Home Invasion Crime Scene Cleanup
“Safety First”
Crime Scene Cleanup: We all know what steps to take to deter a burglar or to lessen our chances of a home invasion. We lock our doors, leave on exterior lights, install security systems, don’t answer the door to a stranger after dark, etcetera, etcetera. Most of us, however, fall into habits that aren’t in the best interest of our safety, and it usually takes a scare or a crazy news story to help us tighten back up.
Margaret and her husband David had taken measures to keep their family safe. They had deadbolts, kept their garage closed, shut their blinds at night, and even had an appointment to have a security system with cameras installed the week after a single, out-of-the-norm mistake resulted in a life-or-death situation for Margaret and her family.
I honestly never imagined someone breaking into my home in the middle of the day. I had no idea how common it was until I myself was standing there in my living room with an intruder.
It was a Friday around lunchtime in the middle of January when Margaret returned home from an attempt to go into work. Not only was her head pounding from what felt like a sinus infection, she had her 18-month-old daughter with her who also was sick with a fever and sent home from daycare. She’d called and texted her husband to see if he could come home early to take care of little Abigail so she could rest. Without any response, Margaret just prayed Abigail would nap.
I was dragging myself in and out of the house carrying Abby and all her things, my laptop, and my head was so stuffy and I felt so foggy. I think I made 4 trips back to the car and just forgot to close the garage when I went back in.
Margaret put in a cartoon DVD and tried lying down on the couch with Abigail. Within minutes, Abigail fell asleep and with a sigh of relief Margaret carried her cautiously to the crib, turned on the noisemaker, and closed the bedroom door. Margaret headed back to the couch and planned to sleep there as long as Abby would let her.
Home Invasion Confrontation
I can’t explain the terror I felt when I walked into the living room and was standing 5 feet away from a strange man. I think I screamed, but he grabbed me in a choke-hold and told me to shut up or I’d be sorry. All I could think about from that second on was Abigail.
When David pulled into the driveway, he immediately knew something was terribly wrong. He remembers, The front passenger door was open and so was the glove box with everything emptied out and scattered on the garage floor. When I saw Margaret’s emptied purse and open wallet on the floor by the open kitchen door, I pulled my gun out of the holster and went inside quietly.
David walked into the kitchen, overlooking the living room, and saw what he says still gives him nightmares.
Margaret was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chin crying and bleeding from her nose, and then I heard his voice. He was standing a good 10 feet from her with a gun in one hand and staring into a backpack he had propped on the back of the couch and said, ‘Shut the [expletive] up lady or I’ll blow your head off’. I shot him right then. I fired three times and hit him three times, once in the head, and twice in the torso.
Crime Scene Cleanup Services
David and Margaret were left with a tremendous amount of emotional, physical, and psychological trauma to endure, but David knew he could count on us for help with the physical recovery of his home. Due to the nature of the trauma scene, there was a tremendous amount of blood and body tissue splattered throughout the room in which the shooting took place as well as in the adjoining rooms which included the kitchen, dining room and home office.
Advanced Bio Treatment specializes in crime scene cleanup services and was able to clean and sanitize all rooms and go through with special UV light devices to ensure everything was perfectly cleaned of blood and body fluid. Most importantly, they were able to return home after a short stay at Margaret’s sister’s house and feel like our home was sanitary and void of any signs of the physical memory of what happened so that we could begin living our lives again and move forward.
