Man uses AR15 to Defend Self, Girlfriend against Masked Home Invader

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- At about 4 p.m., on 31 March 2019, a suspected gang member broke into an apartment at Blackhawk Apartments in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Blackhawk apartments are a large, two-story apartment complex in a decent neighborhood. A couple was inside the apartment, in the bedroom.  From journalgazette.net:

The man grabbed his Tactical AR-15 pistol after hearing what he thought were multiple people entering his apartment and took a position on one knee, pointing his firearm toward his bedroom doorway, documents said.

The accused armed home invader, Edwin D. Calligan, 23, was wearing a mask and was armed with a semi-automatic, 9mm handgun.

Calligan broke down the front door. The boyfriend was inside the bedroom of the apartment with his girlfriend when they heard the door being broke. The man grabbed his AR-15 pistol and took up a defensive position covering the bedroom door. He thought, from the noise, there were multiple home invaders.

As Calligan appeared in the doorway, masked, dressed all in black, with a two-tone semi-automatic handgun in his hand, the resident fired. He is not sure if Calligan fired simultaneously or not.

The gunfight continued into the living room, where they exchanged more shots. The invader, Calligan, ducked into the kitchen for cover, while the resident with the AR15 pistol and Calligan continued to exchange fire.

The resident retreated to the bedroom and Calligan, wounded, ran out the front door, bleeding heavily.

When the police investigated they found numerous empty 9mm and .223 casings on the floor of the apartment. The home defender estimated he fired between 14 and 17 rounds out of a 40 round magazine in his AR15 type pistol.

The blood trail indicates Calligan was hit when he was in the kitchen. The police found a loaded 9mm magazine lying on the floor in the kitchen. Perhaps Calligan was attempting a reload when he has hit.

Calligan was transported to the hospital by people who appeared to be waiting in Calligan’s black Equinox, outside the apartment. Calligan had a bullet wound in the upper front of his right thigh, with an exit wound in his right buttock. Calligan’s black Equinox was left in the hospital parking lot.

The resident was able to identify Calligan from a photo array.

This defensive use of an AR15 style firearm illustrates the qualities of the platform for home defense. The firearms are light, handy, easy to control, and have sufficient magazine capacity to minimize the necessity of reloading. While there was only one assailant in the apartment, confederates were in a car outside. They drove Calligan to the hospital. In the dozens of shots fired, only one connected with a person. Calligan was the only person wounded in the gunfight, in an apartment complex, in a city.

The couple of dozen shots did not appear to result in over-penetration. No one else was injured.

It has not been reported what brand of .223 ammunition was used in the AR15 pistol or the type of bullets.

It is not uncommon for most bullets fired in combat to miss their intended targets. The strange concept that a defender only needs a limited number of cartridges, such as 5 or 7 or 10, to effectively defend themselves, is shown to be incorrect by this example.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.