Opinions wanted: Doorbell rang at 4:30am, house was not on fire, what would you do?

@DaveA All of the responses have been unique. Not everyone lives where they can leave doors unlocked. Please don't try to make me feel bad for asking opinions of what they would have done in my shoes.

In the pitch black of 430am alone in the home, I did what I thought to do to protect myself. Which was no response to the bell ringer.

I wondered at that moment if because there was no reply from me that this would have given the bellringer whoever it was, incentive to break in or try to break in. I had my phone ready, but I know how long the police would take to get here, if at all, and then it would have been after the tragedy.

So, that's great that the two of you banded together to help out strangers, as have I, but not those who remain silent and show up in darkness. If they were legitimate, they could have called out a name, and perhaps a response from me would have cleared it up.

Thanks for your input.
 
Owlivia said:
In the pitch black of 430am alone in the home, I did what I thought to do to protect myself. Which was no response to the bell ringer.
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You did exactly what you should have, Owlivia. I doubt that there's a law enforcement officer anywhere who would have advised a woman alone in your position to open the door at that pitch-dark time of night/morning. No way. NOT advisable. There were some good suggestions here about how to handle it should it ever happen again.
 
Owlivia said:
What would you have done?
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When I was living alone in a house, I would have peeped around a curtain to try to see what was up, and maybe have called the police.
In these days of cell phones I can't imagine why anyone would be ringing a stranger's doorbell at wee hours of the morning. I kind of imagine the only people up that time of day are drug-users, but I'm not a morning person so maybe there are legitimate reasons to be up at 4:30 in the morning.
I'm sure there are a variety of valid reasons but I just wouldn't want to deal with it at that time of day unless they saw a fire in my house.
 
Owlivia, do you have nearby neighbours. You could ask if they had anyone ring their doorbell last night. The ringers might have been at the wrong address and looking to pick someone up.
 
When I was young, we lived in a town of only 2K people in upstate New York. Most people in the town did not lock their doors, but I always did because I had grown up in a much bigger town. People thought I was silly, including my husband.

Then one day in the middle of the night in a neighboring, very small town two men knocked on an old couples home and they opened the door. They probably thought the same thing that maybe their car had broken down. The two men murdered the couple and then stole whatever they could find laying around worth anything. This was 50 years ago. It doesnā€™t matter where you live. Thereā€™s always been bad people and there always will be.
 
C50 said:
While cameras and signs and security alarms can give you some peace of mind they will not save your life once an intruder is in your home, or frankly even in your yard. The police are great but won't be there in seconds, that's why I think you need something at hand to defend yourself, even when in the back yard tending the flowers.

I'm not trying to scare you, rather trying to impress upon you the importance of self defense. Whatever home defense tool you decide on will probably never be used, but can save your life if needed.
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I have a hiding place prepared so that anyone who breaks in will think the house is empty.
 

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