I Almost Had To Shoot Someone

T

Theron D. Patron

Inactive
I was leaving my condo to go grab a bite to eat. While crossing the street there was a guy cussing and talking to himself. I was hoping to get across the street before the light changed however, I got caught there with the guy. He asked me if I had any money, when I replied no so he says well I got this knife.

I stood there as he reached down and pulled up his right pants leg and grabbed a knife. I pulled my G35 and started telling him to drop the knife. He told me that he needed it for the young boys. I forgot to say that this guy is homeless. He then turned and walked away telling me how he would have kicked my butt if I did not have that gun. I thought that maybe I should have prone him out and called the police because he might pull that knife on someone else.

I called the police, and they looked for him. They told me that they where glad I had my gun and that I did not have to shoot him.

I am a member with USCCA, and let them know what happened.

So as I hope most of you know to carry always and hope you never need to use it and that your weapon is not doing you any good in the sock draw or closet at home.

Letting him walk and calling the police was a good thing, I was told from a very good instructor that holding someone at gun point can be very dangerous because what if they do not comply with my commands?

I have been carrying for a lot of years and you never know when you will be selected to be a victim so carry your gun.

Tom Givens, has about 66 students who have had to shoot someone and all of them have won except three. All of these students where killed in street robberies and all had three things in common. Training, weapons permits and did not have a gun on that day.
 
I was told from a very good instructor that holding someone at gun point can be very dangerous because what if they do not comply with my commands?
Click to expand...
Depending on the laws in your area and exact circumstance I believe detaining someone in such a manner may also open you up to kidnapping charges(criminal) and false imprisonment(civil). Detention is almost never a good idea.
 
"While crossing the street there was a guy cussing and talking to himself."

Hmm. Stop? Back up? Turn away and cross elsewhere? Seems to me that aberrant behavior should be avoided.
 
1. In general, it may not be wise to post your actions as they are discoverable and if not wise, may come back to haunt you.

2. Folks sometimes post such items as they want to receive praise as compared to an honest critique. So take these comments in that light.


I was leaving my condo to go grab a bite to eat. While crossing the street there was a guy cussing and talking to himself. I was hoping to get across the street before the light changed however, I got caught there with the guy. He asked me if I had any money, when I replied no so he says well I got this knife.

A sensible person who had some legitimate training would have retreated with alacrity. You could have waited to feed yourself.

I stood there [You stood there?, Again, move, move, move!] as he reached down and pulled up his right pants leg and grabbed a knife. I pulled my G35 and started telling him to drop the knife. He told me that he needed it for the young boys.

In a Street and Vehicles Tactics class and through quite a few FOF instances run by the top guys, this would have been seen as quite foolish. It is a male thing in part to try to achieve dominance. We see folks pulling their gun and trying to achieve dominance. They even approach the opponent to do this. Well, while you are flapping your gums and not increasing distance, your opponent can rush you and do evil to you to. This was a fail.

I forgot to say that this guy is homeless. He then turned and walked away telling me how he would have kicked my butt if I did not have that gun. I thought that maybe I should have prone him out [How are you going to do that? If he refused, what legal right to you have to take physical action.[and called the police because he might pull that knife on someone else. [With no witnesses, he might claim that you started the altercation by telling him to get out of there and he felt the need to protect himself. ]

I called the police, and they looked for him. They told me that they where glad I had my gun and that I did not have to shoot him.

I am a member with USCCA, and let them know what happened.

So as I hope most of you know to carry always and hope you never need to use it and that your weapon is not doing you any good in the sock draw or closet at home. Thanks, we don't need folks to get preachy. Anyone with significant training knows this.

Letting him walk and calling the police was a good thing, I was told from a very good instructor that holding someone at gun point can be very dangerous because what if they do not comply with my commands?

That's right and your very good instructor would have said that you blew it by letting the interaction get this far. You had NO right to detain him.

I have been carrying for a lot of years and you never know when you will be selected to be a victim so carry your gun.

Tom Givens, has about 66 students who have had to shoot someone and all of them have won except three. All of these students where killed in street robberies and all had three things in common. Training, weapons permits and did not have a gun on that day.
Click to expand...

Have you had a class from Givens? I don't think he would approve of your actions.

To conclude, it is good that you weren't harmed and didn't harm someone. However, you need to rethink your actions.
 
Do those "experts" who conduct self-defense classes offer to pay YOUR legal fees if YOU are arrested? Do they offer to go to jail in YOUR place? Nope. But they will spout advice all day, posturing for their classes on how to shoot people and get away with it.

You have the right to defend yourself, but when you exercise that right, and kill or seriously injure someone, there are very serious consequences; if you are not willing to accept those consequences, leave the gun at home.

Note: Anyone who thinks I am being "preachy" has never been arrested, spent time in jail, bankrupted his family to pay for a bond (if he could get bond), lost his job when arrested, etc.

Jim
 
Posts 3, 8, 9, 11, 12 right on the money and all by staff. Hum maybe they are onto something. As Mas instructs at his MAG 40 class retreat when it can be done safely. You were aware of your surroundings hearing this guy talking to himself so avoidance was possible on your part. Post 12 should open the eyes of those who have not had some form of quality training with regards to use of deadly force.
 
Early in my working career, I had to take files between buildings in downtown Dallas. At the time, Dallas had a significant population of homeless people; some of whom were unbalanced or aggressive or both.

The sheer number of homeless limited how far out of my way I could go to avoid the unbalanced and aggressive ones since it simply moved me into the territory of another unbalanced or aggressive person.

This all pre-dated the widespread availability of concealed carry in Texas, so that was never an option.

My solution was to get a ratty, ex-French Foreign Legion topcoat and wear it as I commuted between buildings while mumbling to myself just loudly enough to make it clear what I was saying was incoherent. A guy in a slacks, starched white button-down oxford shirt and tie in a torn ex-military topcoat sweating profusely and muttering about the dark forces of finite elements served me well. I guess the unbalanced and aggressive homeless people though I was more unbalanced than they were and they left me alone.

You "win" every confrontation you avoid, no matter how it is done.
 
I did not post looking for praise, I just wanted to share. I now know somethings that I did not and appreciate the goo feed back.

We train and practice for that bad day however when this went down it happens so fast is there anyone can say that they would not have made a mistake or two?
 
Glenn E. Meyer said:
1. In general, it may not be wise to post your actions as they are discoverable and if not wise, may come back to haunt you.

2. Folks sometimes post such items as they want to receive praise as compared to an honest critique. So take these comments in that light.




Have you had a class from Givens? I don't think he would approve of your actions.

To conclude, it is good that you weren't harmed and didn't harm someone. However, you need to rethink your actions.
Click to expand...
No, I would like to. understand I did not post for praise I was just sharing and appreciate the positive feed back.
 
"When your best defense is a quick, hard offense, the lessons learned here may prove invaluable. This is a "no holds barred" training area." From the title of this section.

It is easy to Monday morning quarterback . None of us know exactly what we will do in a given situation. We don,t know his physical condition. Maybe he turns to retreat and gets stabbed in the back. Even with the best training mistakes can be made and we have to deal with the consequences.

The OP survived a bad situation and broke no laws. He also got law enforcement involved. I did not feel he was looking for praise or preaching.He merely shared his experience.Which seems to fit the premise of this forum, as do your critiques.

Now I sound like I'm preaching.
 
lol, from one guy from Miami Florida to another, it's just a regular day for us.

I have a dozen of these instances. Gotta love our city! :rolleyes:



Also, everything Glenn Meyer said.
 
Another Miami resident here. Glad you weren't harmed and glad you did not have to use your gun. What part of town were you in when this happened?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top