Could Have Gone South, Quickly!

[roguesam]

Folks,

I awoke @ appx 2:30 AM the other morning and could not go back to sleep. Went online to surf a bit when the power went out. Scramled and got candles out and switched my phone line to a hardwire phone. Called power company to report the outage. About 15-20 minutes later, I have two unknown vehicles coming up my driveway and park maybe 25 yards from the house. I live in a very rural location, with almost no unannounced visitors showing up, so I was a bit nervous. Retrieved a six inch S&W Model 19 from the living room and not wanting to tip my hand, kept it low and colse to my right leg while sticking my head out the door, asking if "I could help them." They replied, " We are following up on a 911 hangup call." Only at this point was I able to determine it was two Sherrif's deputies and they were cruisers/squad cars. YIKES! Fortunately, they never "made" the handgun at my side. I quickly set the firearm to the side and went out to speak with them. I never have programmed ANY phone for quick dialing 911, so it could not have been the cause. Woke my wife to reassure them it was in error, but MAN, that could have been an UGLY situation!.

 

[USN2Pulpit]

Glad you exercized discretion!

 

[Treo]

They were on your private property, they didn't announce themselves or do anything to identify themselves and you think they would have taken exception to you arming yourself before sticking your head out the door? (which was an incredibly bad tactical decision BTW)

 

[Tucker's Mom]

15 or 20 minutes later could have been too late for a hanged 911 call. I am glad everything turned OK...I somnambulate at early morning hours too. Just because it is easier for me to work and think before the jerks ruins my day. Then go back to sleep happier and with a smile on my face for having accomplished something. This is just one thing bad about having my office/den at the end of the hall from our bedroom -- i don't have after hours. :biggrin:

And oh, if I do not have anything to do really at an unholy hour, I go here at this forum too and check for new messages...start at the Off Topic first...before I know it, my two hours limit had passed.

 

[Deserteagle]

There are a lot of police impersonators out there however.

I have the feeling if this happened to me, I would put my Glock in my waistband at 6 O clock, and sling my shotgun over my shoulder and then go talk to them rather than disarm. They were on your property after all, no need to disarm yourself.

 

[SGB]

Op you handled the incident just fine. Be Polite, be Professional and have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

 

[roguesam]

They were on your private property, they didn't announce themselves or do anything to identify themselves and you think they would have taken exception to you arming yourself before sticking your head out the door? (which was an incredibly bad tactical decision BTW)

I simply have no problem speaking with LEO's unarmed. I was concerned that they could have been VERY nervous meeting a man, armed, following up on a 911 hangup. True, I had no idea WHAT they were there for, but antagonizing them is not my purpose. As SGB's signature line says, "It's easier to avoid conflict, than survive it".

 

[Mobuck]

A few years ago my daughter was a night shift 911 dispatcher for our county Sheriff's office. Sometime around 2am one morning I woke for no particular reason and padded through the house checking things out. In the limited amount of moonlight, I saw a car parked at the end of my driveway.The dome light was on but I couldn't see inside due to some bushes. Looking through the binos hanging near the front window, I thought I could see a light bar on top but not sure. I called daughter on her cell phone rather than the recorded 911 line and asked if there was something going on. She told me a deputy was somewhere up in this area but he was lost and looking at his map trying to find himself. I told her to have him look toward the mailbox he was sitting beside and flipped my laser on the mailbox. If he saw a laser dot, she could give him directions to "find himself". She said the deputy asked how I knew he was there and what that laser was attached to. I think she indicated there was probably a good reason the laser wasn't pointed at the car. She razzed him about that for a couple of months.

 

[weirdodaddy]

I work in radio and learned the same way about 911 hang up calls. We had a cordless phone tied to a fax machine and the power went out in our building overnight one night. I got a call from the police saying they had received a 911 hang up call from our offices. I met them there and we went looking. They spotted the phone. They told me that a lot of cordless phones will call 911 when the power goes out and the battery runs low. It was a flaw in the chip set of the phone. Those phones usually have the buttons across the top for fire and police one button calls. And since the battery was low, once it called 911 it died and therefore hung up the phone. They told me that they see it a lot. Funny, because I had never heard of it before or since, until now.

Doug

 

[eagleeyes]

i never heard of a phone calling 911 like that either
i'm glad you decided to put the gun down in your situation that night as it could have gone south really quick for sure
stay safe folks

 

[Bikenut]

We had a State Trooper come to the door one evening. Said they had a 911 hang up from our address. We asserted it wasn't us and he left. Not one word was said about my sidearm.

Wife and I suspect perhaps it was the neighbor lady talking on her cell phone while cutting across our front yard earlier was the source of the call. She and her hubby often have loud ... umm... discussions... that upset her.