Young Mother Defends Self and Baby, Kills Intruder
Sarah McKinley is an 18-year-old new mother and widow: Her husband died from cancer on Christmas. Sarah was home alone with her three-month-old baby on New Year’s Eve when an armed attacker crashed through her front door.
McKinley’s mother said the deceased had begun stalking her daughter two years ago, and evidence indicates he resumed stalking after her husband died. He showed up at her door earlier in the day, claiming he was a neighbor wanting to say hello, but something nudged her to turn him away. Later that day, he returned with an accomplice, and began pounding on her front door.
Sarah barricaded the door with a sofa, and dialed 911. Before he broke in, Sarah spent 21 minutes talking to two different dispatchers, asking permission to shoot the intruder.
“I’ve got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?”
“Well, you have to do whatever you can do to protect yourself,” dispatcher Diane Graham responded. “I can’t tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.”
The intruder finally broke through and attacked with a 12-inch hunting knife that was still “clutched in his gloved left hand” when police arrived.
(Research published at Police One reexamined the Tueller 21-Foot Rule (an knife-wielding attacker can cover 21 feet in the time it takes for an officer to draw and fire his first defensive round). One finding concluded: “a 21-foot reactionary gap is not sufficient.” Once the attacker was through the door and charging her, she had one chance to stop him.)
The shooting was ruled justified by the District Attorney’s office.
First Assistant District Attorney James Walters told CNN that McKinley will not be charged because she acted in self-defense.
“A person has the right to protect themselves, their family and their property,” Walters said.
Blanchard PD Detective Dan Huff noted: “The Oklahoma laws are clear on the home and the right to your home are absolute.”
The accomplice was charged with felony murder, because somebody died while during the commission of a felony–he’s also charged with first-degree burglary–which carries a maximum sentence of death.
In an interview, Sarah said: “You have to make a choice, you or him. I chose my son over him.”
(CNN video here)
thank goodness she and her infant are safe.
21 minutes? Where’s a squad car?
“The police only show up *after* a crime is committed.”
When seconds count, the police are minutes away. In this case, 21 minutes away. She did the right thing.
Yet another example of why you never leave your personal safety in someone else’s hands. Real men encourage their girlfriends, wives, daughters and mothers to at the minimum be comfortable using a firearm and at the best to be proficient.
This case also illustrates the importance of Castle Laws… if the young woman had been living in a different state, she would be in jail facing prosecution.
Two excellent points.
I was just reading a story in the London Daily Mail about a retired man who fought off four machete-wielding men with a butcher knife. One of the men collapsed as they ran off from a fatal wound. The man, in his home, defending his life against multiple attackers, three of whom took up the machete, was jailed for 3 days before the prosecutors decided he was justified.
At least in Oklahoma the cops probably gave her a ride to a family or friends afterward rather then a ride to jail and putting the baby in “the system”.
I remember another 911 call in Oklahoma where the lady was on for 30 minutes before shooting the attacker as he entered her bedroom.
I hope that this deceased skel doesn’t have any relatives who might attempt to bring a “wrongful death” suit against Mrs. McKinley. If such a thing does occur, I hope that the local courts have the decency to toss it out. I also agree with kc iver; if this had happened in, say, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., Mrs. McKinley would be in jail. At the very least, the local authorities would have confiscated her guns.
Spot-on. When the police do it (as in Texas to a 15-year old with a pellet gun) they are always justified, when a private citizen does it (at least in the areas you mentioned, or here in the People’s Republic of Maryland) the citizen is never justified.
that it is even a point of discussion that she may not have had the right to defend herself is abhorrent.
Yes, and the DA published his decision very promptly, considering he has to follow rules. For example, in Texas, all such shootings go before the grand jury. They would no-bill, meaning a finding of justifiable homicide. But that could take weeks. Any less could bring the case back as an example of bias or something else. So in these cases, a well-meaning prosecutor will make sure all the Is are dotted and the Ts crossed, because they want to make sure the case is officially closed in everybody’s eyes.
This story is very popular for all the right reasons. The principal perp got exactly what he deserved, one has to laugh at the other perp getting charged with felony murder and 2nd Amendment supporters get a perfect example of why waiting for the police to show up is not realistic.
But I do find it a bit odd that the stories emphasis is on protecting the baby. The perp was logically a wannabe rapist (at least) and in all likelyhood was planning to rape/murder his victim. The fact that this woman defended herself against that fate is to be commended, baby or no baby.
Sarah herself put the focus on her baby. She said in one interview that she might not have shot, except her baby made her decide to shoot. So you’ll have to ask the victim why the focus on the baby.
Agreed that when somebody spends 20 minutes breaking down a door and rushes forward with a knife, the decision to immediately shoot is a wise one. At that point, the victim is in imminent danger of grievous bodily harm or death.
This point was made in the Police One report I cited.
But she might have hesitated in defending just herself. Mothers will do many things for their baby that they might over think if they were alone.
Everyone makes the world a better place. Some of us because we are in it, and the rest of us when we leave it. We should thank the perp for taking that opportunity to make the world a better place.
LaSuthenboy – Your comment cracked me up. Best.
Variations of this happen almost every week–except the armed resident is usually older and doesn’t have a baby in the home. The only thing that’s given this story any ink outside Oklahoma is these two details–the gun-hating MSM just can’t ignore the self-defense story when it’s a recently-widowed 18-year-old mother with babe in home.
Again, this kind of thing is frequent, but the MSM has decided you shouldn’t know about it.
Check out Keep and Bear Arms. They often post self-defense. I look for interest stories for Tatler, too, and we do have an international audience.