Good job by a Tulsa female officer.
Maybe it will remind her of why civilians need to be able to defend themselves, too. An armed officer orders a burglar to stop and he keeps coming.
from the Tulsa World today: (tulsaworld.com)
To Tulsa Police Officer Debra Baldwin, it still feels like she was just doing her job when she shot at the two burglars in the darkened home.
But it was her own home -- her furniture, walls and door that were riddled with bullet holes; her floors that bore the blood of one burglar, whom she shot in the leg.
"I walked into a crime in progress, and I took action," Baldwin said. "Right now it still feels like it was my job. It does not feel personal right now. Maybe it will in a couple of days."
Baldwin was on duty about 11 p.m. Monday when she went to her house to use the bathroom. The home, which is in the 200 block of East 46th Street, is within the jurisdiction of Uniform Division Southwest, where she works.
She parked her squad car out front and walked to the front door.
"I put my key in the door, but it was already unlocked," she said. "I know I locked the deadbolt when I left, so that got my senses up. I stepped inside the house, and it was completely black inside, which is how I left it."
As she stepped inside, she heard a noise in the hallway.
"I live alone, and there was not supposed to be anyone in my home. At that point, I pulled my gun, and I saw a man walk into the living room from the hallway," Baldwin said.
The man was coming from the direction of her bedroom, where she keeps her personal .38-caliber handgun, and he had something in his right hand, she said. Police later determined that the burglars had stolen the gun.
"I ordered him to stop and show me his hands, but he continued walking toward me," Baldwin said.
As the man advanced, she fired four rounds at him, and he fell back into the hallway, where she couldn't see him. Just then, she heard someone else in her kitchen. He ran to the back door and dived out the door's broken window as she fired more rounds.
"It was like a movie," Baldwin said. "He just exploded through the thing," she said of the door's window.
Baldwin said she backed out of the house and reloaded her gun as she waited to see if anyone would flee from the home. Using her police radio, she called for back-up officers.
"I said I had a burglary in progress and that I had a burglar in the living room and I had shot him," Baldwin said. "It seemed like an eternity before anyone got there, but I know it was less than a minute."
Other officers arrived and set up a perimeter. A K-9 officer located Antwan Sams, 20, hiding in the floorboard of Baldwin's neighbor's car. He was bleeding from gunshot wounds to his leg.
The other suspect fled the area in a blue car. Police continued to search Wednesday for the man, whom Baldwin described as black, about 6 feet tall and weighing 200 to 220 pounds.
In addition to dealing with her only shooting in the five years she has been a police officer, Baldwin also is realizing what it is like to be a victim.
"I have bullet holes in my couch and in my wall. I had to put in a new door today," she said.
"The suspect who I shot dragged himself everywhere looking for a way out. In every room of my house there were blood stains.
"All of my stuff was thrown all over the place. My clothes were on the floor. My gun was stolen, and my personal things were dug through," she said.
Thoughts of what might have happened have crossed her mind.
I am never going to walk into my dark house again. From now on, it will be well-lit. One thing I have been thinking about is what could have happened," Baldwin said.
"If I had not noticed the door being unlocked, I would not have had my gun out, and I would have walked right through and gone to the bathroom. I have been dealing with those thoughts today."
When confronted by the first intruder, Baldwin said, her police training kicked in.
"Had I not had the training I did, I would have never stayed in the house.
"If had been an average citizen, I would have backed out the door as fast as I could, but my training said I had a serious situation and I needed to deal with it," she said.
Baldwin said she stayed alone in her home the night after the shooting. She said she is not afraid of being there and that she tells those who ask that she has no intentions of moving.
And the next time she responds to a burglary call, Baldwin said, she will be armed with a new perspective.
"I have been on burglary calls before where the victim's privacy has been violated, just like mine was," she said.
"I did not have empathy before, but now I do. I could sympathize with them, but now I know what they have been through, and I can empathize."
Maybe it will remind her of why civilians need to be able to defend themselves, too. An armed officer orders a burglar to stop and he keeps coming.
from the Tulsa World today: (tulsaworld.com)
To Tulsa Police Officer Debra Baldwin, it still feels like she was just doing her job when she shot at the two burglars in the darkened home.
But it was her own home -- her furniture, walls and door that were riddled with bullet holes; her floors that bore the blood of one burglar, whom she shot in the leg.
"I walked into a crime in progress, and I took action," Baldwin said. "Right now it still feels like it was my job. It does not feel personal right now. Maybe it will in a couple of days."
Baldwin was on duty about 11 p.m. Monday when she went to her house to use the bathroom. The home, which is in the 200 block of East 46th Street, is within the jurisdiction of Uniform Division Southwest, where she works.
She parked her squad car out front and walked to the front door.
"I put my key in the door, but it was already unlocked," she said. "I know I locked the deadbolt when I left, so that got my senses up. I stepped inside the house, and it was completely black inside, which is how I left it."
As she stepped inside, she heard a noise in the hallway.
"I live alone, and there was not supposed to be anyone in my home. At that point, I pulled my gun, and I saw a man walk into the living room from the hallway," Baldwin said.
The man was coming from the direction of her bedroom, where she keeps her personal .38-caliber handgun, and he had something in his right hand, she said. Police later determined that the burglars had stolen the gun.
"I ordered him to stop and show me his hands, but he continued walking toward me," Baldwin said.
As the man advanced, she fired four rounds at him, and he fell back into the hallway, where she couldn't see him. Just then, she heard someone else in her kitchen. He ran to the back door and dived out the door's broken window as she fired more rounds.
"It was like a movie," Baldwin said. "He just exploded through the thing," she said of the door's window.
Baldwin said she backed out of the house and reloaded her gun as she waited to see if anyone would flee from the home. Using her police radio, she called for back-up officers.
"I said I had a burglary in progress and that I had a burglar in the living room and I had shot him," Baldwin said. "It seemed like an eternity before anyone got there, but I know it was less than a minute."
Other officers arrived and set up a perimeter. A K-9 officer located Antwan Sams, 20, hiding in the floorboard of Baldwin's neighbor's car. He was bleeding from gunshot wounds to his leg.
The other suspect fled the area in a blue car. Police continued to search Wednesday for the man, whom Baldwin described as black, about 6 feet tall and weighing 200 to 220 pounds.
In addition to dealing with her only shooting in the five years she has been a police officer, Baldwin also is realizing what it is like to be a victim.
"I have bullet holes in my couch and in my wall. I had to put in a new door today," she said.
"The suspect who I shot dragged himself everywhere looking for a way out. In every room of my house there were blood stains.
"All of my stuff was thrown all over the place. My clothes were on the floor. My gun was stolen, and my personal things were dug through," she said.
Thoughts of what might have happened have crossed her mind.
I am never going to walk into my dark house again. From now on, it will be well-lit. One thing I have been thinking about is what could have happened," Baldwin said.
"If I had not noticed the door being unlocked, I would not have had my gun out, and I would have walked right through and gone to the bathroom. I have been dealing with those thoughts today."
When confronted by the first intruder, Baldwin said, her police training kicked in.
"Had I not had the training I did, I would have never stayed in the house.
"If had been an average citizen, I would have backed out the door as fast as I could, but my training said I had a serious situation and I needed to deal with it," she said.
Baldwin said she stayed alone in her home the night after the shooting. She said she is not afraid of being there and that she tells those who ask that she has no intentions of moving.
And the next time she responds to a burglary call, Baldwin said, she will be armed with a new perspective.
"I have been on burglary calls before where the victim's privacy has been violated, just like mine was," she said.
"I did not have empathy before, but now I do. I could sympathize with them, but now I know what they have been through, and I can empathize."