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I am a proud Canadian without a gun
ByBrian HatchAt 1 p.m. on June 17, as I pulled into my driveway after some shopping, I saw a teenage male run across our front lawn and disappear up the walkway to our front door. At the time, unbeknown to me, my wife was gardening in the back yard.
When I got to the porch, the young man was not there. I entered and found him standing in my kitchen. The first word I screamed was my wife's name and the next to the intruder: "What are you doing here?" My wife responded from outside with a "Yes" and the intruder, who was visibly agitated, said "They are trying to kill me!"
I will tell you the ending but first with the above frozen in your mind, I will tell you:
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because I did not shoot him.
The intruder was about my height (5-foot-10), but I had him outnumbered by 50 years and 70 pounds.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because there is no blood on my hands or on my kitchen floor.
The intruder was a black teenage male.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because a young man who faces more challenges than most of us can imagine is still alive and will get the help he needs because we both live in Canada.
Our surnames are not Martin or Zimmerman.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because I will not be spending the next decade going through the legal system. I am not sure how many more decades I have but I do know I don't want to waste any part of them in a courtroom.
The happy ending:
We called 911 and had the police dispatched. We spent the next 20 minutes talking to the 911 operator while keeping our unexpected guest safe and calm. Our guest was a very nice student with autism in a special education class at a nearby school who had a misunderstanding with his teacher. He felt threatened and we were very happy to help and offer him sanctuary. The police and the teachers arrived and as our guest left hand in hand with his teacher, he turned waved and said, "Bye bye. Thank you, you nice people. Bye bye."
When I got to the porch, the young man was not there. I entered and found him standing in my kitchen. The first word I screamed was my wife's name and the next to the intruder: "What are you doing here?" My wife responded from outside with a "Yes" and the intruder, who was visibly agitated, said "They are trying to kill me!"
I will tell you the ending but first with the above frozen in your mind, I will tell you:
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because I did not shoot him.
The intruder was about my height (5-foot-10), but I had him outnumbered by 50 years and 70 pounds.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because there is no blood on my hands or on my kitchen floor.
The intruder was a black teenage male.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because a young man who faces more challenges than most of us can imagine is still alive and will get the help he needs because we both live in Canada.
Our surnames are not Martin or Zimmerman.
I am a proud Canadian without a gun because I will not be spending the next decade going through the legal system. I am not sure how many more decades I have but I do know I don't want to waste any part of them in a courtroom.
The happy ending:
We called 911 and had the police dispatched. We spent the next 20 minutes talking to the 911 operator while keeping our unexpected guest safe and calm. Our guest was a very nice student with autism in a special education class at a nearby school who had a misunderstanding with his teacher. He felt threatened and we were very happy to help and offer him sanctuary. The police and the teachers arrived and as our guest left hand in hand with his teacher, he turned waved and said, "Bye bye. Thank you, you nice people. Bye bye."
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