What to do ?

Call the cops and stay inside. Get the family to a "safe" place inside the home. If anyone comes barging through, then you open fire. Going outside with a rifle is not really self defense. Warning shots are a VERY BAD IDEA. I'm sure he was scared, but I don't think this is going to end up well for him.
 
I agree with Stephen. If I was a man fearing for the safety of his family, I might call 911, wait about two minutes while I get my family into the basement or somewhere safe, then yell out the door "Police on their way!"

Not being a man, I'd diall 911 and get into the safe room with my guns, skip the warning. Or if I had an opportunity to get out the back and run without being seen, I would, probably with at least two weapons on me, concealed, and a phone. I probably can't defend myself from multiple attackers.

Please post more info if you get some. I'm interested to see how this develops. I'm also wary of how news gets reported.
 
1. Stay inside the house.
2. Call 911 and report a riot in progress.
3. Get out the digital camera and take photos/video of the ruckus.
4. If the mob tries to break into the house, then and only then would I feel justified in squeezing the trigger. I think the fact that the guy went outside to confront the mob and then fired shots is what got him into hot water.

The article makes no mention of what action the police took against the mob. THAT should have been their focus of attention.
 
Someone asked about what happened to the crowd; I would bet the shot fired into the air dispersed the crowd with effectiveness.

Warning shots, never a good idea.

I like the call of riot in progress, would get some police over quite quickly.

Again, warning shots, never a good idea. I say this because I see it come up all the time. There was a case where a kid broke into an occupied home, attempted to attack the homeowner, and was shot and killed. The family of the kid said "he should have fired a warning shot" like a warning shot would have stopped the kid's forward momentum into the elderly man. This question also came up in my CPL class, one of the students asked if they could fire a warning shot instead of killing someone. Our instructor (thankfully) said that it was not a good idea for a variety of reasons. One being this.
 
I like the idea of the video camera, but don't think I would have thought of it. I don't like the idea of leaving. Wife and kids in basement, me armed between the door and them, have them call the police from the basement so I don't have a phone in my hand when the front door caves in.
 
I have actually been in a similar situation.

Some people in my neighborhood were throwing a party. When it didn't end by 1am I called the police. I was not going to walk through a crowd of 30+ people to ask the person to end the party. The majority of the people were in their late teens and early twentys. All it would take is one person with more beer, and testosterone, than inteligence in their brain for things to turn bad.

I called the cops and they came to disperse the party. After the cops left one of the partiers decided to drive their car in to my drive way and turn their car stereo up rather loud. Two others parked in the street and started racing the motors on their little rice burners. The fourth guy pulled his truck in to the yard and started playing the radio loudly.

I called the cops and asked them to come back out because of the problem. I told them that I had my family moved in to a safer part of the house. Then I told the operator that I had a rifle and would fire on anyone that became violent or tried to enter the house.

I then handed the phone to my wife and moved to a place where I could keep an eye on the people outside untill the cops came back. The police arrived and hauled the guys that actually entered my property off to jail. The other two they arrested for underage drinking and DUI under 21.

The guy in the story should have done something similar. Running out in to the neighborhood firing shots is irresponsible. He could have injured or killed someone that wasn't involved in the melee. I think he deserves some form of consequence. Not to mention he was not being directly threatened.
 
Like others have said, warning shot are usually a bad idea, especially in a city or suburban area. I'd agree that in the OP's scenario, the guy shouldn't have fired warning shots. You simply have react smarter than that.

There may be times when a warning shot is appropriate, though. For instance, if you live in a rural area and you have some trespassers, squaters, etc. I know many of you may dissagree with me, but it is a technique that has worked for many decades.
 
I agree with the posters who said that warning shots are a bad idea. We have a "Nieghborhood Watch" and the police have advised us not to go outside an confront the BGs. Still I hope that justice prevails which should be a small fine accompanied by a lecture for discharging a firearm in the city limits. True JUSTICE is as rare as an honest politician these days. Best, Lyle

" I took an oath right there never to surrender at the muzzle of a gun. I have never done so". John Wesely Hardin
 
Note the number of comments to the story !!
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Those posters are vicious. They talk about killing cops and well:

I’d rather carry a cop… a Dead one! and just Throw his fat piggy ass on top of anyone threatening me! what are they going to do, take away my weapon? soon, there will be plenty more where he came from…
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:barf:

I can't tell if they are fed up or just hate cops. Either way I would hate to see a lot of them carrying guns if that is the way they think.
 
Two others parked in the street and started racing the motors on their little rice burners. The fourth guy pulled his truck in to the yard and started playing the radio loudly.
Click to expand...

Just curious, but what were your other neighbors doing during all of this. Any of THEM call the police or lend any support?:cool:
 
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