She then fled the house with her children. Not realizing she was out of ammunition, she ordered the man to stay on the floor as he bled.
He learned later that his wife fired all six shots, and hit the intruder with all but one bullet. His anguish and the pain of not knowing what had happened may be etched in his mind for eternity.
He then lost phone contact with his wife and children. … Shoot him again! Shoot him!” Donnie Herman said as the 911 dispatcher listened. Everything I taught you,” he told her, and he reassured her that help was on the way. On the phone, Donnie Herman calmly instructed his wife about the use of the weapon she had practiced on. The intruder had used the crowbar to break through the front door and then two other doors upstairs, and she could hear him coming closer and closer. She had already locked multiple doors before she and her children took refuge in an adjacent-room attic - the kind with a small door that you have to bend down to go through. 38 revolver, Melinda Herman was in the middle of a heart-pounding crisis inside her own home. Her husband told sheriff’s department investigator’s that he took her shooting so that she’d be familiar with the family’s guns if she ever had to use one. The FBI said it conducted almost 2.8 million checks for gun purchases in December, a record high for a month.ĭonnie and Melinda Herman own two guns for protection at home, but until two weeks ago, she had never fired a gun. Meanwhile, Americans are flocking to gun shops to buy guns and ammunition in record numbers - partly due to Newtown and partly due to their fears that the rules are about to change on what they can legally own. This week, a federal task force led by Vice President Joe Biden is holding talks with private industry groups, the NRA, and legislators - all to determine the correct balance between the right to self-protection and preventing further mass shootings. The right of self-protection has been thrust into the forefront in a national debate after last month’s Newtown, Connecticut, tragedy. This is going to endanger people’s safety.” “She shot him five times and he still didn’t drop. Otherwise she would have been in trouble and she would have run out of ammunition,” said Erich Pratt, director of communications for the Gun Owners of America. “It’s a good thing she wasn’t facing more attackers. They remind people that Melinda Herman had only a six-shot revolver. Gun rights groups say this shows that law-abiding citizens should be allowed to buy their weapon of choice and as big a magazine or ammunition clip as they like. Melinda Herman fired a six-shot revolver at the intruder, hitting him five times, in his torso and in his face. What happened next has made the Hermans the new faces of the right to bear arms. “Melinda - if he opens up the door, you shoot him! You understand?” Then he instructed her to do what was fast becoming a realistic possibility. Relax,” Herman said, trying to calm his wife. He repeated the words to the 911 operator. “Stay in the attic,” he instructed her, calmly. Herman’s words to his wife, as he sat helplessly, an hour away from the home, were recorded. On another line was the 911 operator Donnie Herman had called for help. In the house: An intruder with a crowbar. With her: Her two 9-year-old children and a loaded. With two telephones to his ear, he listened to his wife, Melinda, as she fled into an attic of their Loganville home. The concern in Donnie Herman’s voice was clear as day.
There’s no dramatic music in the background. LOGANVILLE, Georgia (CNN) - This is not a movie. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.