The Importance of Lessons Dad Taught His Young Daughter Became Clear When Suspects Found Her Home Alone

An 11-year-old girl in North Branch Township, Michigan, was watching television as she waited for her parents to return home from work when two people suddenly started “beating really hard on the back door.”

As previously reported by TheBlaze, the scary situation last month would end with the two suspects running away from the girl and her shotgun. However, new details have emerged about the scary incident, including why the 11-year-old was so prepared to respond to the threat.

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After the initial banging on the door, the little girl, Reese, reportedly witnessed the two suspects trying to find a way into her home. She called her parents, who immediately called 911. However, the nightmare was far from over for the girl.

With officers roughly 20 minutes away and the suspects inside the garage, Reese told WEYI-TV, “I knew after that, that something was definitely wrong and I needed to hide.”

The girl’s father, Steve, said he taught his daughter an emergency plan for such a situation, which included “where she was to go and where was the safest place to be.” The plan also included knowing where to retrieve a firearm and how to use it.

(WEYI-TV)

As the girl did what her father had taught her, the suspects allegedly kicked in the garage door and another door to get into the house. When they were inside, the men then reportedly stormed the bedroom and kicked down the bathroom door.

Reese said she was “crying” as she hid inside a closet, but she knew they would eventually find her.

And then they did.

But instead of a defenseless 11-year-old girl, the would-be burglars found a girl armed with a shotgun pointed right at one of their faces.

“I pointed it in his face and they ran off as soon as I did,” Reese recalled to WEYI-TV.

Roughly half an hour after they ran away from the armed 11-year-old, James Wasson and Rhonda Steward were arrested by police and slapped with home invasion and felony gun charges.

Reese’s father said he is prepared for people to criticize him for giving his young daughter access to a gun, but the gun is locked in a safe at all times and the dad put his daughter through gun safety training. Reese is also a licensed hunter.

After the terrifying incident, the father is glad he made sure his daughter was prepared. Reese seemed to agree, too.

“They need to know exactly what the plan is and they can’t just say this is never going to happen because bad things happen to good people all the time. I was just following the plan,” the girl added.

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