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Hero dad under the gun
Ronald Dixon froze in fear when he saw an intruder enter his toddler son's bedroom, and his heart pounded wildly after he fired two shots in a confrontation with the stranger. Later, upset that he might have taken a life, Dixon shook as the wounded man lay in his driveway.
The encounter was only the beginning of an emotional upheaval for the soft-spoken Brooklyn computer engineer.
A month later, Dixon's feelings still swing from relief when he smiles at his son, to terror about what could have happened, to dread about possibly serving time because he used an unlicensed gun.
"The only thing I could think about was my family - there was no telling what he would do to my children or girlfriend," Dixon said in an interview last week.
"If I have to go to jail on the weekends, I couldn't work," he added, his voice cracking. "I couldn't pay my mortgage."
On Dec. 14, Dixon shot a career burglar who allegedly broke into his Canarsie house. Dixon used a 9-mm. pistol legally purchased in Florida that he says he was in the process of registering here.
Long criminal record
Ivan Thompson, 40, who has a 14-page rap sheet for burglary and larceny, was wounded in the chest and groin. He is being held on $75,000 bail in a mental observation unit on Rikers Island, charged with burglary and criminal trespass.
Dixon, who holds two computer jobs, was charged with misdemeanor gun possession, and the Brooklyn district attorney offered him a plea bargain that would require four weekends on Rikers.
But Dixon's lawyer said any amount of time behind bars is unacceptable.
"Mr. Dixon is clearly a victim, and his family continues to suffer from what happened," said the lawyer, Andrew Friedman. "If necessary, we'll let a jury of his peers decide."
Dixon could get up to a year in jail if convicted.
District Attorney Charles Hynes is in the difficult position of prosecuting a hardworking, law-abiding Navy veteran for defending his family and home.
But there were 486 shootings in Brooklyn last year, and the borough remains awash in illegal firearms. A spokesman said Hynes cannot condone the use of an unlicensed gun.
"That doesn't mean the prosecution should go full steam ahead," said Friedman. "There has to be some common sense involved."
Dixon, 27, clutched a balled-up tissue, and his eyes filled at nearly every mention of his son, Kyle, who will turn 2 years old next month, and daughter, Brittany, 8.
"I work seven days a week. I have been doing it for three years, because I wanted a safe haven for my family," he said.
"Sometimes the kids are asleep by the time I get home, and they go to the baby-sitter and school before I get up. The great part is Mondays and Wednesdays, I pick them up at the baby-sitter's - my girlfriend goes to school - and I spend time with them."
Dixon came to the U.S. from Jamaica after graduating high school and served in the Navy from 1994 to 1997, in weapons ordnance.
He works as a network engineer at Carnegie Hall, Monday to Friday, and on weekends at a Wall Street financial firm.
He and his girlfriend, Tricia Best, and their children moved into the brick house in Canarsie in June.
"It was a very quiet neighborhood - maybe too quiet," Dixon said.
At 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday five weeks ago, Dixon was home in bed because he had called in sick. It was almost time for Kyle to wake up and run down the hall to his parents' room to watch his "Barney" video.
"I was supposed to be at work the night before, and would have gotten home about noon," Dixon recalled. "I was not totally asleep, and I heard a squeak in the floorboard. I opened my eyes and see a person snooping around, peeping around outside my bedroom.
"The only thing I could think of was my family. I didn't want to move, until he went to my son's room, and he went in."
Dixon said Best called 911, and he got his weapon from a closet and slowly crept up to the room. He said he saw Thompson rifling through dresser drawers.
"I went in ... I looked in his face, I didn't know this guy, I was so shocked ... In a nervous voice I said, 'What are you doing in my house?' and he ran toward me, yelling, 'Come upstairs!' like there were other people with him. I shot him 'cause I thought more people were in the house."
Shots and screams
Dixon continued, "He ran to me, I shot him and he fell down the stairs. My daughter started screaming - she had thought I got shot. My son was not in his room, he had been sleeping in my daughter's bed."
After the police arrived, Dixon looked outside.
"I saw him lying there, I saw him looking at me, I was nervous, shaking. I've never been in any type of trouble. I only fired a gun in Navy training.
"I very much felt bad that he got hurt. I was worried if he died. I wasn't hoping for that."
Dixon was taken to the 69th Precinct, and then sped through Central Booking.
"Everyone I came across was sympathetic," he said. "The court officer said he would have done the same thing."
He found out that the intruder, Thompson, has a long record of break-ins and burglaries.
Fearful at home
He said the thought of someone invading his home still terrifies him and his children.
"My children are not comfortable being downstairs by themselves."
He shook his head and said that all he ever wanted was just a good life, and he thought buying the house was the first step.
"I thought that house would give me a safe haven. Now I'm thinking if I didn't buy this house this never would have happened."
The encounter was only the beginning of an emotional upheaval for the soft-spoken Brooklyn computer engineer.
A month later, Dixon's feelings still swing from relief when he smiles at his son, to terror about what could have happened, to dread about possibly serving time because he used an unlicensed gun.
"The only thing I could think about was my family - there was no telling what he would do to my children or girlfriend," Dixon said in an interview last week.
"If I have to go to jail on the weekends, I couldn't work," he added, his voice cracking. "I couldn't pay my mortgage."
On Dec. 14, Dixon shot a career burglar who allegedly broke into his Canarsie house. Dixon used a 9-mm. pistol legally purchased in Florida that he says he was in the process of registering here.
Long criminal record
Ivan Thompson, 40, who has a 14-page rap sheet for burglary and larceny, was wounded in the chest and groin. He is being held on $75,000 bail in a mental observation unit on Rikers Island, charged with burglary and criminal trespass.
Dixon, who holds two computer jobs, was charged with misdemeanor gun possession, and the Brooklyn district attorney offered him a plea bargain that would require four weekends on Rikers.
But Dixon's lawyer said any amount of time behind bars is unacceptable.
"Mr. Dixon is clearly a victim, and his family continues to suffer from what happened," said the lawyer, Andrew Friedman. "If necessary, we'll let a jury of his peers decide."
Dixon could get up to a year in jail if convicted.
District Attorney Charles Hynes is in the difficult position of prosecuting a hardworking, law-abiding Navy veteran for defending his family and home.
But there were 486 shootings in Brooklyn last year, and the borough remains awash in illegal firearms. A spokesman said Hynes cannot condone the use of an unlicensed gun.
"That doesn't mean the prosecution should go full steam ahead," said Friedman. "There has to be some common sense involved."
Dixon, 27, clutched a balled-up tissue, and his eyes filled at nearly every mention of his son, Kyle, who will turn 2 years old next month, and daughter, Brittany, 8.
"I work seven days a week. I have been doing it for three years, because I wanted a safe haven for my family," he said.
"Sometimes the kids are asleep by the time I get home, and they go to the baby-sitter and school before I get up. The great part is Mondays and Wednesdays, I pick them up at the baby-sitter's - my girlfriend goes to school - and I spend time with them."
Dixon came to the U.S. from Jamaica after graduating high school and served in the Navy from 1994 to 1997, in weapons ordnance.
He works as a network engineer at Carnegie Hall, Monday to Friday, and on weekends at a Wall Street financial firm.
He and his girlfriend, Tricia Best, and their children moved into the brick house in Canarsie in June.
"It was a very quiet neighborhood - maybe too quiet," Dixon said.
At 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday five weeks ago, Dixon was home in bed because he had called in sick. It was almost time for Kyle to wake up and run down the hall to his parents' room to watch his "Barney" video.
"I was supposed to be at work the night before, and would have gotten home about noon," Dixon recalled. "I was not totally asleep, and I heard a squeak in the floorboard. I opened my eyes and see a person snooping around, peeping around outside my bedroom.
"The only thing I could think of was my family. I didn't want to move, until he went to my son's room, and he went in."
Dixon said Best called 911, and he got his weapon from a closet and slowly crept up to the room. He said he saw Thompson rifling through dresser drawers.
"I went in ... I looked in his face, I didn't know this guy, I was so shocked ... In a nervous voice I said, 'What are you doing in my house?' and he ran toward me, yelling, 'Come upstairs!' like there were other people with him. I shot him 'cause I thought more people were in the house."
Shots and screams
Dixon continued, "He ran to me, I shot him and he fell down the stairs. My daughter started screaming - she had thought I got shot. My son was not in his room, he had been sleeping in my daughter's bed."
After the police arrived, Dixon looked outside.
"I saw him lying there, I saw him looking at me, I was nervous, shaking. I've never been in any type of trouble. I only fired a gun in Navy training.
"I very much felt bad that he got hurt. I was worried if he died. I wasn't hoping for that."
Dixon was taken to the 69th Precinct, and then sped through Central Booking.
"Everyone I came across was sympathetic," he said. "The court officer said he would have done the same thing."
He found out that the intruder, Thompson, has a long record of break-ins and burglaries.
Fearful at home
He said the thought of someone invading his home still terrifies him and his children.
"My children are not comfortable being downstairs by themselves."
He shook his head and said that all he ever wanted was just a good life, and he thought buying the house was the first step.
"I thought that house would give me a safe haven. Now I'm thinking if I didn't buy this house this never would have happened."
It's been a long time since we had a gun thread.
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