Would you kill a man who's robbing you? (long)

This question developed out of a situation that happened to me a few years ago. It's very personal, as it still kind of bothers me to this day.

Years ago, I'm living in an aparment with my sister and a friend of hers. I've got my own bedroom with an attached bathroom. My room is nicely setup. I've got my computer with high-speed internet, a large tv, an x-box, a ps2, a gamecube, and about 40 games for all the systems. One night, after a small get together when everyone has gone home, I deceide it's time to go to bed. I'm the last one up and I had been watching tv. I turn off the tv, head to the restroom and take off my contacts, turn off the lights, undress and get into bed. While not more than 5 or 10 mins later my bedroom light turns on and I turn over and see someone standing in front of my bathroom door wearing a bandana over his face. Not realizing what the hell is going on I say "What the [censored] are you doing?" It's at that point I notice that he has a large knife in his hands. He quickly walks up to me, puts the knife in my face and motions for me to turn over. "What the [censored] man" I say. I turn over and I hear him rumaging through my stuff. He's knocking [censored] over, pulling on cords, etc. He eventually leaves and takes pretty much everything I had with the exception of my tv and my computer. After a few mins the fear sinks in and I start freaking out. I wake up my roommates and tell them what just happened. They think I'm kidding but realize I'm telling the truth when they say that I'm visibly afraid and that my stuff is missing.

I'm able to figure out who it was. Turns out it was my roommate's friend. He was at the apartment that night. We check the doors and find out that they are still locked. The [censored] locked the doors on his way out! But what's really trippy is that he was inside the entire time. He never left the party. My bedroom has two entrances, the main entrance to the hallway and the bathroom (the bathroom opens to both the hallway and my bedroom). I always keep the bathroom door that's attached to the hallway locked and I keep my bedroom door locked at night. The bathroom door leading to the hallway was still locked. This crazy guy had to have slipped into my room, gone into my bathroom, and hid behind the shower curtain. That means he was there while I was in the restoom taking my contacts off holding a knife. I wonder what would happened if I deceided to take a shower before I went to bed. For almost a year I would freak out if i entered a bathroom and the shower curtain was closed.

Afterwards I wondered what I would have done if I had a gun under the pillow. Would I have shot the guy? I want to say yes, this bastard invaded my space, stole my belogings which I worked hard to obtain, and violated me. But I can't honestly say that I would have been able to pull the trigger. I used to be very anti-gun until that night... Am I alone in saying that I'm unsure if I could kill a man in a situation like that?

For those of you who took the time to read this lengthy post, thanks for sharing in on a very personal moment of mine.

[istewart]

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a gamecube

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Your error.

Kill... no
Beat up really bad? yessss

edit- shoot in the kneecap? yes

[-Skeme-]

I'd blow his [censored] brains out. Very few people realize how quick and easy a knife can kill you. Even if you have a gun handy, it doesn't mean the situation is over or even that you have control over it. And [censored] man, you were on your bed.

By the way, this is a great argument for not having roommates.

[Martin]

In the scenario described, up close like that, a knife is really gonna ruin your day.

With the gun culture in most of the Western world, people seriously underestimate edged weapons and the damage that they can do.

[BCPVP]

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In the scenario described, up close like that, a knife is really gonna ruin your day.

With the gun culture in most of the Western world, people seriously underestimate edged weapons and the damage that they can do.

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This is pretty true. At the range described in the OP, IF the robber was willing to kill the OP if he resisted (debateable considering he knew the OP), even a gun in the room might as well be in the store it was bought from. I believe the police can shoot someone with a knife that is within 20 feet of them because they constitute a deadly threat.

So the only other option is to shoot him as he leaves which, I think is wrong because he is no longer a threat.

[GoblinMason (Craig)]

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Kill... no
Beat up really bad? yessss

edit- shoot in the kneecap? yes


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I agree.

My first reaction was to just threaten him with the gun and tell him to drop the knife, but he might just throw the knife at you. I'd shoot him and feel good about it.

-Craig

[BCPVP]

Being able to kill him assumes you have access to your gun. If he's robbing you, it's unlikely that he's just going to let you roam free unless he's the stupidest criminal ever.

But if you did somehow get a gun, I don't think you'd need to shoot him unless he tries to attack you. And I doubt he'd try that if you're pointing a gun towards him. Likewise with throwing the knife. Probably not going to happen because then the robber loses his only weapon while you can still (and probably would) shoot.

I'd have to believe there was a serious threat to my life or others' lives before I kill him for robbery. I couldln't kill someone just for stealing my stuff.

[Blarg]

Throwing the knife isn't going to happen. That's more for commando movies.

Knocking your arm out of the way while stabbing your in the heart or slashing your throat is the worry. If you're not alert or look more scared than him, a practiced crook might try it.

I wouldn't shoot him just to shoot him, though. But I wouldn't spend any time talking to him while he's close enough to lunge in and disabled or kill me. He'd have to drop the knife slowly and back off immediately, no babbling and yapping about it. Shut the f*** up, a*shole, would be the only thing I'd want to say to him if he started trying to distract me with babble.

In this situation, it sounds like the guy had no time to reach for a gun, though.

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edit- shoot in the kneecap? yes

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"He shoots him below the waist, he knows the law." - Chappelle's Show