When my son was 12 (or so) we had just parked in the driveway. I walked around to the trunk to bring the guns in the house, we had just been out to the range. I popped the trunk and took my carry gun out to empty it before carrying the guns in for cleaning when one of my wife’s friends pulled up, I turned to say high, dropping my 380 auto into my pocket to keep it out of site as I waved. The cars on the street were parked tight so traffic could only go one way at a time, so she drove up to the next door neighbors drive to turn around. She did not know the reason why no one was parked in front of that house. But she found it out soon enough.
She pulled into the neighbors drive to let the cars behind her through. When she realized the neighbor was running towards her car with a tire iron pointed at her. I saw the fear in her face, it was like someone ran a nail right through the center of my body from head to toe, then I saw him. She put the car in reverse and gunned it, not looking for traffic and just missed the car that had been behind her as she turned into the driveway. I started yelling: “Your gona get someone killed!” over and over as he chased her into the street.She somehow got the car into the street without hitting something or be getting hit by another car. Only to find him pulling back to take a swing at the passenger side wind shield of her vehicle.
By now my wife, my son, and his wife were all yelling with me. She wasted no time putting the car in drive and got out of there. He did not swing at her car, instead turned looking at me.
He took off directly for me, swinging the tire iron. I continued to yell: “what are you doing” time slowed way down! I realized my son was between us so I pushed him behind me. Then realized the 380 was in my right pocket. I reached in and found it. clicked the safety off. pulled it out of my pocket and held it on the side of my leg away from him. He continued towards me, I herd nothing, I only saw him. As I stood there yelling as he closed on me. All I could think of was did I click safety on or off.
During the eon it took for him to reach me, winding up and lung at me all I could think of was is the safety on or off. He finally reached me leapt into the air to get max inertia on the tire iron as it looped behind his back and over his head and started coming down on me. I put my left hand up to block the tire iron then pulled the right hand up to shoot. My plan was to shoot then hit the ground hoping to get out of the arc of his swing.
I don’t know what it was that brought him back to reality, his face went blank, he stopped almost nose to nose with me, the tire iron came down very slowly I slipped the gun back in my pocket. I rose and we were face to face, standing there, he would not look at me. I could not take my eyes off him. As he started to back away I realized everyone was yelling, his wife was screaming his name, my son: “shoot him”. My wife had gone down the street to the friend to check on her, out of her car and shaking.
The police officer who responded told me that had he been in my shoes the neighbor would be dead. I said NY requires that I retreat. He said you moved your son out of the way. Then continued 12 out of 23people just like you have to find you were not justified, then 12 people have to feel the same. Sounds like much better odds than you had.
What did I learn from this? First and foremost, I won’t carry a gun with a manual safety. my entire outlook on these encounters changed after that. Its not about what we say we will do safely sitting behind a pc with no real threat to speak of. Its about how much rope are you willing to let out before you take a life changing action. We honestly do not know where we will fall there till its to late. And most importantly how can LEO face this every day? I just can not fathom that.
Joe