Mom who shot intruder inspires gun control foes
LOGANVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia mother who shot an intruder at her home has become a small part of the roaring gun control debate, with some firearms enthusiasts touting her as a textbook example of responsible gun ownership.
Melinda Herman grabbed a handgun and hid in a crawl space with her two children when a man broke in last week and approached the family at their home northeast of Atlanta, police said. Herman called her husband on the phone, and with him reminding her of the lessons she recently learned at a shooting range, Herman opened fire, seriously wounding the burglary suspect.
The National Rifle Association tweeted a link to a news story about the shooting, and support poured in from others online, hailing Herman as a hero. The local sheriff said he was proud of the way she handled the situation.
"This lady decided that she wasn't going to be a victim, and I think everyone else looks at this and hopes they have the courage to do what she done," Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said Wednesday.
Herman was working from home Friday when she saw a man walk up to the front door. She told police he rang the doorbell twice and then over and over again. He went back to his SUV, got something out and walked back toward the house, a police report said.
Herman took her 9-year-old son and daughter into an upstairs bedroom and locked the door. They went into bathroom and she locked that door, too. She got her handgun from a safe, the report said, and hid with her children. At some point, she called her husband, who kept her on the line and called 911 on another line.
In a 10-minute 911 recording released by the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Donnie Herman calmly explained what was happening to a dispatcher. His part of the conversation with his wife was also recorded.
"Is he in the house, Melinda? Are you sure? How do you know? You can hear him in the house?" Donnie Herman said.
His wife told him the intruder was coming closer.
"He's in the bedroom? Shh, shh, relax. Just remember everything that I showed you, everything that I taught you, all right?" Donnie Herman told his wife, explaining later to the dispatcher that he had recently taken her to a gun range.
It wasn't clear from the recording exactly when they went to range and Donnie Herman told The Associated Press on Wednesday the family didn't want to talk about the shooting.
After Donnie Herman told his wife police were on the way, he started shouting: "She shot him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him."
"OK," the dispatcher responded.
"Shoot him again! Shoot him!" Donnie Herman yelled. He told the dispatcher he heard a lot of screaming, but he seems to get increasingly worried when he doesn't hear anything from his wife.
Melinda Herman told police she started shooting the man when he opened the door to the crawl space. The man pleaded with her to stop, but she kept firing until she had emptied her rounds, she told police. She then fled to a neighbor's house with her children.
The man drove away in his SUV. Police found the SUV on another subdivision street and discovered a man bleeding from his face and body in a nearby wooded area. Police identified the suspect as 32-year-old Paul Slater of Atlanta.
Chapman said the hospital asked him not to comment on Slater's condition, but he said he is not certain Slater will survive. Authorities have a warrant but haven't formally arrested Slater yet. They plan to charge him with burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and aggravated assault, Walton County sheriff's Capt. Greg Hall said.
A phone number for Slater was not listed and it was not clear whether he has an attorney.
Authorities believe Slater targeted a home in another local subdivision but left when confronted by the homeowner, Chapman said.
Melinda Herman grabbed a handgun and hid in a crawl space with her two children when a man broke in last week and approached the family at their home northeast of Atlanta, police said. Herman called her husband on the phone, and with him reminding her of the lessons she recently learned at a shooting range, Herman opened fire, seriously wounding the burglary suspect.
The National Rifle Association tweeted a link to a news story about the shooting, and support poured in from others online, hailing Herman as a hero. The local sheriff said he was proud of the way she handled the situation.
"This lady decided that she wasn't going to be a victim, and I think everyone else looks at this and hopes they have the courage to do what she done," Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said Wednesday.
Herman was working from home Friday when she saw a man walk up to the front door. She told police he rang the doorbell twice and then over and over again. He went back to his SUV, got something out and walked back toward the house, a police report said.
Herman took her 9-year-old son and daughter into an upstairs bedroom and locked the door. They went into bathroom and she locked that door, too. She got her handgun from a safe, the report said, and hid with her children. At some point, she called her husband, who kept her on the line and called 911 on another line.
In a 10-minute 911 recording released by the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Donnie Herman calmly explained what was happening to a dispatcher. His part of the conversation with his wife was also recorded.
"Is he in the house, Melinda? Are you sure? How do you know? You can hear him in the house?" Donnie Herman said.
His wife told him the intruder was coming closer.
"He's in the bedroom? Shh, shh, relax. Just remember everything that I showed you, everything that I taught you, all right?" Donnie Herman told his wife, explaining later to the dispatcher that he had recently taken her to a gun range.
It wasn't clear from the recording exactly when they went to range and Donnie Herman told The Associated Press on Wednesday the family didn't want to talk about the shooting.
After Donnie Herman told his wife police were on the way, he started shouting: "She shot him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him."
"OK," the dispatcher responded.
"Shoot him again! Shoot him!" Donnie Herman yelled. He told the dispatcher he heard a lot of screaming, but he seems to get increasingly worried when he doesn't hear anything from his wife.
Melinda Herman told police she started shooting the man when he opened the door to the crawl space. The man pleaded with her to stop, but she kept firing until she had emptied her rounds, she told police. She then fled to a neighbor's house with her children.
The man drove away in his SUV. Police found the SUV on another subdivision street and discovered a man bleeding from his face and body in a nearby wooded area. Police identified the suspect as 32-year-old Paul Slater of Atlanta.
Chapman said the hospital asked him not to comment on Slater's condition, but he said he is not certain Slater will survive. Authorities have a warrant but haven't formally arrested Slater yet. They plan to charge him with burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and aggravated assault, Walton County sheriff's Capt. Greg Hall said.
A phone number for Slater was not listed and it was not clear whether he has an attorney.
Authorities believe Slater targeted a home in another local subdivision but left when confronted by the homeowner, Chapman said.
This is what must happen to any and all criminals who want to invade the homes of people who are law abiding citizens, anyone who has thoughts of attacking or robing people in their own homes should be aware that deadly force may be waiting behind that door. great job.
Something to think about when you are on the line to 911 and that is everything 911 hears from you can and will be used against you in court or a civil suit. You have given up the right to remain silent. Great job Melinda exercising your 2nd Amendment right. Glad you didn't wait for the second responders (police) or your husband might be a widower. The Bill of Rights made this possible and possibly Sam Colt not Barry, Joe, Bill, Hillary, Diane, NY Mike or Sarah Brady.
Good for her. It sounds like she had excellent gun control.
And one thing that struck me was... if he was just there with the intent to steal, he wouldn't have tracked her to the bathroom. If he'd have heard noise purely from a stealing standpoint he'd have probably left. My guess is he had more intentions than just stealing.
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However, even if it was just the intent to steal, you play the game you assume the risks. You earned each of your new scars there bub.
Amazing story with a such a great outcome too boot!  It also shows how scary tough some of the bad guys are.  A healthy human male can do huge amounts of damage to a smaller person with just his bare hands.
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These stories are more common than most people think. This one was reported due to the gun control issues surrounding the recent mass shooting and the fact it was a mother protecting her family. Any other time the liberal media refuses to report on these incidents because it doesn't fit their anti gun agenda.
@MadMax64 BS. WAY more people are killed by guns because of an agressive or careless gun owner than are saved by situations like Georgia Mom. And by they way, the number of people killed by gunfire in this country is over ten thousand a year. It Georgia Mom incidents are more than ten a year, color me shocked. Further, what is not stated in the story, but it is patently obvious that she had a loaded firearm available. It would be available to the kids in the house, too.
 @Mechanic  @MadMax64Â
You are dead wrong, and you present no data whatsoever.Â
The HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DEFENSIVE FIREARMS USES PER YEAR are a statistical fact, demonstrated over and over again.
Read and learn:
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdguse.html
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvsupp.html
 @Mechanic You fail at reading comprehension or you didn't read it. The article states that she retrieved it from a safe. and "Way more people..." is not a citation.
@MadMax64 They also don't repeat outside the local area many of the murders where a firearm was involved. No bias, they have a limited space and need to focus on stories people will click on. If Lindsay Lohan gets more clicks than Georgia mom, they run with Lohan. It reflects more on the population as a whole than on the media.
Almost all the self-defense uses of firearms involve NO ONE GETTING SHOT - the bad guy turns and runs. Those hundreds of thousands of cases per year never get reported to the media or recorded anywhere. That's the real story here: guns in the hands of honest people PREVENT violence.
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http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdguse.html
@alohan HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, you say. BS. Start to finish. You or Wayne LaPierre made that up.
 @Mechanic  @alohanÂ
Did you check the link, or are you immune to peer-reviewed studies?
My two cents; for right or wrong............without the gun and her ability to use it, this could have turned out much, much differently for the family !
@Rob C 503 coulda, woulda, shoulda........ she shot the P.O.C. and the family is fine...........
@STEELHEAD .......thanks for the much over used, worn out cliche.
@Rob C 503 You are so right, Rob C. The woman's husband could very well have had to listen to his wife and children be murdered.
@theprodigal No. She could have called the effing police instead of her husband.
 @Mechanic  And, if the local police is any indication, they would have arrived in time to find her and her kids dead on the floor (in all likelihood). The time I had an alarm and needed the police to come, it was well over half an hour. And I lived less than 10 blocks from the police station. Half an hour would have been far too long to save this family.
Glad this worked out the way it's supposed to... Â this lady and her kids are safe and sound, and the criminal is not (safe and sound)... she did well..! Â Her husband should be commended for teaching her how to handle the firearm and for giving her guidance and support on the telephone when she needed it. Â Â I also note that they had their gun stored in a safe - good..!
That last sentence in the story is interesting.."Authorities believe Slater targeted a home in another local subdivision but left when confronted by the homeowner, Chapman said." Â If Mr Slater survives, he might want to consider another "career" choice when he get out of prison... he doesn't seem to be very well suited to being a burglar...
Absolutely great that she could take care of herself and her children.   5 chumks of lead stopped him.    Glad that he was able to get to his vehicle and get away from the house.  It could have tramatized the kids even more to witness his death (if he had). Â
The safe was in a bathroom? And the bathroom was in a crawl space? Or did the bathroom have a crawl space?
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Glad she was able to take care of the issue with a revolver and didn't need an assault weapon.
 @volunteer The guy was still an able bodied threat, when she ran out of ammo, a fact which was curiously left out of this version of the story. She got lucky there was only one assailant, he wasn't on meth/pcp/etc, and that he changed his mind about what he was doing with his life at that moment. Granted, luck is a great thing to have on your side, but it can't always be. For those luckless circumstances a few 30rnd magazines will serve nicely to even the odds.
 @volunteer Assault rifles have long been illegal. If she had used an AR15 it would have been the same as using a revolver, as she'd have to pull the trigger each time to get a round to discharge.
A heart warming story.......... great job Melinda, great job for the husband to teach her how to handle the firearm.