A nightmare for parents, and a sobering lesson

A home invasion robbery in Texas had ghastly consequences for one family, particularly their seven-year-old son.

The homeowner told police that three masked black suspects broke through the front door and pistol-whipped him, causing injuries.

“This is the worst kind of crime against a family,” Sheriff Troy Nehls said. “Three crooks forcing their way into a home in the middle of the night is appalling. To make matters worse, they accosted a 7-year-old child. They’re cowards, to say the least."

Nehls said the father kept telling the intruders there was no money and to take jewelry or a car, but the masked men weren't satisfied.

. . .

The men then turned their attention to the couple’s 7-year-old son, who was led around the house in search of money, according to the sheriff ... "We have audio and video from inside that house,” Nehls said. "You can hear chilling screams from all the family members inside that house."

One of the masked men later placed the 7-year-old son in a bath tub with hot water in an attempt to get information about possessions in the home.

“You can hear when the bathtub was filling with water," Nehls said. "Then all of a sudden the screams became muffled because he's just up underneath the water."

Detective Justin White told reporters the boy was used as "leverage" by the suspects.

"The 7-year-old is having to watch his dad get tortured, basically," he said Tuesday. "When that didn't work they tortured the 7-year-old. To me, yesterday I said that's pretty sick. I will add that is evil to do something like that to a child."

There's more at the link.

From the report, it appears that the homeowner was a small businessman who kept substantial amounts of cash at home.  It seems the intruders were aware of that, and tried to locate the money.  The homeowner did not reveal its location, which to my mind was a contributing factor to his son's torture, and makes me view him less than favorably.  If he put his money over the well-being of his son . . . something's out of balance somewhere, IMHO.

Be that as it may, this should be a wake-up call and a lesson to all of us.  There are criminals out there who are ruthless.  Many have come across our border, bringing with them the criminal habits and inclinations they developed in their countries of origin.  Others have grown up in urban ghettoes, where human life is cheap and conditions are dire.  To survive, let alone thrive, in such conditions, you have to develop a basic callousness and ruthlessness towards others.  That spills over onto anyone unfortunate enough to run into such persons.  The result is depicted in these headlines, among many from which I could have chosen:

• The FBI's information page on gangs
• The 6 Most Gang Infested Cities in America
• Gang Violence Is on the Rise, Even as Overall Violence Declines
• Measuring the Extent of Gang Problems
• 10 Of The Most Lethal Gangs In America
• MS-13, 52 Hoover Crips among gangs terrorizing Houston neighborhoods
• 13 American Gangs That Are Keeping The FBI Up At Night

Ferfal, who has (like me) experienced societal breakdown and an environment of widespread, endemic violent crime, gives this grim warning in connection with this incident.

So you have your little subcompact gun, tiny enough to carry it concealed behind your ear, because that’s what all the cool kids are doing these days.

And then this happens.

You need to be reminded of this, believe this can happen to you tomorrow. Can happen to you today. Your wife tortured, your kids tortured. Only then will you change the mentality from what little gun goes best with your skinny jeans or digs in less into your super thin, ultra-sensitive skin into wanting the most ammo and most powerful gun you can shoot fast and accurately and above all, into having the instinct to kill people with a fork if necessary.

They are animals. Worse than animals they are monsters and need to be destroyed whatever it takes.

Once this reality sinks in and is fully assimilated then believe you me, you will no longer care for what’s comfortable or what’s cool. You will want effective killing tools. Several of them. You will want to master them and above all and most important, you will have the determination to use them.

Things like these, it’s a daily occurrence in places like Buenos Aires. I’ve been living in that reality for more years than I care for. You know what we didn’t talk about with like-minded people? How can I carry a smaller gun with less ammo.

Again, more at the link.

(Ferfal often has useful hints, tips, and lessons learned at his blog.  If he's not already on your regular reading list, he's a good candidate for it.  I don't always agree with him, but that's OK - we learned from our own experiences on two different continents, so it's not surprising we sometimes absorbed different approaches.  He learned in a hard school, as did I, and I respect that.  Bear in mind that he's not in the USA, so some of his favored weapons and approaches - such as "they need to be destroyed!" - may not be legal here.  Know your local laws, rules and regulations, for your own defense in case of need, and act accordingly.)

I agree with Ferfal about the need for preparedness.  Incidents of home invasion robberies and assaults may be relatively rare in "better" areas, but rapidly increasing in less affluent or more gang-ridden communities.  They're also happening in up-market areas - see, for example, the Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders.  We can expect more of that sort of thing to spill over as the number of those willing to perpetrate such crimes increases, particularly with the illegal alien problem as bad as it is.

Secure your home, arm and train yourself and the other adults in your family, and be ready, willing and able to defend them, your home and your possessions.  In our increasingly unstable society, you may have to.

Peter