Here’s a wild tale of guns, guts, and neighborly expectations.

When a former SWAT team member watches his neighbor’s house get robbed, he makes a choice that leaves everyone buzzing.

Let’s see what went down and whether he’s really to blame.

Read the story!

AITA for letting my neighbors house get robbed?

A little backstory, I was in the military for 5 years, have been in the SWAT team for 3. I own A LOT of guns, and. I know how to use them very well.

I live at home with my gf and our newborn. My next door neighbors had gone out of town to visit the husbands sick mother. My bedroom directly faces their backyard.

I go to sleep pretty late most nights, and around 1AM I see 4 masked guys busting through my backyard and hopping the fence in to my neighbors.

They then proceed to break the latch on my neighbors back door, and head inside.

Yikes! What a sight.

Instantly I call the cops. While waiting for the cops to arrive, all 4 of the men rush out of the house and run off into the woods. They clearly had thought some of this through.

They’re long gone by the time the cops arrive. I tell the cops what I saw and call it a night.

The next day, my neighbors show up earlier than planned to assess the damage.

My neighbor walks across the yard and opens my fence after I wave him in.

Conversation starts off light but he eventually brings up the fact that the police told him I witnessed everything.

He then proceeds to question why I did nothing to stop it.

Um. Come again?

The intruders didn’t have guns by the looks of it and I’d had years of tactical training. He suggests I could’ve scared them off or injured them before they made it out with all their savings (which still hasn’t been found).

In my humble opinion, after being in firefights, the only battles that you should be in are the vital ones. The ones you need for victory and safety.

I have a girlfriend and a baby 20 feet away, it isn’t legal to shoot at another’s property, and it mostly wasn’t my problem.

Call me selfish but, any risk of these burglars trying ANYTHING on my family, I wasn’t going to take that chance.

NO kidding.

Maybe I could’ve stopped 4 guys had I rushed the home with my guns, but that is not my job. that is the police on duties job.

Obviously had it been my home it would have been different, but my family was safe and that’s what mattered.

AITA?

Wow, that’s one for the books!

People on Reddit had all sorts of opinions about who’s really in the wrong here.

This person says just because he’s military doesn’t mean he’s obligated to act off duty.

This commenter thinks the neighbor has his priorities all out of whack.

This person thinks the neighbor had it coming.

When it comes to protecting your own, sometimes being a hero means staying put.

He had no dog in the fight.

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