A Newport, New Hampshire woman used her 9 mm Ruger pistol to hold a man high on drugs at bay until police arrived. However, had the woman not been properly trained in the use of firearms, her evening could have ended tragically. Here’s what we know from reports:
The woman, an artist, was working at her home when she heard loud noises outside, prompting her to investigate. There she discovered a man rummaging through her car, so she yelled to him to ask what he was doing. As he turned toward her, she noticed he had knives in his hands—and he began to advance toward her. The woman was able to slam the door and lock it just before he slammed into it, a behavior he repeated over and over. The homeowner’s mother was also in the home, so the woman under attack handed her a .22 pistol and asked her to call 9-1-1. But the phone was not working properly and she soon realized that she was going to need a more powerful firearm. That’s when she grabbed her 9mm, ready to defend herself and her mother. When she finally got through to emergency dispatchers, she was able to relay that the man was now on her back deck behaving irrationally and yelling that someone was trying to kill him.
The unhinged man then picked up an electric snowblower and threw it at the sliding glass door, which didn’t break. That’s when the homeowner pointed her gun at the would-be intruder through the glass door and ordered him to stop, telling him that police were coming. At that point the man allegedly ran to another door, which housed a stained glass window, and jumped through it into the home, landing on the floor in front of the homeowner. She continued her orders to stay put with a warning that she would shoot him if he moved.
When police arrived, the homeowner advised the officer that she was armed before setting down her pistol and walking away unharmed.
During their investigation, police reportedly found five kitchen knives that were previously stolen from a different residence. The man later told police he had used drugs known as “bath salts” the night before, but the officer documented that he was actually high at the time he committed the crimes.
Later the woman told reporters that she wants her story told so others will see the importance in people knowing that this random attack could have ended very badly. She admitted that it’s fortunate she had the proper training with a gun and the man didn’t try this at a house where someone was trigger happy, had children inside, or was unarmed. “I kept my cool. If he made one little twitch, he would be dead,” she told local media. “If I had my child here, I probably would have shot him... .” (eagletimes.com; Newport, N.H.; 6/19/24)
