Friend breaks up an attempted robbery!

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threegun

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Guys I was just debriefed on what happened to my friend and coworker this weekend.

He owns 5 acres of some wooded property that he regularly spends time hunting, cleaning, camping etc. on. This trip was for some mowing and some target practice. He stopped at the neighborhood convenience store for some gas for the mower. He visits often enough that he and the store owner are friends. As he is talking with the store owner (who is open carrying) a man walks in. The shop owner immediately unsnapped his holstered pistol. My coworker immediately looked to the bad guy who was now moving toward the back of the store. My coworker didn't notice anything and asked the shop owner what was going on. The shop owner responded that the guy looked very suspiciously at him actually making his skin crawl and he had never seen him before so he was going to be ready. My coworker told the shop owner that he was also armed and the shop owner responded ok good. My coworker moved off the front counter and just stood to the right of the counter about 3ft to the side of the checkout area. The man walks up to the counter and my coworker sees not one but two gun bulges in his back waistband. My coworker now removes his Glock 23 from its holster (appendix area) and waits. The bad guy reaches toward his back pocket as if to get his wallet and instead begins to lift his shirt exposing the gun and allowing the tips of his fingers to fondle the gun on the right side. My coworker takes a giant step forward and places the muzzle of his 23 against the back of the bad guys neck and calmly tells him not to do that. The bad guy complies. My coworker disarms him, handing the guns to the shop owner who is also drawn down on the bad guy. this is the part that will make half of you say thats smart and the other half say what He tells the bad guy to walk away. Cops are called, guns are taken for evidence, permits are checked and adda boys handed out. Don't know if the suspect has been caught yet or not. Firearms were a 40 caliber of unknown type and a 1911 45acp of unknown maker. Both were loaded.

Chilling part is the bad guy was about to draw on a man who was open carrying. To me this means he was preparing for a shootout. My coworker has zero tactical experience and he felt it. Said he felt very unsure as to what to do. Thats why he let him go to end the threat. Had trouble sleeping last night as well.
 
Were the bad guy(s) White, Latino, or Black?

I ask because, a mentality factor comes into play in a scenario like this.
 
My coworker has zero tactical experience
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Nope he still has zero tactical experience. Now he does have actual experience. He did a bunch of stuff wrong from allowing the gun to contact the bad guy (horrible for gun retention) to staying in the store when he thought it was unsafe.
 
I don't think I would have stepped so close to the BG especially with the store owner ready to draw/shoot. Whether you feel that the friend should have RUN AWAY leaving the store owner to face the BG or stay and assist is a very personal choice. If I felt even a slight amount of friendship with the owner, I certainly would have stayed but not so close to the likely conflict area. Some sort of cover or at least a doorway/corner would have been safer.
 
I hope the store owner has surveillance cameras inside and outside the store, and don't make all the cameras obvious. Having a surveillance system may really help in a situation like this. It could also help to back up the store owners statement if he felt the need to draw or draw and shoot.
 
The good guys were fortunate that the bad guy was a dummy and lacked training.It is much easier to disarm someone when he touches you with the gun than standing 5 feet away.This may not work a second time.
 
Your friend did as well as could be expected. BG disarmed, everybody goes home with no new holes. That's a good outcome. :cool:
 
I think they did a good job under the High Stress situation. No one knows what they are really going to do in a situation like this. The gun that close to the head was a mistake but its what he thought to do right there and then. Under the duress I think they performed well.
 
Sounds as if both he and the shop owner had good situational awareness, and devised an effective plan on the fly.
Good job.
 
Your friend had things work out ok, but getting close enough to be disarmed was poor tactics out of Hollywood--- especially making contact with the gun to neck. There are those I know, who could have disarmed him in 2 seconds--or at least engaged him in a life and death struggle with toss up outcome.


At that point, holding him on the floor for the police would have been better than inviting him to walk away. Allowing him to leave had he tried to flee would have been more sound.

Yes, I know, it's easy to judge when I wasn't there. Not saying I would have handled it better. Your friend had plenty of nerve. Take this as a post incident tactical critique.:D
 
My critique or after action points have already been mentioned...

It takes a real set of coconuts to handle it like he did, free snickers bar and gas for him!
 
graysmoke said:
I ask because, a mentality factor comes into play in a scenario like this.
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I'm curious about this. Maybe you should IM the response to me because the staff here likes to pretend that cultural differences that have a racial component should never play into situational awareness or the decision making process.
 
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