Pantagraph.com | News | Normal man wakes up to find two masked men with handguns in bedroom

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

bkr0521 wrote on Jul 23, 2008 8:54 PM:

" To tiredofit- I'm thinking the three criminals did not "case the joint" and did not know they wouldn't get much there and that it was a 21 yr old living there who wouldn't have much. Plus, they woke the guy up, they maybe could have found more. To King Solomon- I'm thinking nobody will know who you are or where you live, so if it's in Blm-Normal, you may get broke into to. I'm glad, once again, not to live in Bloomington/Normal. Way too violent. "

irishman wrote on Jul 23, 2008 4:52 PM:

" Crooks, if you come to my house, my lady shoots as well as anyone I know. "

KingSalmon wrote on Jul 23, 2008 3:48 PM:

" A warning to all would-be intruders:

"TRUST ME- NOTHING ON MY PROPERTY IS WORTH YOUR LIFE!" "

Country Boy wrote on Jul 23, 2008 11:29 AM:

" DirtyHarry, great comment! I could not agree more. Over65 has the right mindset. A secure house is the first thing, a good watchdog is the second. Having a weapon is the last defense, hopefully you will not have to use it, but if you do please be prepared and ready to defend your family. I hope that I never have to deal with that situation but I live in the middle of nowhere and calling 911 would take at least 15 minutes, by then its over... "

iluvchoc wrote on Jul 23, 2008 11:14 AM:

" To JD:

Why do you think FOID card holders are dangerous.....we are the ones who have taken the responsibility to obtain our weapons in the proper / legal manner. I am ready and able to defend my home and family and yes I can be dangerous to those folks who do not belong there!

As a general comment I think everyone should invest in a good security system and a gun. "

candi wrote on Jul 23, 2008 10:52 AM:

" well, at least the police believed the victim. My son was beaten by an assailant in a home invasion with a gun, and held hostage for several hours with threats like, "you are going to die"....and the police told him that his story didn't sound right, and declined to arrest the assailant, even though they caught him. This happened in a city on the east coast, so we could have it worse.... "

BigBrother wrote on Jul 23, 2008 10:45 AM:

" If Pontiac is closing it could be converted to a county facility and used to house overflow of prisoners from all the surrounding counties. All of a sudden we will have plenty of room for the criminals that rely o nthe county jails being full to run the streets and commit additional crimes. The states attorneys office cuts deals to release violent criminals on probation because of the shortage of jail cells. The state has given central illinois lemons so lets make lemonade!!! "

tiredofit wrote on Jul 23, 2008 10:39 AM:

" Am I the only one that thinks it a wee bit strange that 3 armed men bothered to rob someone at gun point for only $200. And the person robbed was only 21 years old. It seems there is more to this story than was printed. "

DirtyHarry wrote on Jul 23, 2008 10:15 AM:

" I would like to see a website where they post the names of people that post stupid comments. JD would be first on the list with Charlemagne a close second. "

Bloomington Girl wrote on Jul 23, 2008 9:50 AM:

" To: Sigh-VERY WELL SAID...I couldnt agree more with everything in your post. "

over65 wrote on Jul 23, 2008 9:31 AM:

" Mrs. and Cubbie Blue have it right except for one item.
A dog can alert you.
A handgun is a backup. Store a semi-automatic with the magazine removed and be proficient in loading and locking.
My weapon of choice in a high crime area would be a 12 ga. pump shotgun with an 18 inch cylinder bore barrel loaded with #4 shot. The shotgun is fairly safe with children if it is stored high on a wall without a round in the chamber. The sound of jacking a round into the chamber will send most intruders running for the door! "

Sigh wrote on Jul 23, 2008 9:30 AM:

" Some of the comments here… well they hurt my head.

First, you can still use discretion even if you are armed. If you wake up finding yourself surrounded by armed men you probably shouldn’t try to resist (unless they attempt to bind you or take you somewhere- that is an indicator that you will not live). If on the other hand you have a good security system, good situational awareness and foresight you should never wake up surrounded by anyone. Being armed is only one part, getting the warning needed to use it correctly is key. Also, a gun in a closet is a useless paperweight.

To the poster that said it is bad to shoot three people over $200, let me set that straight. People who do something like this are unstable and you have no way of knowing what they want until after the fact. Even if they don’t hurt you they WILL do this kind of thing again and the next victim may not be so lucky. By choosing to invade your life like this, these people have made the decision to put their lives in your hands(not you) and there is no moral dilemma. "

bkr0521 wrote on Jul 23, 2008 9:10 AM:

" I realize I am late getting into the "action" here, but adonis, say you pull your gun on a rapist & he then pulls out his gun and tells you to drop yours or he will shoot her? Or if he just pulls his gun and shoots your wife because you were too surprised to do anything? I really don't see that a gun is the ultimate solution as many of you seem to think. "

kadiddlehopper wrote on Jul 22, 2008 11:24 PM:

" I am very upset with all the violence that has happened in the less than two years since I moved here for " a better community". The demographics are very misleading when looking at B-N. The unemployment rate and above all, the crime rate are very inaccurate. I was lucky enough to land a very good job in the field in which I have many years of experience, but all of the violent crime that has occurred in the time I have lived here is very unsettling. What can be done? I don't want to have a gun in my home, but even the "good neighborhoods" are not safe anymore. What can we do to send a message that this will not be tolerated? We need support from the court system. The police can only help at the time and these "perps" are way too protected by their "rights" when they hit the courtroom. We have to do something to stop this nonsense!!!! "

Cowgirl wrote on Jul 22, 2008 9:25 PM:

" Blogger and Big Brother, I absolutely agree with you both. I think there should be a page of people with outstanding warrents not just one person listed a week. "

Rolling Eyes wrote on Jul 22, 2008 8:58 PM:

" Try this on me, and you will feel the sting of 124 grains. "

crazyneighbor wrote on Jul 22, 2008 8:38 PM:

" JD : Just because I have a FOID card I am dangerous? Or is it because I have a legal/registered weapon under my bed, does that make me dangerous? I also have two noisy dogs, and yes they are dangerous too. I have a beautiful wife, that I love very much, but when she's grumpy she's the most dangerous of all.

I could be your best friends, neighbors and co-workers and I would never be dangerous to you. If you come into my house with ill intentions, unannounced, and illegally...please.

Posting FOID card holders tells the criminals where the guns are. This does a few things. 1. It keeps petty thieves from breaking into those homes in fear of whats inside. 2. It tells hardend criminals where the guns are that they would like to have, thus more illegal/stolen weapons on the street. And 3 you have more cases of home owners shooting illegal intruders...giving you more time to blog about the same ole' stuff. "

Charlemagne wrote on Jul 22, 2008 8:19 PM:

" no one is telling your wife to take one for the team. 90% of rapes occur from someone you know, the other 9.99999% come from random attacks outside, usually at night. So if your wife is part of the .01% of women who are raped, and then parto of the 0.00001% of those woman who would have someone break into your house to rape her, while you stood by helpless b/c you don't have a gun, then, yes I suppose a weapon may be useful, but the execption makes a poor reason. The safety of your wife is decreased by the presence of a weapon, not increased. There is no way I would have one of those around my loved ones. "

adonis wrote on Jul 22, 2008 7:24 PM:

" Some of us have the self control to know we would not use a gun "in haste". If you have anger management issues that is between you and your shrink. Some of us prefer not to tell our wives to lay back and take one for the team because a little thing like a sexual assault "isn't worth three people dying over". "

Lurg86 wrote on Jul 22, 2008 7:15 PM:

" I wish to hell some thugs would try this at my house. I have a pair waiting for them. One is 125 lbs and goes by the name of Mr. Dog, the other is 80 lbs. and goes by the name of DD. DD stands for dogs date, and these two rotweilers will tear up anything that moves through the front door. There are too many people walking up and down the streets in my neighborhood for firearms, so I have the next best thing. Two very well trained and always on the job watch dogs. Today in this area a citizen must take precautions to protect their homes and families. I have the best of both worlds with my dogs, protection and companionship. "

bigdaddy wrote on Jul 22, 2008 7:04 PM:

" COME ON PEOPLE, GIVE THE INTRUDERS A BREAK... THEY WERE PROBABLY JUST SHOPPING FOR A HOUSE FOR THE UPCOMING SEMESTER.... "

Charlemagne wrote on Jul 22, 2008 5:57 PM:

" to Education_is_key: I agree (see my sarcastic post below). I don't understand why someone would want to have a weapon that is designed to hurt someone and can be used in haste, on accident, or against them. Most robbers rather get what they came for and get out, they don't want to physically hurt anyone. If he did have a weapon and used it, they would have used theirs and instead of losing $200, he would have probably lost his life. "

mdorf4 wrote on Jul 22, 2008 5:10 PM:

" I know, assaulting batmom and batsister just isn't right. "

JD wrote on Jul 22, 2008 4:17 PM:

" I like the poster's idea of posting criminals with oustanding warrants on a website. I wouild also like to see FOID holders posted on the site too. It is important that we know ALL the dangerous people. "

MRS. wrote on Jul 22, 2008 4:10 PM:

" That was the point sumnergrad, they can’t do anything. With some of the comments here some do not know how and when to use a gun and believe me, there is nothing worse than a gun in the hands of someone with a shootum up attitude. That is why coming to Bloomington is sounding scarier than the terrorists. "

Education_is_key wrote on Jul 22, 2008 3:52 PM:

" (To those who believe using violence to end violence works) When thinking of how to respond to people, Martin Luther King Jr. I believe said it best: "The reason I can' t follow the old eye-for-an-eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everyone blind. Somebody must have sense" Somebody's got to have some sense in Bloomington-Normal...where's all the people with sense, compassion, who are willing to stand against violence rather than be a part of it?? I'm willing, I do what I can, so I challenge the rest of you to take a stand against violence, if you aren't already. "

JimmyChooGirl wrote on Jul 22, 2008 1:42 PM:

" We are doomed...Batman was arressted on assault charges...and I don't think he's from Chicago. "

blogger wrote on Jul 22, 2008 12:51 PM:

" Bigbrother: That IS a good idea. I wonder if they don't do it b/c the jails are full and if they actually caught all those people, we couldn't hold them locally. I hear they have folks sleeping on the floors in mclean county jail right now. Even Peoria has that crimestoppers on TV as a commerical. We should at least consider doing that. "

sumnergrad wrote on Jul 22, 2008 12:12 PM:

" Mrs. What good would a hand gun locked in a closet have done this man. One man with a hand gun against three men with hand guns equals one dead victim. A dog or an alarm system is he only thing that may have helped. If I had a hand gun, I would probably end of shooting myself, because i would be so scared. "

OODuck wrote on Jul 22, 2008 11:31 AM:

" Is this the same report from yesterday ? Except one less perpetrator and one more gun. Same time ,same bat channel...HOLY CRIME SCENE!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice the Super Friends have just finished their breakfast after a hard night of crime fighting and specials on domestics. "

Not so Political wrote on Jul 22, 2008 11:12 AM:

" Well we can not blame this crime in the summer on those mean out of line collage students. Uptown is just going down hill fast. "

isunormalil wrote on Jul 22, 2008 11:11 AM:

" What is a gun going to do against two armed individuals? You better have semi auto's if you want to win that fight. This board is always good for a few good laughs. "

MRS. wrote on Jul 22, 2008 11:10 AM:

" Wow, I think I may be more scared to come B/N than terrorists. I also believe every home should have a hand gun. What you do with it would be your choice but if you really don't know how and when to use it please lock it in a closet. I don't think I would pull a gun on someone that already had a gun pointed at me. The dog, now that is a better idea. It doesn't have to a certain breed, just one that will make a lot of noise so you have a chance to dwaw your gun first. Let the dog help keep them still while you call the police. Isn't it a fact that one town in Flordia made it mandatory to have a gun in your home? And isn't it a fact brime is very low there? "

SilentOne wrote on Jul 22, 2008 10:57 AM:

" Dont worry the cops will do there job! Then our states attorney will set them free. "

GoRedbirds wrote on Jul 22, 2008 10:44 AM:

" They better get this crime situation under control before students are back on campus. My views of B/N and it's safety are quickly beginning to change after all of these incidents the past few months. "

BigBrother wrote on Jul 22, 2008 10:39 AM:

" The "McLeancountyil.gov" has a section called Public Health and Safety. On this site it offers a list of all the registered sex offenders in the county. Why can't they add a warrants issued page and publish the pictures of criminals with outstanding warrants. The public can protect themselves these criminals by calling the local police when they are seen in our neighborhoods. The citizens deserve the ability to fightback against the criminals hiding in plain site. Many of the criminals being arrested already have outstanding warrants, so why are the police waiting to catch them committing additional crimes instead of allowing the citizens to turn them in? "

Charlemagne wrote on Jul 22, 2008 10:26 AM:

" yeah, because killing three people is much better than having under $200 stolen. I mean the mess and the emotional damage sucks, but at least I got to use my .45 . I think burglary is punishable by death, and so is cutting people off on the highway, that is why I am for the carry and conceal laws. Nothing like carrying a gun b/c I live in fear and therefore force everyone else to carry a gun b/c they are scared of me. I think this world would be a better place, if we were all 2 seconds from shooting each other. "

mdorf4 wrote on Jul 22, 2008 10:22 AM:

" You people kill me. If you honestly think you would pull out a gun against 3 armed men, you would be dead. Regardless of your feelings about gun control, that is probably not the right situation to use it. "

truthiness wrote on Jul 22, 2008 9:56 AM:

" Try it at my house and the headline would read something like "Homeowner mows down 2 armed intruders in a hail of gunfire"... that falls under the "ask questions later" scenario... "

ADC wrote on Jul 22, 2008 9:22 AM:

" you'll know the face if you got a shot gun!! I also have had a FOID card for quite sometime... am only a 24 year old girl and I have my own .45 caliber!! IT's GREAT!! So let someone come up in my house and try anything! I think it's a good thing to have just in case something like this does happen because the police can hardly ever make it there in time to catch the thieves as it is. therefor i can shoot them in there knee cap... tie em up... oh wait you may just as well KILL em!!! no need for them robberies anymore!!

a gun and a dog... is a good thing to have!!! i am all for it "

Bloomington Girl wrote on Jul 22, 2008 9:15 AM:

" I don't get why this is not front page news!! "

Cubbie Blue wrote on Jul 22, 2008 8:28 AM:

" This is the reason I am waiting on my foid card. Since the police can not stop the robbing it is up the the citizens.... Believe me in 2 weeks someone come in my house unwanted they will get shot!!! Also have I a rottie that patrols the house so I will get a heads up before they come in. "

Bloomington Girl wrote on Jul 22, 2008 7:33 AM:

" Kind of hard to tell if you know somebody when their face is covered up with a bandana. "

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