stephen426
New member
Alyssa,
I'm glad you got out of the situation okay. I hope your arm is healing nicely.
None of us were there and that means none of us are truely in the position to judge your "tactical" reactions. So for you guys who say she should of noticed someone watching her or following her, don't be so quick to speak. Alyssa doesn't seem the type to live in fear and will probably not be forced to having a bathroom buddy for everytime she needs to go. Besides, she said that she was in the stall when the attacker came into the bathroom and locked the door. Should she peek under all the stalls to make sure there is no one standing on the toilets as well?
From a practical standpoint, a contact weapon such as a knife would have had little use. The attacker was strong enough to force the Mace away from his face. If you injure him, you stand a good chance of ticking him off even more and getting killed. Unless you shot him through the door, you also stood a good chance of losing the gun. I would have to assume he was already in contact distance since he was able to grab the Mace. I am not advocating being a victim. Rather, I am telling you to assess the situation to see if what the best option is. Even the quickest gun slinger should think twice if someone already has a gun pointed at their head. You found your opportunity and you gave it too him right in the groin. I also commend you for not trying to get in a few extra shots. He may have ended up grabbing you and things could have turned out much worse.
In your case, I would NOT have opened the stall door. I would have pressed my legs against the door (the locks probably aren't worth a crap) and sprayed him in the face if he stuck his head over or under the stall. I would have also grabbed my cell phone and called 911, or at least scream that I did. Another thing is to scream like hell. The attacker may have thought he could scare you into shutting up but may be less willing to risk getting caught because of the huge commotion you caused. After running out of the bathroom, I would have screamed my head off and gotten everyone's attention. While you were off trying to find a police officer or mall security, your attacker got away. If you stayed closer to the bathroom and screamed that someone in the bathroom tried to rape you, there would have been a chance that someone could have stopped that creep.
As for catching the attacker, I suggest you check mall surveilance footage to see if they caught that bastard on camera. Otherwise, his next victim may not be so lucky. Malls often have many cameras and many stores often have their own systems as well.
You can take the whole judged by 12 rather than carried by 6 mentality, but I assume you are a law abiding citizen. That means either carrying what is permitted by the law or moving someplace where you are allowed to defend yourself. One other thing is to seriously consider taking a women's self defense class. I was the punching bag for my wife's class when we were in college. You may not become proficient immediately, but you should learn how and where to strike an attacker. Women love to go for the groin but you could also gouge his eyes, punch him in the adam's apple, or nail him good in the nose. My wife's class also taught disarming a knife wielding attacker but that is pretty risky. The class should also be good exercise and improve your strength. I am glad you got out of your situation somewhat safely. Take care and I hope they get that jerk.
I'm glad you got out of the situation okay. I hope your arm is healing nicely.
None of us were there and that means none of us are truely in the position to judge your "tactical" reactions. So for you guys who say she should of noticed someone watching her or following her, don't be so quick to speak. Alyssa doesn't seem the type to live in fear and will probably not be forced to having a bathroom buddy for everytime she needs to go. Besides, she said that she was in the stall when the attacker came into the bathroom and locked the door. Should she peek under all the stalls to make sure there is no one standing on the toilets as well?
From a practical standpoint, a contact weapon such as a knife would have had little use. The attacker was strong enough to force the Mace away from his face. If you injure him, you stand a good chance of ticking him off even more and getting killed. Unless you shot him through the door, you also stood a good chance of losing the gun. I would have to assume he was already in contact distance since he was able to grab the Mace. I am not advocating being a victim. Rather, I am telling you to assess the situation to see if what the best option is. Even the quickest gun slinger should think twice if someone already has a gun pointed at their head. You found your opportunity and you gave it too him right in the groin. I also commend you for not trying to get in a few extra shots. He may have ended up grabbing you and things could have turned out much worse.
In your case, I would NOT have opened the stall door. I would have pressed my legs against the door (the locks probably aren't worth a crap) and sprayed him in the face if he stuck his head over or under the stall. I would have also grabbed my cell phone and called 911, or at least scream that I did. Another thing is to scream like hell. The attacker may have thought he could scare you into shutting up but may be less willing to risk getting caught because of the huge commotion you caused. After running out of the bathroom, I would have screamed my head off and gotten everyone's attention. While you were off trying to find a police officer or mall security, your attacker got away. If you stayed closer to the bathroom and screamed that someone in the bathroom tried to rape you, there would have been a chance that someone could have stopped that creep.
As for catching the attacker, I suggest you check mall surveilance footage to see if they caught that bastard on camera. Otherwise, his next victim may not be so lucky. Malls often have many cameras and many stores often have their own systems as well.
You can take the whole judged by 12 rather than carried by 6 mentality, but I assume you are a law abiding citizen. That means either carrying what is permitted by the law or moving someplace where you are allowed to defend yourself. One other thing is to seriously consider taking a women's self defense class. I was the punching bag for my wife's class when we were in college. You may not become proficient immediately, but you should learn how and where to strike an attacker. Women love to go for the groin but you could also gouge his eyes, punch him in the adam's apple, or nail him good in the nose. My wife's class also taught disarming a knife wielding attacker but that is pretty risky. The class should also be good exercise and improve your strength. I am glad you got out of your situation somewhat safely. Take care and I hope they get that jerk.
