A Wasilla, AK resident got a surprise visitor at her home at about 10:00 PM a few nights back. A 66-year-old man showed up at her home, intoxicated and carrying an axe. He used that axe to force his way into the home, and once inside, he threatened to kill the 55-year-old woman resident.
She was having none of that, though, grabbed a pistol and shot him ending his threats. He was transported to a hospital for surgery to treat his non-life-threatening injuries. The local District Attorney’s office said the homeowner would not be charged. I can’t say the same for the suspect. Whether or not the suspect knew the homeowner was not reported, I would suspect that this wasn’t a random attack.
It’s no stretch to say that people do stupid things they probably wouldn’t otherwise do when intoxicated, whether that be on alcohol or some other drug. One of the difficulties with intoxicated attackers is that it’s very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to talk them down or in any way reason with them.
But there simply is no way that this woman couldn’t take his threats seriously. When you use an axe to force your way into someone’s home and then threaten to kill them, you’re not leaving your victim too many options.
Fortunately, he wasn’t able to hurt the homeowner. But would that have been the case if she hadn’t been prepared to defend herself? While it’s true that the actual odds of needing a firearm to defend yourself are low. It’s also true that if you do need one and don’t have it, the results can be catastrophic. How else is a 55-year-old woman going to defend herself against a drunken man wielding an axe?
