In late September we brought you the hair-raising first-person account of a Las Vegas woman who shot stalker Douglas Eugene Jackson through a door as he attempted to break into her home:

I Shot My Stalker Tonight

I’m writing this staring at the mess the police left for me, in a bit of a fog. After 6 months of stalking and threats against my life my stalker finally snapped and decided to kick my door in and make good on his promise. Out of fear, the past month I had begun sleeping with a chair propped against my front door, to give myself a few extra precious seconds in case of emergency. I shudder to think how differently things might’ve turned out had I not barricaded the door. I awoke around 115 am to the sound of the door giving way after one kick followed by the sounds of my stalker struggling to dislodge the chair while forcing his way inside. I jumped up and grabbed the gun I’ve learned to do everything even shower with. I stood at the top of my stairs and fired twice. Hitting him in the chest, I hear his scream, his disbelief that I’d stood up for myself.. 0 to 100 in milliseconds. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.

Jackson (unfortunately)survived the encounter and was charged with two felonies, aggravated stalking and home invasion. He’d stalked his victim and walked through a restraining order and more than 10 calls to police made by the victim. In the end, having and knowing how to use a handgun saved her life.

We now know (thanks to Moderno) that there is far more to this young woman’s story.

I thought I’d update my fellow redditors. The past few months have been a roller coaster for me. Since my last update, I’ve moved and started a new job I cherish and made amazing new friends. I now work in a firearm range that doubles as education hub for shooters of all experience levels and recently gained my cert. to become an NRA Range Safety officer.

I can’t even begin to describe how working in this environment has helped me. I get to be around like minded individuals AND help broaden people’s knowledge and understanding of firearms and safe handling while expanding my own. I’ve learned so much from the people that I work with and their positivity and support is what’s been the most helpful.

If I told you that what happened to me no longer affects me I would be dishonest. It does and it does so everyday. I still jump when I hear doorbells or someone knocking. No matter how much I try to shake it, it won’t leave. I have nightmares, more often than I’d like and become anxious when I’m home alone. I am more aware of my immediate surroundings, but I trust less and my small town mindset and naïveté has pretty much vanished. Even certain movies I used to like, I can no longer enjoy because of the subject matter.

A piece of me is forever hollowed by my experience but that part is slowly becoming overshadowed by the part of me that’s helping others to feel more confidently and assertive about not having to become someone’s victim themselves.

After multiple court resets and subpoenas the man who was stalking me made a deal and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb.11. Initially, I didn’t want to speak at his sentencing, I just wanted to close this hideous chapter and get on with my life but now I feel like I need to.

I need the court to understand the severity of what this person did to me, I still fear the justice system falling under his spell and giving him leniency because he was shot. I need them to understand what it may feel like to have someone hunt you down and toy with you like their prey. Or how you can become accustomed to lodging a chair against your door routinely the same way you brush your teeth before bed. I need them to know that I am a real person and not just a name read off of a piece of paper.

I feel as though I am ready now to look him in the eye and have him swallow the fact that I am the one who put him there. No one saved me, but me. I am alive, I am here despite many threats against my life, and almost giving up myself. I laugh and smile everyday because I know there are others in similar situations who won’t have the chance to. I am so much stronger now because of it. Today, I am happy to report, life is good. So yeah, Ask me anything.

You can access the Reddit thread here.

It is imperative to note that she survived this attempt on her life because she obtained a weapon, learned how to use it well, and kept it near her at all times… the very things that gun control groups preach against with every fiber of their beings.

It is also instructive that—like so many people who have been through a lethal force encounter—she is well aware of the fact that the level of training she had before the incident wasn’t enough, and so she is continuing to push forward, learn, and educate herself more. It continues to amaze me that people think that buying a handgun and taking a gun safety class, then going to the square range occasionally is adequate self-defense preparation.

That’s like thinking that buying a piano and taking an introductory lesson prepares you to play an improv concert.

My eyes were opened to just how inadequate most gun safety and static marksmanship-focused courses are by the force-on-force class I observed with Trace Armory Group this past summer (using high-end airsoft gas guns against other students), and my 250 Pistol class at Gunsite Academy, which featured time in both indoor and outdoor simulators (live frangible ammo on steel or paper targets).

People do not “rise to the occasion” in a self-defense scenario. They default to their level of training. The young woman here (and others who have been through similar circumstances) almost always realize that while they survived, they could have been much better prepared.

Find good instructors from different recognized schools and learn different philosophies that go beyond just the “square range.”

One day, you might be able to save lives as a result.