Not my story but I thought I would share.

I shot my stalker tonight.

I’m writing this staring at the mess the police left for me, in a bit of a fog. After 6 months of stalking and threats against my life my stalker finally snapped and decided to kick my door in and make good on his promise. Out of fear, the past month I had begun sleeping with a chair propped against my front door, to give myself a few extra precious seconds in case of emergency. I shudder to think how differently things might’ve turned out had I not barricaded the door. I awoke around 1:15 am to the sound of the door giving way after one kick followed by the sounds of my stalker struggling to dislodge the chair while forcing his way inside.

I jumped up and grabbed the gun I’d learned to do everything even shower with. I stood at the top of my stairs and fired twice. Hitting him in the chest, I hear his scream, his disbelief that I’d stood up for myself.. 0 to 100 in milliseconds. I’ve never been so afraid in my life. I do not know if he is living, but I do know the police have him and that’s what helps the most. For months of him evading the police I began to question whether he was unstoppable. Untraceable. Houdini, he would murder me and get away with it. As of now, I’m in a haze of guilt, surprise, relief, and disbelief. I shook as the canines dragged him out from his hiding place under a bush.

I survived, where so many people do not. Holy shit, I survived.

Edit: The outpouring of support is WILD. I can’t thank you guys enough. Everyone can be a critic and the fact remains, you don’t know what you will do in a situation until it’s presented in front of you. Those who believe there were other things to be done have never had someone tell you that you no longer deserve to draw breath and mean it. And for the ‘should’ve fired a warning shot’ folks: There are no warning shots, a gun is a deadly force, you only pull that trigger if you are in fear for your life and all other methods of deterring are gone. When he kicked my door in, there was no longer a deterrent preventing harm. Warning shots are dangerous and could hurt the unintended. This is not a Wild West movie. That’s what responsible gun ownership is. I’ll update once things have calmed down a bit I promise.