A real life situation

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Dano4734

New member
About 10 years ago I was working late at a hospital repairing their computer system. The hospital was located in a rough part of the city, anyway when I left the hospital a young nurse walked out a head of me. While heading back to my car a guy jumped out of the bushes and went after the young nurse with a knife. I pulled a .45 colt commander screamed and he saw the gun and took off. She was fine. He came within 10 yards of her and had he not ran I would have dropped him.

When the police arrived all they were concerned about is did I have a license. Of course I did. I live in New York state and not many people have Concealed Carry license here but I do. . This is an awful state for our 2nd Admendment.

When she described the guy and then talked to me he said "well hey its a rough neighborhood and left.

I scratched my head and thought what would have happened had I not been carrying. They never caught the guy since I never heard anything again.

I look back and think maybe I should have fired as soon as I noticed a knife. I don't know the answer to that question .

I am new here, Thank you for listening my friends
Dan
 
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Dano4734

New member
by the way

I have the highest respect for our police officers, I just wasn't impressed with the guy who took our statements. The nurse told me they never leave the building without being escorted but she had to go home for her son for some reason.

Amazing you are just going to your car, exhausted from working, just wanting to go to sleep and you have to go into a fight mode in a fraction of a second .. That real life situation made me aware now to be alert. It is really a hard thing to keep in mind for sure. Much harder than learning to group some shots in a target.

I no longer carry a .45 colt commander. I carry a glock 23. It is lighter for me and easier to conceal and a good shooter.
 
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Onward Allusion

New member
Be glad you didn't "drop" him. Paperwork is a major pain, not to mention the legal hassles. You are a prime example of a citizen using a gun to stop a crime but no shots were fired. Just know you did good.
 
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Dano4734

New member
thank you

Thank you my friend. I was very glad I didn't fire for sure. The lesson I really learned is you never know when you have to go from your day to day thoughts and activities and a split second later have to use deadly force. I don't think most folks realize that if you are out or with you wife and kids and a split second later you are in a life or death situation. Really throws you brain into a tailspin.
 
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Skans

Active member
I also think you did as good as you could. But, it is stories like this one that makes me soooo glad I don't live in New York/New Jersey. For so many reasons, but the main one being that the cops are more interested in persecuting folks for protecting themselves rather than chasing violent criminals. So wrong on so many levels it really disgusts me.
 
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Spats McGee

Administrator
Welcome to TFL, Dano4734!

I'm going to second Onward Allusion's comment. You stopped a bad guy from doing bad things, and did it without ending his life. Whether you had later been found to be in the right or in the wrong, it still could have been a tremendous hassle. That's at best. At worst, you could have gone to prison.

I went to a self- and home-defense seminar about a year and a half ago. Not a training session on a range, just a seminar. Nonetheless, to paraphrase one of the presenter's comments, and one that stuck with me: "Folks who want to defend themselves constantly ask, 'When can I shoot?' That's the wrong question. The question they should be asking is, 'Do I have to shoot?'"

You did it, you lived, the bad guy was thwarted, and your legal hassles were minimized. That's about as good a result as you can reasonably hope for when you've had to pull a gun on someone.
 
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Hiker 1

New member
You did everything right. Who knows - maybe nearly getting shot sent that guy down a different road in life.

Curious - did you get a vibe or a feeling that something was going down? It sounds like you were on top of a fluid situation very quickly and that's highly commendable.

I was in a very similar situation about 20 years ago and I swear, I felt it coming even before it did. No shots fired, either.
 
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kayakersteve

New member
Well, technically you probably broke the law...

All hospitals in NYS are off-limits for guns unless an officer on duty. Just be glad the cop didn't catch onto the fact that you just walked out of hospital where you were packing.
 
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g.willikers

New member
He may have been aware, just not interested in persecuting the innocent.
Not all cops, even in NY, blindly follow unjust laws.
Or maybe he didn't want to have to do a bunch of paperwork either.
It might have been close to the end of his shift.
 
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Dano4734

New member
Hospital

They are not off limits, you check your firearm at security. You pick it up on the way out as you do on any campus. No you don't carry inside. I was completely legal
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
You just created a new recruit to the cause of gun control, and Bloomberg will welcome him with open arms and a medal. After all, how can a poor, downtrodden robber and rapist expect to thrive if people are allowed to carry guns?

Jim
 
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colbad

New member
There is a trend on Youtube where young idiots think its funny to pull various pranks on the general public and film it. Of course as I point out to my own kids, stupid pranks can get you killed by someone who takes it serious. Your scenario is one that "friends" have been known to pull on friends thinking it funny.

In retrospect, the positive result is proof that you made the right choice. Calling out first avoided a shooting.....although he probably deserved to be shot. In any event, he was probably not going to kill her on the spot but take her away for rape, etc at knife point. As such, you had opportunity to use less immediate options.

With the cavalier attitude you stated the woman exhibited to the whole event, who knows what support she would have given you had you shot him. What if she said she was not afraid and had not fear? You would then being in the uncomfortable position of proving the imminence of death or grievous bodily harm over her own words.....not a good position.
 
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Dano4734

New member
No

She was quite shook up and crying. I apologize if I did not get into the details. I am only thankful I didn't have to shoot. Had he kept going it would have ended bad for both of us. You don'ttthink about the after when a situation is so bad it doesn't matter. You don't have time you just trust that you are reasonable person. You just don't have time you just react and hope your up bring keeps you on path
I would have shot had he force it. But his running away the threat was gone and she was safe and me
 
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Dano4734

New member
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I always been a person who helps others not hurts them
However if I am forced I will but if there is any other way it is always a better choice. In that split second I think you just rely on your gut. No time to think of the after till theaafter
 
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