Think like a wolf, not a sheep

Tonight we were dispatched to a robbery with weapons that had just occurred. A robbery in Texas is defined as; in the course of committing theft, a person causes or threatens or places another person in fear of imminent bodily injury or death. For example, a thug comes up to you, knocks you down and takes your stuff. You have just been robbed. A person can be robbed, a vehicle or house can be burglarized.

A couple in their twenties moved here four months ago from Australia. They live in a very nice brand new apartment building that is close to Lakewood Church. They are expecting their first child to be born in May of next year. Tonight, they decided to go out to a wine tasting bar. Strange place for a pregnant female, but she did not partake in the tasting. The bar is four blocks from their apartment complex. The weather was nice and they decided to walk the four blocks to the bar. They had a nice time at the bar and began their walk home around 10:45 PM. As they were walking down a not well lit side street, they noticed two males. These two males were walking as well. They were coming from the opposite direction walking toward the married couple.

Something about the two males made the couple feel uneasy. Amazingly, they actually paid attention to their intuition and turned around. Unfortunately, two other males came out from another side street and started walking in their direction. The couple was in the middle of the block with males approaching them from both sides. They quickly realized that they were in a bad position. They decided to make a run for it. There was a small side street between them and the males. They turned back around and started running for the side street. They did not make it. The two males from behind them knocked down the female, sat on her, and then snatched her purse away from her. The other two males went after the husband. They caught him, and threatened to shoot him if he did not give them everything that he had. The suspects did not show a gun, but they had a hand under their shirt acting like they had one. The husband did the smart thing and handed over everything. The suspects then took off and the couple ran to their apartment building.
The couple was lucky. They were not hurt. They could easily have been severely injured or even killed. They listened to their intuition and experienced the "fight or flight" impulse. In their situation, it was probably a good decision to run. The husband was not going to fight off 4 males by himself.

Take a minute and put yourself in the same situation. What would you do?

What are you prepared to do? Do you have a plan? Have you talked to your spouse about what to do in these types of situations? Jen and I have talked about some situations. In most situations, she is to run away and call 911. That way I do not have to worry about her, just about myself. If the kids are with us, she grabs the kids and takes off for the same reason. We have not discussed this particular situation. This is the first time that I have seen suspects in this area "hunt" like raptors. Usually they all come at you from the same direction, not from multiple directions. In this situation, I would instruct Jen to hide between cars nearby, take out her phone and call 911. That way I can take out my pistol and take care of things without her in the way.

I have the benefit of having a pistol with me all of the time and of extensive training. Without the pistol and the training, I would react differently. Even with those tools, sometimes the best option will be to run. I am fine with that. The important thing is to think about these situations. The best thing is to avoid the situation completely. Be smart about where you park and walk and pay attention to your surroundings. And, get a concealed handgun permit.

Posted via email from will7079's posterous