Mom shoots intruder, saves kids

How many times during the recent gun grabbing debate have you heard these arguments?

Self defense is a bogus argument. Having a gun in your home, you’re more likely to shoot yourself or your spouse than to ever fend off a bad guy. Only trained law enforcement professionals can safely use weapons like that.

May I introduce you to Donnie Herman’s wife…

The woman was working in an upstairs office when she spotted a strange man outside a window, according to Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman. He said she took her 9-year-old twins to a crawlspace before the man broke in using a crowbar.

But the man eventually found the family.

“The perpetrator opens that door. Of course, at that time he’s staring at her, her two children and a .38 revolver,” Chapman told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh.

The woman then shot him five times, but he survived, Chapman said. He said the woman ran out of bullets but threatened to shoot the intruder if he moved.

The intruder, 32-year-old Atlanta resident Paul Slate, had been out of jail for all of four months or so, one of six arrests since 2008. He fled the house but crashed his car a short distance away and collapsed where he was found on the ground by police. So how is old Paul doing now?

Chapman said they found him on the ground saying, “Help me. I’m close to dying.” Slater was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center for treatment. Chapman said Slater was shot in the face and neck…

Channel 2’s Amy Napier Viteri learned from Chapman late Friday night that slater has been placed on a ventilator and suffers from punctured lungs, a punctured liver and a punctured stomach.

He said if Slater survives the night, doctors will try to operate in the morning to repair the damage.

Chapman said Slater has four exit wounds.

The woman’s husband was short and succinct on the subject.

“My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do as responsible, prepared gun owner,” Donnie Herman said.

He said he’s thankful for his family’s safety.

“Her life is saved, and her kids’ life is saved, and that’s all I’d like to say,” Herman said.

I don’t have a lot to add to this story beyond highlighting it and opening it up for your consideration and discussion. But I would add one note of caution. Thus far the woman in question doesn’t seem to be talking to the press and that’s her right. Regardless of her success in defending her family, Donnie Herman’s wife has undoubtedly been through a traumatic experience and if she wants to maintain her privacy and not turn this into some sort of circus side show, the media should respect her wishes.

But she can still serve as a useful example as we consider any future Second Amendment questions. Everyone called Wayne LaPierre crazy when he said that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun was a good guy with a gun. Or sometimes, a good lady with a gun. Food for thought.

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