding a flashlite with the other is brainless at best-good luck hitting anything. lastly know what the heck your shooting at. What comes to mind is the mother and father who came home and the daughter decided to jump out of the closet-in the dark . the guy pulled his gun and shot his daughter with a 44. Daughter died.     lastly COMMON SENSE PEOPLE
 @swimmer Best home defense system is an AR-15 with 55-grain 5.56x45mm full metal jacket cartridges.
 @swimmer how do you buy an 18 in barrel and saw it off to 19 in????
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A few ideas for them.
1. Keep cell phones in reach if you do not have wired phones.
2. Lock doors and windows unless you are entering or leaving through them.
3. Have a large flashlight upstairs if needed.
4. Get some practice using the shotgun.
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Lucky this time
good advice that he should have followed in the first place, and yes, darn lucky.
I wonder if insurance pays for that...
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Regardless, good for him for being armed.
@Improprietous
prob has a high deductible
"Intruder Burglarizes Home, Floor Pays The Price"
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I'm surprised there wasn't a trail of little Hershey Squirts leading from the door to the curb.
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Why do people still leave doors and windows open/unlocked? This isn't Little House on the Prairie anymore! I've had to escort people out the front door after homeowners called 911 letting us know someone walked into their home through the open front door, and refused to leave. But that was during the daytime or early evening hours. Once told to leave by the homeowner in front of me, if he/she didn't leave, I had a nice spot in the back caged area of my patrol vehicle to give them a ride to jail charged with, at the least, Criminal Trespass. Of course, sometimes they had some unlawful drugs on them, or just had alcoholic beverage aboard helping them think logically and rationally.
@jpk
or you would write a cite-in-lieu, esp if jail is over crowded...
Next time "SHOOT THE INTRUDER, DEAD!!!" You may save your neighbors life, or your daughters, or someone elses. See a dead criminal can not be a repeat offender. Simple.
 @brdbum Oregon law says the intruder has to be a direct threat. man admitted not even being able to see the burglar.Â
I'm not sure if this guy even knows what a shotgun is for. Shooting blind? What the heck?
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Why not just yell you 'armed and dangerous!' and 'rack' the slide? That noise is rather unique and will scare the bejesus out of any intruder.
He could have shot his dog. Reckless. :(
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Williamson said heâs ânever thought about someone coming inâ to his house. âWe leave our windows open all the time, we leave our doors open all the time,â
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Police investigators said the suspect apparently got into the home through a ground-floor window.
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First LEARN GUN SAFETY.
 @Agent Sydney Bristow Dogs can be replaced. Criminals will seek other victims again, and again, and again. I would rather take the chance and bring down the intruder.
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Fido better watch out.
Shooting without seeing what are you shooting at!!! Basic firearm safety - do not even put your finger on the trigger unless your target is clear and you firearm points at it. Some of his family could be sleep-walking, or neighbor's kid forgot his MAC and needed it urgently and was too embarrassed to wake anyone up, ... many things can happen in life.
 @Julie If there is only myself and my spouse in my home, and my spouse is at my side, then I would do the same thing. Blow holes in the nearest shadow.
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I mean, who else could it be? The missing-sock gnomes, taking socks out of the dryer?
Not the way I would have handled it, but I think old Read did OK.  He had an early warning system (dog), a weapon, and a plan.  He and his family are safe so he he succeeded.  At the end of the day results are what matters.
 @Siwash Very, very well put. Not a perfect plan, but a plan, and the good people didn't get hurt.
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I'm saddened that Mr Williamson had to use a firearm in what sounds to be a justifyable defensive act. I come away with two primary concerns.
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1) Knowing nothing about the layout of the home, or it's proximity to other homes, nor the attitude of the weapon when it was discharged, it's impossible for me to say... but.... Just firing a gun, ANY gun, in a 'direction' rather than at a target is a dangerous decision. One I very likely could have made myself in similar circumstances. I'm just very thankful that there were no perhiperal injuries to neighbors/pets/etc...
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2) I don't know if OR has a 'castle doctrine' law. I'm curious what the official response will be. My guess is that any DA/prosecutor would be a fool to try to file charges against Mr Williamson. I also know that, typically, the police will tend to side with property owners in such incidents. The crux of my thought has to do with whether the intruder presented a 'real and imminent threat' just by his presence?
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Thankfully, he didn't injure the intruder... Some ACLU lawyer hungry for judicial welfare would take the case and probably end up giving the thug his house and 401k.
Too bad he missed.Â
 @MagicMoose I think its lucky he missed. There was no direct threat. The burglar didn't saw " I'm gonna kill you or harm you, and he didn't even see the guy. Dude could have very early been charged with a crime. Just because a Burglar is in your home, doesn't mean you can use lethal force on him.
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 @MagicMoose He wasn't even aiming. This is what the problem is.
 @Agent Sydney Bristow  @MagicMoose It's just bird shot. The worst that could have happened is that the intruder would die and the excess shot would get lodged in drywall or the ceiling above the perp.
Glad he was able to defend his home and family. Also glad that no one was injured. Sounds like he was smart about only using the gun to startle the intruder, not to injure.
 @pdxd Not a good idea using one round as a warning shot to startle an intruder. Better to use a drill instructor voice to startle the intruder and the shotgun should the intruder prove to be more aggressive.
 @Saltire  @pdxd  Not to mention that chambering a round in a pump action shotgun should get the message across.
 @UtterReality haha...wat?Â
He missed? With a shotgun? Ennybodywannabet there was no intruder? Just an accidental discharge or he just thought he heard something.
 @Mechanic The way I read the story, the owner heard someone downstairs and fired down the stairway. Nothing says or implies that the intruder was in the stairway or that the owner saw someone. The noise of a shotgun blast would pretty much scare anyone out of the house. They might have to change underwear later but they would flee.
That's the story. For now. Let's see what the investigation reveals. Probably gonna be inconclusive. Maybe an intruder. Maybe not.
I fully support this man's right to bear arms and protect his family by using deadly force, if neccessary, but I would not condone just firing in the direction of "noises" from the downstairs hallway. I'm glad it wasn't one of the children sleep walking!Â
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Basic gun safety teaches never to fire a weapon unless you are certain of the target. Finally's basic gun safety includes "make sure that you don't miss".  If he had merely wounded the intruder, he'd likely be looking a lawsuit. Worse, if you are not sure of the target, then once the bullet (or pellets) leave the barrel, you have no control over where they go and merely firing in "the direction of and intruder" can easily result in injury or death to an innocent human being.
@Finally
how much you want to bet the shooter knows nothing about basic gun safety ?Â
@Mazda84 I don't know. People do strange things when they are scared. It's why we all need to think about what to do in these type of situations BEFORE they occur so that we can react intelligently instead of simply reacting.
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Think about what you will do if you are in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc. and someone enters the house. Is it night or day? Where are the children? Are you able to get to a weapon or not? What will you do in each circumstance. Knowing this ahead of time may well save your life or the life of someone you love.
 @Finally I condone it just fine. If my spouse is at my side, along with my dog, then either a burglar or a cockroach will get shot. Either way, whatever that shadow is, is dead.
@Improprietous
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Unfortunately, that type of thinking is going to lead to either a neighbor/small, sleep-walking child being shot and killed or yourself ending up with a lawsuit/prison time. Oregon law says that you cannot use deadly force against someone in your home unless they are posing an imminent threat to the life of someone in the home. That means that (as much as you'd like to) you cannot kill someone for merely being inside your home at 0330 in the morning.  Just as you cannot shoot someone in the back that has your TV under his arm and is running out the door. Â
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How many stories have you seen over the years of people waking up in the middle of the night or the next morning to find a drunk rummaging through their refrigerator, in the garage, or passed out on their couch? As I understand the circumstances surrounding this case if  this homeowner had hit the intruder, he'd be in serious trouble.
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Shooting at noises or shadows is a foolish and dangerous thing to do and you need to change the way you are thinking about this before you (God forbid) ever find yourself in this type of situation. All this homeowner had to do was rack a shell into the chamber and yell at the intruder to get the **** out of the house. It sounds like the intruder was already beating feet out of there when the guy fired through the floor - likely because he heard the man talkning or load his shotgun. There was no imminent threat and therefore no reason to discharge the firearm.
 @Improprietous I'll concede that there are strong protections for using deadly force against an intruder while inside a dwelling - which is as it should be. When I took my training in use of deadly force prior to 2007, the Oregon Supreme court had ruled that the individual was compelled to retreat whenever possible before using deadly force. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that even in the home an individual had better be able to show that there was a real threat or face possible criminal prosecution. I still think that is good advice because what is considered "reasonable belief" has never been clearly defined. But the actual use of deadly force is not what I am debating.
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From you posts, what you are advocating is blindly shooting at shadows or noises that you 'think' might be coming from an intruder inside a home and that is an inherently dangerous and foolish thing to do. It is too easy to make a mistake with a firearm because of target misidentification that results in serious injury or death to an innocent person. If you can't admit even that then I think you are actually a danger to others in your household and have some maturing to do.
@Finally
161.219¹ Limitations on use of deadly physical force in defense of a person
Notwithstanding the provisions of ORS 161.209 (Use of physical force in defense of a person), a person is not justified in using deadly physical force upon another person unless the person reasonably believes that the other person is:
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(1) Committing or attempting to commit a felony involving the use or threatened imminent use of physical force against a person; or
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(2) Committing or attempting to commit a burglary in a dwelling; or
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(3) Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force against a person. [1971 c.743 §23]
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**I believe that 161.219.2 will cover me**
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**Care to site YOUR source?**
This is exactly why gun laws need to be upheld so that we have the right to defend ourselves. Even though he didn't know who was down there, I feel that he did the right thing because it scared them away. Who else would be in your home at 3:30am?
 @portlandborn83 Depends on the age of his kids etc...
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I for one would never ever ever shoot at a noise without knowing exactly what made it.
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I was woken up by loud noises made by my sleep walking children on lots of occasions. One actually walked into the shower closed the door and then kept walking into it trying to get out making one hell of a racket.
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Now that they're older and teenagers who knows whether or not they'd sneak a friend in the house or try to sneak out themselves.
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I'd rather take a shot by an intruder then living with shooting one of my family members or their friends.
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First thing I've done every time the wife woke me up to clear the house was grab the gun. Locate all family members. Then knowing where everyone is you can decide to investigate further or wait at the top of the stairs until the police get there.
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After all as much as you would like to eliminate the threat Clint Eastwood style there's nothing in the house worth risking your family over so error on the side of keeping everyone healthy...
I don't believe this is a case of an "unidentified" target that he was just randomly shooting at.
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He knew where is wife, kids, and dogs were, anyone or anything else shouldn't be in the house. Therefore.. his identified target was the noise coming from down stairs in his house. The man took aim down the stairs, knowing that whatever was making those noises could potentially harm him and was in HIS house unlawfully. What would you expect the man do... wait until shots are fired at him?
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This is completely different then shooting into the bushes while hunting.. because the bushes moved.
Hmm... I agree with other posters... shooting at an unidentified target is not a really great idea...
 @margay1 AGREED
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 @margay1 Who else would be in your house at 330am? I say start shooting at shadows.
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Aim next time so you don't miss. Either that of get a 12ga.and number 6 shot.
Look for someone with dirty shorts.
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I agree with other posters. Firing a gun without knowing the intended target is not a good idea in an occupied home.
 @RalphCramden If the people occupying it are at your side, then fire away, I say.
@Improprietous @RalphCramden Hopefully your neighbors have bullet-proof walls and you have $1M in the bank to pay for the lawsuit. Think a little about what you are saying and consider the consequences. Reality is knocking. This isn't "Call of Duty".
 @Finally If bird-shot can make it through my floor, through the wall, to my neighbors house, through their wall, and into their body, then I'll buy stock in the ammunition supplier.
 @RalphCramden Have to admit Ralphie, you made me laugh about the shorts.