Don't Let This Happen to You...

48 HOURS' TV SERIES "HUNTING HUMANS"

Massachusetts Family Fights Off Serial Killer and Lives To Tell: Were They Just Lucky? His other victims weren't. In a Home Invasion, NOT Fighting Back Is NOT an option! The Question Is HOW? Are YOU Prepared to Defend Your Home?

Crimesider asked former cop and self-defense expert John Perkins for practical advice on surviving a home invasion:
 
The McDonough family made the right choice by fighting back against their attacker. If immediate escape is impossible, fighting for your life is the only wise plan of action. Serial killers are amoral psychopaths and a home invasion is essentially a take-no-prisoners war zone. If you want to live you need to have a war-like strategy and mindset. Not fighting back is not an option. The following bullet points provide a blueprint for survival:

•       Get a dog suitable for home protection (or at least has a loud bark).
•       Keep shrubbery low; thorny bushes under windows are best.
•       Install motion sensor lighting.
•       Install a good alarm system with multiple redundancies (motion and glass break sensors, panic alarm pendant, wireless window switches and barrier bars). Local companies with a long history in an area and many positive recommendations are often more reliable than large national companies.
•       Make sure you can clearly see anyone on your doorstep from inside the house via a peep sight, camera system, etc.
•       Check and install police-recommended door and window locks.
•       Do NOT open your door to ANYONE you don’t know or aren’t expecting. Criminals often use ruses to gain entry, posing as repairmen, mail carriers, etc. They may even feign an emergency or use women and children to get you to open the door. Don’t do it just call 911 to summon help.
•       Make your bedroom your hardened “fallback room” with a secure door and lock. Door jam bars are best.
•       If home invaders have made it past your motion lights, locks, alarm, dog and any other measures, you have a deadly serious problem.
•       Inside the bedroom, keep a charged cell phone so that you can bypass cut phone lines to call 911, and a pump-action 20- or 12-gauge shotgun in case the intruders get through the door. No sane person will keep coming after hearing the shotgun being racked. If they do breach the bedroom door, don’t hesitate to empty the shotgun into them. In case you don’t have time to get everyone into the bedroom during a lighting-fast home invasion, it is best to carry a large-capacity handgun (with which you are licensed and trained) on your person while you are at home. Train combat shooting under chaotic conditions.
•       Get enhanced, reality-based close combat training so that you can fight hand-to-hand if and when guns jam.
•       Practice a home evacuation plan that involves your entire family and includes “all clear” signals. If your perimeter is breached, everybody should try to get out through the nearest window or door and get a neighbor’s attention.
•       Never enter your home if you have reason to suspect there’s been a break-in (e.g. damaged door or window frame, key won’t fit in lock). Leave the area and call 911 to have the police check it out."

John Perkins is a retired New York Police Detective, Blood Spatter and Crime Scene Expert. He is a martial arts Grandmaster who trains US marines, FBI agents and federal air marshals in self-defense. Perkins is the founder of Attackproof.com Inc., which specializes in teaching self-defense.

BEST TOOLS FOR BASIC AWARENESS, PREVENTION AND SELF DEFENSE:

   

HOW TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE
THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PART 1
THE GUIDED CHAOS WEAPONS SERIES

WATCH ALL THE "DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU" VIDEOS:

--LIVE TO TELL: "HUNTING HUMANS"
--LIVE TO TELL: "THE RIVER'S EDGE"
--THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY
--THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
--TAKEN

SEE ALSO:
-- 10 BEST SELF-DEFENSE AWARENESS TIPS