What would you do if you heard your wife screaming in another room, only to find out that a man has her pinned to the floor?
Caleb Cart of Birmingham found himself in that situation a week ago Tuesday in the predawn hours of the morning.
His wife, Samantha Cart, had taken their new puppy for a walk around 4:30 a.m. When she cam back to the apartment complex, a man followed her into the unit.
“At first, I was just stunned, like, ‘Who is this in here?'” she recalled in an interview with Fox WBRC. “And then he pushed me and I fell right here in the hallway and he had my arms and was pinning me down.”
Caleb ran to see what was going on and found the man on top of his wife.
“I picked him up and he pushes me back in the bedroom. We push back and forth for a little while and then we started fighting,” Caleb said.
While her husband engaged the intruder, Samantha called 911. But would police arrive in time to help her husband?
“Then I remember we had our shotgun sitting against the wall, so I picked it up and grabbed it,” she said.
Michael Jones, 36, now faces first degree burglary charges. (Photo: WBRC)
“Standing there with the gun, I said, ‘If you move, I’m going to think you’re going to attack me again and I will shoot you. I have the safety off,'” Caleb said. “I showed him the rack in the slide and I told him, ‘That is how it’s going to be and we’re going to wait.'”
Nine minutes later the police arrived. Authorities arrested the suspect who has been identified as 36-year-old Michael Jones. Police charged him with first degree burglary. He is being held on a $60,000 bond.
Both Caleb and Samantha had some surprisingly kind words for Jones.
“I’m sorry that whatever in your life brought you to this point where you should hurt or rob people,” Caleb said. “Hope you find it in your heart to stop hurting other people to get your own way in life and best of luck when you get out.”
“I would tell him I’ll pray for him. If he came in here because he’s hungry or cold or whatever, I hope it gets better,” added Samantha.
They could have been killed, in the 9 minutes it took the police to get there. I’ll bet they’re glad they had access to the shotgun? Next time he’ll break into an anti-gun lobbyist home and have his way. There should be a directory of anti-second amendment people. Accessible to anyone. Let’s register them and see who has more incidents!
This couple are sadly liberal brain dead morons/bleeding hearts….”We feel so sorry for you being a scum black thug who attacked a woman…we just know he wouldn’t have ever dreamed of raping a female prisoner…” What truly ignorant and liberal brain damage. Just wait till he gets off and attacks another woman/family/innocents who may not have a gun.
Should have pulled the trigger…..
My advice: Change the local of where he saw you kept the shot gun. Improve your lock down situation. Generally make major safety changes, because I’m fairly certain that negro will be back. He’s got the look that says: “I don give a fug!” And this time, give him no quarter! Keep the number to the Morgue ready for pick up!
Wow, that’s one fortunate lowlife. Sadly, the Christian compassion shown to Michael Jones will not be shown to his next Victims. There is one Truth that you can bet the Farm on… M. Jones doesn’t care about ANYTHING. Not his Mother, Family, Legacy, address, Friends, Pride or Reputation, the only thing that matters to him is getting what Michael wants when he wants it. You better hope that you’re ready, if it’s you that he wants something from next time.
It might be a good thing the police was late coming they some cold blooded killers
Better keep that “skeet” gun loaded Caleb; I wouldn’t be surprised if ole Mikey comes back soon as he gets out on bail.
I had an incident in my gun shop once where a guy came in and tried to rob my at knifepoint (yep dumb), so I pulled my pistol and made him lay on the floor. I had already called the police and it took them nearly twenty five minutes to arrive! When they finally did get there, they stood out in the parking lot talking for three or four minutes before coming in! I was able to complete another sale, background check a payment included, before they finally came in to see what happened! I will NEVER depend on the police for anything!
These people were extremely fortunate. Good people who risked informing the attacker what they would do next….
Most of the time it doesn’t work out that way. There is a 20′ shooting rule for a reason. Those types of criminals do not care how you feel, and do not value your life; remember that. Had you not been armed, and your shotgun loaded (hopefully you were), you both might have been killed for what little you have. Too many cases where good people have been brutally tortured to death, raped, and murdered, that is forbidden from national news. Purchase a couple of hand guns, train, practice, and develop safety measures. When you take your dog out, take your firearm with you with a very bright flashlight. If you think something is wrong, especially at 0430 it most likely is. Despite what academia, the media, and what politicians sell, protecting yourself is not racial profiling. Who knows how long this parasite was scoping the place out or noticing that people with dogs, have to walk them at odd hours. Whether or not this criminal is coming back….only God knows. It is not surprising however, that this story is buried amid the screams of gun control.
Just burglary charges? What about assault or attempted rape?
I’d have blown his ass off! I might also pray for him after the meat wagon hauled him out of my home. Maybe.
Bad shot larry, you risk hitting your wife with an ass shot. But the thought is nice.
The only praying I would do would be that I could clean his head off my walls.
I bet Mikey had more on his mind than burglary when he pushed into the apartment after Samantha.
Really…who cares if this responsibly armored citizen used the correct terminology…He must have taken Mag 20…a Mas Ayoob class that informs a legally armed citizen about the laws; how to respond in any potentially lethal situation, before…during…and after. I am not going to address how this citizen handled the situation up until the time he was “legally armed” ( frankly I do not agree with just about anything he did up until the time he had the shtogun in his hands)\ however once he was armed he was outstanding. He said exactly what he needed to say to protect himself in front of a jury if he had needed to use lethal force.
Hey, he got the job dun, nobody died, & he showed true Christian virtue and magnanimity. Need more people like that representing us gun owners.
“I showed him the rack in the slide…”????
There IS no “rack” anywhere on a shotgun. Racking is the action of cycling the slide back and fort to chamber a round and cock the bolt.
I’d expect that kind of ignorance from a reporter or novelist, but not from the owner of a pump-action shotgun. I’m ambivalent, caught between two things; glad that he had the shotgun to end the attack, but wary of someone who hasn’t taken the time to know everything there is to know about the instrument in his possession that can so easily wreak havoc.
He said he “showed him that there was a round racked in the slide”, although he certainly meant chambered. I assume he showed him by doing. Visual and audible reinforcement.
I’m sure he met he racked in a shell like movies actors are always doing. He was just proving that the shotgun was loaded with a live round. When said he showed him the rack that is all he met, that he racked the shotgun. I see nothing wrong with that term.
…so you are going to correct someone about terminology when you are talking about “cock the bolt”? I know you can cock a hammer, but cock a bolt? So what if this citizen doesn’t exhibit perfect “gun speak”, he did what he had to and got the job done. How about you know what you are talking about when you are trying to be better than someone.
Don’t be that way to people who just had their lives threatened. What’s important is that the intruder knew what they meant and that they did the right thing by giving him a chance to surrender. You might find yourself fumbling for the right words yourself someday if you’re ever in the same situation. Just thank this awesome country that even people who don’t know the right words can own a firearm.
I would like to personally thank them for using their weapon responsibility. Unlike the idiot that shot through his door without assessing the situation first. These people give weapon owners hope for being able to keep our weapons.
And you don’t cock the bolt
Magnanimous to say the least.
Magnanimous.Ya that’s the word alright.
Risky moves that could have backfired.
This couple have much kinder souls than myself.
The criminal was extremely lucky to offend them, rather than someone like my wife and I.