Stupid mistake(s)

C

chuwee81

New member
Hey there folks. well, just wanna share a stupid mistake that I made that could've ended really bad for me a while ago. It happened before I joined this forum and certainly before i got my handgun. So "situational awareness" is something I didn't have yet or fully understand about.

Alright, here goes. I was hanging out with wifey at the in-laws - a gated apartment complex on a not so good neighboorhood. Wife's aunt lives in the same complex too. In laws knew some neighboors as well. during dinner, we had a phone call warning us that there's a guy (ethnicity unknown) loitering the parking areas, trying to open car doors and actually trying to break in several housing units. he was basically going door to door trying to find an unlocked door. hearing this, the dad in law, me and her brother got up, grabbed a huge maglite flash light and started to call the rest of the neighboors and the police. I had my 10/22 in the apartment as well (from the range trip several days ago) and loaded it and told my wife to hang on to the rifle.

Phone calls were made and some residents believed the perp was a young male of African American descent (they were wrong btw). I remembered also that I have my paintball pistol in my car, complete with Co2 cartridge and some rubber simunition. I had it in my trunk taking it to a prospectful buyer but it didn't go through. I thought at least an inexperienced BG would flee with the look and sound of a paintball pistol. My car was in the guest parking, away from the living area. But i went ahead and grabbed it ALONE. I loaded it,looked around, put it away in a sling bag, and walked back toward the unit. my hand was on the grip. I was quite alert and was looking around to make sure i didn't get jumped but was surely expecting the wrong person.

On the way back i saw this young Asian fellow, with white flat brimmed hat (rapper style), orange shorts, white skate shoes. forgot what color of shirt he's wearing. He's about 40 ft away. Then he looked at me and walked towards me. I wasn;t expecting an Asian fellow based on the witnesses account so i just kinda oh okay, he's just a nobody - even though he looked a bit "rough". He''s getting closer and his eyes locked towards me. I gripped the pistol tighter, getting ready to draw (which is very stupid if he's armed). I still didn't know what to expect but i didn't change my direction and tried to show no fear and looked at him back. Then i caught him looking at my right forearm and tracing it into the sling bag. I guess he knew I had something in there and that I was not afraid of him. So he veered to the left and walked away. All this time i was like "geez, what an odd fella".

So i made it back to the in laws' and by that time the police had came. By this time the in laws got in contact with most neighboors and had more detailed descriptions on the perp, and guess what....it matched with the guy I bumped into earlier. Man, i just felt a bit lucky that nothing serious happened. The cops patroled the area a bit and didn't find him.

So i guess it wasn;t the brightest of me doing all these stuff but I'm more alert now and believe me i learned my lessons ....i hope.

Anyway, feel free to comment or post similar accounts. later.
 
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My first question is, why not call the police and have them deal with it?

If he tried to break in, THEN take action. If he doesn't, why go looking for a fight?
 
++1 Pat-inCO.:cool: Sounds like the police wanna bees on the loose.:eek: That was a real good way to get youself in more trouble than it could ever be worth:rolleyes:
 
Glad it didn't go bad for you.I notice you are from the great Republic of Texas.
This occured in Colorado?
Whole different set of rules.That got famous,lately.
I agree,your own self debriefing found some errors in judgement.Live and learn.
In most states,under most conditions,deadly force is about having no other option to survive or avoid great harm.Even if you were able to catch the guy redhanded and hold him with a paint ball gun without getting killed,you would likely be arrested and sufficiently prosecuted to lose your second ammendment rights.
 
Thanks for the replies and yes, i realized it was a huge mistake for doing that. Also we did call the cops but to this day i couldn't figure out why we didn't just wait for them and have me (very proficient w/ the 10/22) stood guard inside with my family.

but yea, not gonna happen again. Good news is that the in-laws just got a house in a newer neghboorhood. And we spent labor day weekend moving. Sore as heck !
 
I can't even begin to list the mistakes you made, but I will mention two.

1. You advanced. You actively went out looking for the BG. Police take a dim view of civilians doing that and you could have been the one in jail if a situation occurred, especially since the BG was incorrectly identified on the phone.

2. You grabbed a PAINTBALL gun??? Are you crazy? MAYBE an inexperienced BG would be scared, but if he identified it as a PB gun, you'd be in some deep kimchee. An experienced BG, if armed, would not have hesitated to use his own weapon, putting you on the defensive instead of the offensive. You NEVER bluff on the street. Someone will call it.

Frankly, it sounds like a bunch of vigilanties calling around, grabbing ball bats and stuff, and getting up a lynch mob to go after the BG. WE ARE NOT LEOS!!! Law enforcement and arrest/detainment are their job, not ours. We don't run around playing "cops and robbers". The ONLY reason we carry guns is for protection of life. You can NOT use that gun unless you are in fear of your life of severe bodily injury. The BG has to have means, intent, and opportunity.

All I can say is I hope you learned several things from this. It could have ended tragically.
 
If you usually look for trouble it will find you first. My advice is to fall back. If you were uncomfortable with being there whether or not you had a gun you also had an option to get your wife and leave. When I was younger my wife and I used to go out to all types of places. Shady neighborhoods to see friend’s unfamiliar bars, and clubs. I always CCW but if I had a feeling or if things were going on that I did not want any part of I got the wife and we rolled out!
I agreed with the other posts, call the police let them handle it that's why they get paid the big bucks.
 
My advice is to fall back.
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You "win" in a gunfight when no shots are fired and no one is injured or killed.

Option #1 - Retreat: get away from the scene.
Option #2 - Draw and aim/warn if possible: hopefully this will deter the BG.
Option #3 - Shoot: to stop. If your shot kills, too, too bad.
 
what mistake ?

I don't see it as a mistake...the asian guy left and there was no fight. If nobody had come down, that man might had done something bad....Hard to tell but 81 was brave enough to protect family and neighbors properties. you did not made the mistake of pulling a weapon which you DID NOT HAVE, did not start an argument...and kept on going about your business. The man did not show any agressive intentions after noticing you bag and did not question it. Your a good man to have around, Catch you later, Dan
 
Frankly, it sounds like a bunch of vigilanties calling around, grabbing ball bats and stuff, and getting up a lynch mob to go after the BG. WE ARE NOT LEOS!!! Law enforcement and arrest/detainment are their job, not ours. We don't run around playing "cops and robbers". The ONLY reason we carry guns is for protection of life. You can NOT use that gun unless you are in fear of your life of severe bodily injury. The BG has to have means, intent, and opportunity.
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sounds like you read a different story, or at east you read the same story poorly

a community in communication during a potential crisis is a good thing

being prepared to defend yourself is important, they were preparing

and defending yourself is your responsibility, i dont care if someone else gets paid to do it....
on top of that, the police had already been called

the mistake here was leaving the apartment, making himself vulnerable, to get a toy to use as possible protection. that's just bad judgment

at no point did he go out looking for trouble, nor did he confront anyone
 
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