It was about 7am on a cold Saturday morning when 3 teenagers pulled up to 64 y.o. David Pettersen’s Minnesota home.
Two of the teens jumped out and started checking doors on Pettersen’s house, “testing” the easiest access.
Finding them locked, one of the teens – Kyle Nason (18 y.o.) – got a boost up to the 2nd level deck to look for an easier way in.
The homeowner, Petterson, was still in bed when he saw Kyle walk by his bedroom window.
He jumped out of bed to confront the boy – who, scared, leaped off the 2nd story deck, breaking his ankle in the fall – and began crawling his way to the getaway car parked near Pettersen’s garage.
What Happened Next Sent 1 Teen Criminal To The Morgue… And Will Send The “Victim” To Prison!
As the 3 teens scrambled to their vehicle, Peterson ran back to his bedroom to grab his loaded .45 caliber handgun.
Charging outside, he barely made it in time to intercept the criminals’ car as it drove by him in high-speed retreat.
In later reports, Pettersen stated he was trying to shoot out the front drivers-side tire to stop the criminals’ getaway… however, although he was able to get a round into the tire, Peterson kept on shooting… and one of the three bullets he shot hit the driver – 19 y.o. Nick Embertson – in the pelvis, who lost consciousness as he drove off onto the side of the driveway.
Pettersen ran back into his home to dial 911 as the other boys moved their bleeding friend out of the driver’s seat and sped off down the road.
The cops eventually caught up to the getaway car and 2 of the boys went off to jail while the 3rd – the wounded 19 y.o. – later died of his wounds at the hospital.
Oh, and the “victim”, 64 y.o. Pettersen?
Charged with 2 Felony counts that – after what will most definitely be a long and very expensive court trial – will likely put him in a prison cell, right next to even worse predators than the ones who tried to break into his home!
3 Home-Defense Lessons Most Gun-Owners Don’t Realize – Until It’s Too Late!
I see stories like this all the time and it makes me sick.
Law-abiding citizen is in his own home – minding his own business – and then some low-life dirtbags who don’t want to “work” for their money tries to prey on him.
And the “victim” is the one who will could spend the next 10-20 years of his life behind bars dreading the daily trip to “the showers”?
What REALLY makes me frustrated though is that these same law-abiding citizens who are smart enough to own a gun for self-protection… have NO CLUE about how to use it “legally” to defend themselves.
Trust me my friend… it matters! Big time!
In fact, here are 3 things you yourself may not even realize when it comes to using your firearm against a criminal…
1. You’re MIND Is Going To Screw With You
Pettersen was charged with Manslaughter – even though he was the victim – because the 3 teens (in the eyes of the law) were no longer a threat as they tried to get away in their car.
But that’s not likely what your brain is going to be telling you in the middle of the night, as you grip your pistol in your hands and have a bead on your retreating attackers.
What you may be more likely thinking is…
“F*ck that! Not in MY house you don’t!”
“I’m not letting you get away just so you can come back and try again!”
“I’m tired of criminals getting away with sh*t like this!”
Now, that kind of “hell no!” mind-set that could get you to take quick action and save your life…
… but it can also get you to take ILLEGAL action and ruin the REST of your life.
As we say in our “Bulletproof Defense” Certification Course… “Our legal system is NOT about justice… it’s about the LAW! Plain and simple!”
2. Your BODY Is Going To Screw With You
Adrenaline is a funny chemical in your body…
It’s your body’s natural “fight or flight” hormone that can give you near superhuman strength and stamina…
… but it also overrides your critical decision-making ability AND destroys your fine-motor skills you need for accurate shooting.
Case in point…
Pettersen said he was trying to “shoot out the driver’s side tire” to keep the teens from getting away.
While this may sound like a fishy excuse to some, the fact that he shot the driver in the pelvis – which would be at about the same height as the car’s tires – lends some backing to his story, right?
However… not only was it an illegal decision to try to shoot the tires (more on that in a second), but Pettersen’s adrenalized brain didn’t have the ability to account for the movement of the car and the bullet most likely was at least 2-3 feet away from where he wanted it to hit – “accidentally” striking the driver and killing him.
3. The COURT Is Going To Screw With You
At the time of this story, NO CHARGES have been filed against the two surviving teens.
At most, they’re probably looking at a Misdemeanor Trespassing charge because they didn’t actually enter the home, nor did they take anything or threaten the homeowner in any way.
In fact, you’ve seen me refer to these criminals as “boys” throughout this article … and that’s exactly how they’ll be presented to a jury (even though they’re really 18 & 19 y.o. “men”).
The happy pictures of the 3 teens will be shown on a video screen… the parents of the dead boy will be quietly sobbing in the back of the courtroom… and I can tell you pretty much what the discussion is going to be like in the courtroom for Pettersen’s prosecution…
“Mr. Pettersen, you’ve stated that you train at the range with your legally-owned firearm and can hit a target from 21 feet away and put all rounds within a 12-inch box. And now you’d like us to believe that you were aiming for a 3-foot wide tire and couldn’t even hit it from only 10 feet away?
So which is it Mr. Pettersen? Are you lying about how well trained you are with your firearm? Or are you perhaps lying about whether you really meant to shoot the young Nicolas Embertson even though he posed no threat to you?”
The fact is, prosecuting attorneys have all kinds of “tricks” for making you look bad on the stand.
They conveniently leave out the physiological effects an attack has on the “victim” and how it can cause you to do things you didn’t mean to do.
Understanding these effects NOW will help you make better legal decisions AND react better if you really are forced to shoot in your own defense.
As a matter of fact, this is why we filmed real “pressure-testing” of expert firearms users (including military contractors and law enforcement) in our training where you can literally SEE the effects of adrenaline – against a live “attacker” trainer.
It shows the jury – with their own eyes – that it’s actually the prosecuting attorney who might be the one they can’t trust, because he either doesn’t seem to understand these physiological factors, or worse… he’s just trying to “trick” them into finding the victim guilty!
This is why we say you can even enter videos of attacks and training as evidence of the legality of your actions based on the “Reasonable Man Doctrine”.
But here’s the secret…
In order for you to use it in your defense, you MUST have watched and participated in this type of training BEFORE you’re actually involved in a shooting.
It does you no good to follow the program AFTER you’ve pulled the trigger and it won’t be allowed into evidence.
That’s because the “Reasonable Man Doctrine” dictates that only the information you knew BEFORE you pulled the trigger is valuable to your defense.
(A Personal Note From The Editor…)
Ok, I might catch hell for saying this, but I’m going to anyway…
Pettersen SHOULD go to jail!
I’m not saying he’s a bad person or that I defend “criminals” over “victims”.
But the actions he took DID unnecessarily take a teen’s life – and that teen could have been my kid, your kid, (or your grand-kid).
You and I both know that – no matter how well we raise our children – they can take a bad turn here and there on their path through life.
God knows I sure did!
While the teens were definitely up to no good and deserve to be brought to justice, there was no sign that this crime was meant to hurt anyone and he didn’t deserve to die.
But even if you disagree with me on that principle, it’s 64 y.o. Pettersen’s 2nd Felony charge that you should care about also…
“Intentional Discharge Of A Firearm That Endangers Safety <of others>”
Basically that means he pulled the trigger at something he didn’t have to.
For Pettersen, that was the vehicle’s tire.
But that round (or any of the rounds) could have ricocheted off of the car – or missed the target completely – and struck an innocent bystander.
In the end, he got 90 days for his act… which seems like an insanely light sentence considering it could have been anyone’s kids.
Like MY kids… YOUR kids… your grand-kids… your spouse… your dog… or YOU!
Always remember – you’re legally responsible for every damn bullet that comes out of the end of your weapon, no matter where it goes or who it hits.
Bottom line is that – as much as I believe in our right to own a firearm to protect ourselves – I DON’T want untrained gun-owners out there who put MY life (or the lives of those I love) in jeopardy because they aren’t trained well enough.
And I’m not just talking about “marksmanship” training…
I’m talking about “legal” training that will keep you out of prison… and me and my family safe from their stupidity.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ve got it all figured out.
I talk to hundreds of gun-owners (and even many, many instructors) who don’t have all the facts.
I don’t know what to say about this situation. Was he right or wrong I guess I would have to be in a similar situation to find out. The teens now in today’s world alot of them are heartless and cruel look at all the shootings going on by teens and it all comes down to the parents I BLAME THEM
A piece of trash with a long rap sheet stabbed an innocent woman on public transit in Charlotte NC the other day. The feds need to try the case capital murder and ensure this killer gets put down permanently like a rabid animal. Remember the Getz case from a few years ago where Mr. Getz successfully defended himself on a NYC subway against attackers and Mr. Getz went to prison? The judicial system needs a huge enema and a through house cleaning. And more capital punishment used on dangerous convicted killers.
Cue the laugh track on getting any more punishment, and especially CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, in the WOKE society of today! As a long ago American Icon would say, “THAT’LL BE THE DAY.”
Although it wasn’t a home invasion situation, about a year ago my wife and I were in Kansas City, MO. Her sister, a recent transplant from Houston, had a valuable ring she decided to sell via Facebook. She arranged to meet the buyer (a male) somewhere near where she was living. She was going to go by herself but I said no, I’ll go with you. So I strapped up with my Walther P38 9mm (yeah, a bit old school but it is smooth as silk). I had on an older “Denali style” shoulder holster where you can see the strap even with a coat on. We get to the meeting site, the exchange takes place, yet the subject asks the sister in law if he can hold the ring while he gets her the money. Which is in his car. Which is facing out the driveway front end first. Which he then proceeds to drive off at a high rate of speed. So there we stood, slightly embarrassed but safe. I am a member of USCCA (which I HIGHLY recommend) so I have been to several trainings where this very issue about what and/or who is a threat and when that ceases to be the case. Never occurred to me to draw and shoot at the fleeing thief. He had schmoozed us to the point we both let our guards down which he thoroughly exploited. So don’t think something like this or worse can’t happen to you.
Roger that! Absootootly agonizing having to watch even a few hundred dollars of property get stolen; however, it wudda definitely been far more expensive to have just shot the perp, forget what it wudda cost if the perp got DEAD!☠️
It is good to be informed. Even the bible says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. Not “kinowing” nowadays can get one killed or suffer tremendous loss.
Next time you go to the range, take a thermos of strong espresso & a mat to do some pushups on.
1) Get the Rangemaster’s OK for this exercise
2) Gulp a cup
3) Load mags, setup your booth & targets, etc. for a few minutes
4) Drop & do 10-20, fast (you know who you are…)
5) Immediately get up & dump your mag @ 20 yards
6) Measure your ADRENALIZED group size
7) Repeat steps 2-6, tightening the group
LOL – attempting to simulate stress, much less the adrenaline dump folk WILL experience in ANY life or death scenario, is almost impossible. Worth the effort, I suppose, if it simply shows a ‘gunny’ how much their handgun skills diminish just by inducing some rapid breathing. Watched a police body cam video of an Officer attempting to ‘put down’ an armed perp. It wasn’t pretty or anything like a Hathcock “one shot, one kill” episode! The Officer did a full *3* mag dump in this encounter, and the perp, though down, was still squirming. The FBI stats show that shootings involving “trained” police offers result in 75% misses and only a 25% hits ratio! The scary question is, ‘where do those 75 out of 100 misses GO?’
When in doubt of your “legal position” DON’T do it. If the puke is inside the home…shoot the SOB, get a knife from the kitchen, put it in the thugs hand and THEN and only then call the cops. One more thing. DO NOT TALK TO THE COPS WITHOUT A LAWYER…DO NOT DO IT. When the cops say “anything you say can AND WILL be used against you they are not kidding. So, no matter how shook up you are you should also SHUT UP and don’t run your mouth. Most crimes (or incidents) are not solved by the police. The innocent person shoots themselves in the foot. DO NOT TALK TO THE COPS WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY
Ooooh! HIGHLY disagree with “get a knife from the kitchen and put it in the thug’s hand”. Watch one episode of any of the CSI television series and you’ll see that it doesn’t take a genius detective to find the little things that can give them big clues. If you were justified enough to shoot, you don’t need to try to bolster up your defense. It will only make you look guilty in a courtroom Lenny.
Yep, you are going to catch hell for your opinion, but you are right. The good news is that he “only” was sentenced to 90 days. But what is really sickening is in the last paragraph of the linked story. I guess Minnesota doesn’t have a felony murder statute.
MN? Cue the laugh track. It will remain a LOST state‼️☠️
FYI @Firewagon… I’ve slightly edited your comment to comply with our posting guidelines that don’t allow overtly racial, political, or religious references. Thanks for understanding and your future compliance.
I wouldn’t have given Mr. Petterson jail time but would have ordered 90 days of professional firearm training including legal requirements.
How would that account for the DEAD teen? This ‘gunny’ made a more grievous mistake than did those would be home invaders. He caused the killing!
“When It Comes To Legally Protecting Themselves” The ‘key word’ being “Legally,” that becomes the $64,000 question, no? Far too many people believe that just going ARMED is all they need do. Ole Forrest pegged these folk with his Momma’s caution: “STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!”
Amazing how FEW folk have any idea how much they need to know about the law when they make the determination to go ARMED! Simply having a grain of knowledge what that “Fleeing Felon Law” stipulates, cudda/shudda kept this ‘gunny’ from even being ARRESTED! Reminds of an incident where some ARMED woman fogged off multiple rounds, in a Walmart parking lot, at a fleeing car full of SHOPLIFTERS! As is said far too often in America today, “You Just Can’t Make This Schiff Up.”
Most of all, thank you for having the bravery to post your view even though you expected it to get backlash. And thank you for not allowing anonymous posts.
I believe Mr Peterson should have gotten a longer sentence. His negligence killed a young man & could have done more damage to others. And whilst that young man was a delinquent & surely up to no good, he was running away & posed ZERO threat. Mr. Peterson is incredibly lucky, especially living in a blue state. Once you are out of immediate danger you DO NOT SHOOT. You retreat to a safe space, call the LEO’s & remain vigilant until you are sure the threat is over.
P.S. I’ve graduated from Massad Ayoobs MAG40 course, so I understand the laws pretty well.
I disagree that Mr Peterson should have gotten a longer sentence. His actions certainly stopped the driver from harming other people, and hopefully because the other 2 adult men saw their friend die right in front of them they might not be so quick to repeat those actions. Just because they were trying to get away before being identified & caught by the police doesn’t mean they posed zero threat. They certainly would have either returned to Peterson’s home at another time or they would have continued to break in to other homes. Did Peterson have time to search his entire home before trying to stop the 3 men? Did he have time to see if all his family members were safe and sound in their own beds in the house. There was no way for him to know the ages of those 3 adult men. I view his response as trying to stop those 3 men from harming other innocent souls. There was also no way for Peterson to know how many more of those men were in their group on his property. It’s my opinion the young adult who died is responsible for his own death, not Peterson. That was not just a stupid teenage prank. They could have easily planned to murder everyone in the home upon entry using the kitchen knives or whatever they found. The laws have got to be changed. We are living in completely different times than when the laws were written.
Sadly, however, the “victim’s” misguided decision caused a young person to become snail bait, i.e., DEAD! There was not even a mention of any of these “teens” as being ARMED. Attempting to make a defense out of, the reason you shot at, and KILLED, one of the escaping what you gauged as felons, was you ‘feared’ that by letting these perps escape they would put other’s lives at RISK, just won’t fly in a court of law!
Courts coddle criminals and ignore or injure victims. Judges are political entities. Period!
He is totally guilty, he should have never ran out of his house with a Gun locked and loaded.
They were driving away from him, but he was determined to shoot at them, instead of getting the license plate number, color of the vehicle, and calling 911.
Have people lost all common sense !
I tend to agree. Most any ‘self-defense’ instructor, advising on ‘Home Invasions,’ would advise the home’s ‘protector,’ that sans a direct, assessed as a lethal, encounter, you should round up the members of your household, get to your safe room, or any room, lock yourselves in, and dial the po po! WAIT for the po po to sound the ALL CLEAR, and anybody, prior to that, attempting to enter your room, UNINVITED, becomes FAIR GAME! As in hunting game; however, always make sure of your target first, don’t gun some relative hoping to SAVE you! Going to ‘clear’ your house, hunting the invaders, is a FOOLS errand. Scenarios run at various home invasion instructional courses have proven that everyone going through the ‘clearing rooms’ exercise FAILS! As Ripley would say, “BELIEVE IT OR NOT.”
yes, and especially the lawyers and judges. Their money is based on cases and there are plenty of ambulance chasers. Damn I just spilled my McD’s coffee in my lap.
He did not have to shoot, the teenagers were driving away. Thank god I don’t live in America
Yes. but being born in America is a gift from God. Owning a firearm is a gift from our nation’s founders. But, not being legally informed about pulling that trigger is a big mistake on everyone’s fault. Reading articles from educated gun owners should be a absolute necessary job if you plan on keeping that. 45 loaded next to your bed table. There are several groups that you can join to attempt to keep your wits about you when you are confronted with violence..USCCA is your obligation if that .45 is easy access. This writing is sound and true, so, do the right thing and educate yourself.
“….do the right thing and educate yourself.” That should be the LABEL on every handgun box that is sold! As ole Forrest said in repeating his Momma’s admonition to him, “STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.” One of my favorite Founders probably said it best, “We Are All Born Ignorant, But Must Work Hard To Remain Stupid!” BF