Midland Police Officer Killed by Homeowner

[ZX9RCAM]

Do they call homeowners in the event an alarm has been sounded at the monitoring center, like in the movies?
Serious question.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Do they call homeowners in the event an alarm has been sounded at the monitoring center, like in the movies?
Serious question.

I’ve had that type of service before.

 

[robertc1024]

Do they call homeowners in the event an alarm has been sounded at the monitoring center, like in the movies?
Serious question.

Mine did. Prior to calling the police.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I’ve had that type of service before.

Have you had a monitored service which didn't call when the alarm went off?

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Mine did. Prior to calling the police.

This is all the more reason to expect the homeowner to be awake for the police, or at least to be expecting them.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Have you had a monitored service which didn't call when the alarm went off?

So there’s a series of steps. If alarm is triggered and reset within a short period, no call. If triggered and not reset within that time, call to phone number on record. No answer, call to backup number. For a duress activation, there was no call at all, just send in the reinforcements.

Some services will notify law enforcement prior to calling the owner. In that case, the monitoring service should also cancel the call. I can tell you from experience that doesn’t always happen.

There’s several scenarios I can think of where to homeowner wouldn’t reasonably know LEOs were responding.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Dang, meant it enough to say it 3 times...

 

[toddnjoyce]

Dang, meant it enough to say it 3 times...

F’in internet.

Anyways, I had enough questionable experiences re: reliability of a monitoring service over the three years we were in Ft Hood that I decided never again on the monitoring service.

 

[easy rider]

It's sad, I'll wait on the Texas Rangers to do their investigation.

 

[innominate]

Cat burglar.

My alarm has a loud siren. I can’t imagine having a home alarm that doesn’t blast out such a loud noise that it wouldn’t wake up half the neighborhood!

I want the threat gone. Gone away from me fast. If I can avoid a gun fight and the attendant legal costs, it’s what I desire. While I want the bad guy caught, I want my belongings and family left alone first and foremost.

Unless there are alarms outside the house your sleeping neighbor wouldn't necessarily hear anything. The house I bought in 2010 was the first I had with an alarm system. When I was moving in I was messing with the system and set it off. It was so loud I didn't put in the code correctly the first try. I guess I tried the correct code again too quickly. It was still screeching in my ear. I went outside to tell my neighbors everything was ok. When I went out the front door I could hardly hear the alarm. There was no way my neighbors would hear my alarm inside there homes.

 

[FireInTheWire]

Bad deal

 

[easy rider]

When I first moved here I lived down the road from that location. If I remember rightly the houses around there are not that close together.

 

[karlac]

A large part of the reason our alarm isn’t monitored.

I understand that.

Was a minor partner in a night club in the 70's here in Houston, charged with security.

Alarm would go off, notify me, and the Houston PD ... always a false alarm.

Although I lived a good 30 minutes away, I can't count the number of times I sat outside in the parking lot, armed, and waiting another hour for the PD to respond.

No way in hell was I walking into that club until they got there ... and it wasn't someone being inside I was worried about.

 

[busykngt]

When I went out the front door I could hardly hear the alarm.

Which is why my sirens are located outside and up high, front and back of the house.

 

[bigwheel]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-of...ner-who-thought-he-was-intruder-officials-say

Heidelberg and Officer Victoria Allee were dispatched to Wilson’s home at about 1:16 a.m. Tuesday in reference to an alarm/panic alarm call. Upon arrival, officers walked the perimeter of the residence and did not observe anything out of the ordinary. Then Heidelberg noticed the front door of the residence was unsecure, according to the affidavit. About the same time, Officers Mims and Duwel (their first names were not provided) arrived at the scene to assist. Duwel could “clearly hear Heidelberg announce Midland Police Department,” according to the affidavit. Shortly after announcing the officers’ presence, Duwel heard a shot fired. Duwel proceeded to protect Mims and Allee, then asked if Heidelberg was OK. Heidelberg said he was OK. Duwel then heard a noise and saw Heidelberg was face down, according to the affidavit. Duwel found that Heidelberg had been shot and attempted life-saving measures, according to the affidavit. Heidelberg was transported to Midland Memorial Hospital by another member of the police department. He died at about 2:20 a.m. “Upon Texas Ranger Cody Allen speaking to the homeowner, David Charles Wilson, he admitted against his penal interest he was inside the residence (in the 3300 block of Eagle Cove) and fired a handgun in the direction of Officer Heidelberg. There is no current evidence of anyone else discharging a firearm in the direction of the officers,” according to the affidavit.

Too sad. Prayers up. One of the many hazards of police work.

 

[oldag]

Several possibilities.

Could have been a malfunction, signal sent to monitoring service with no alarm.

We don't know how much time elapsed before police arrived. Owner could have cancelled the alarm and been back asleep. Monitoring service failed to notify police. Or word did not make it to the officers on the scene.

Or as said earlier, the guy was asleep and the "police" warning only woke him up but he did not comprehend what was said. For all we know, the guy may be hard of hearing.

Too little information at this point.

I will admit some doubt that a guy with a family in the house would deliberately murder a LEO. But I could be wrong.

 

[diesel1959]

Which is why my sirens are located outside and up high, front and back of the house.

Cuz if you ain’t sleeping, sure as shìt your neighbors better not be sleeping either, ‘mIright?

 

[busykngt]

Cuz if you ain’t sleeping, sure as shìt your neighbors better not be sleeping either, ‘mIright?

Right. If a cat burglar (or home invader) is on the prowl, they’ll want to know that too (and as soon as possible)! We also have a pretty active ‘Neighborhood Watch’ program.

 

[bigwheel]

Silent alarms are a thing, yes.

Are some but not very prevalent. Sonitrol handles that kinda stuff around here. They catch the bad guys by listening in. It’s very cool. No audible alarm. It’s the best way to catch real burglars as opposed to scaring them off.

 

[bigwheel]

Having had the honor to shag thousands of alarm calls in the wee hours will say all the home owners are scared to death and well armed. If it toots they think Jack the Ripper is in the house. The best life saver for cops is to have the dispatcher call the homeowner on the phone and tell them the booger chasers have arrived and to go put the gun up. Stand off to one side when you ring the door bell. They may need remedial training at Midland.