Shooting at Houston restaurant

[austing]

Thought this was interesting enough to make my first post:

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=4000233

Woman shot while eating at SE Houston restaurant
By Deborah Wrigley
(3/16/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Police are hunting for a shooter after violence spilled out of a southeast Houston restaurant Thursday. A woman at the seafood restaurant ended up with a bullet in her body...a bullet meant for another person. The man who was supposed to be the target of that gunshot wasn't injured.

It all happened at the Captain Benny's seafood restaurant on the Gulf Freeway near Glenview in southeast Houston. One moment, people were eating lunch and then...

"All the sudden, I see this guy pull a gun out of his shirt and 'bam' and at that point, I grabbed my sister and got her behind this silver Rendezvous," recalled witness Carl Beam. "Then the guy shoots again."

The shooter again missed the intended target, hitting instead a young mother as she sat at a table next to her husband and four-year-old child. She was shot in the abdomen and was crying out in pain.

It all began when a man was ambushed by two men to whom he's said to owe money. They got away, one staring down a concealed handgun instructor eating with his grandchildren. He had a gun, too.

We asked him if he would have used his gun.

"If my grandbabies would have been in danger, yeah, and my daughter, yeah," said witness Jim Hoge. "The best thing for me to do at the time after that lady was shot was to get her to safety."

Though the suspects got away, they did leave behind one important clue -- one of their trucks.

While the search for the suspects continues, the restaurant is back open for business.

[TarpleyG]

"If my grandbabies would have been in danger, yeah, and my daughter, yeah," said witness Jim Hoge. "The best thing for me to do at the time after that lady was shot was to get her to safety."
Smart fella. Sad that in this day and time a mind-your-own-f'in'-business attitude is the safe/proper/appropriate mindset.

Greg

[oilman]

When I checked earlier this afternoon two of the other Houstin TV station web sites never mentioned he had a CHL.:mad:

[MrMex]

It doesnt say anywhere that the attacker had a chl, it was one of the restauraunt patrons. True it is sad that the chl holders mentality is to stay invisible and let other people get shot, how can you just sit by and watch. Gives us texans a ny's pov.:cuss:

[Scottmkiv]

The current "justice system" makes protecting someone a potentially very expensive decision. I can't blame the guy.

[ezypikns]

I've got grandkids. I've also got a CHL. I am NOT going to engage in a gunfight with anyone if I feel that by doing so I'd put them in MORE danger. In this case the gentleman did the RIGHT thing.

[luzyfuerza]

Every person who carries a gun needs to make this call for him or herself.

Some citizens voluntarily join the military in order to defend the rest of us here at home. They risk their lives to do this. In the same way, some who carry will choose to risk their own lives to prevent injury to someone they don't know.

Others give their lives to family and community a day at a time. The closest they generally come to exposing themselves to the risk of sudden, certain death is when they have to teach a teenager how to drive a stick shift. These people protect our freedoms by going to city council meetings, teaching scouts, and volunteering at their kids' schools. When the need arises, though, these people will often do anything, including laying down their own lives if necessary, to preserve the lives and well-being of those they know and love.

Which of these approaches is "right"?

I suggest that perhaps they both are.

[AndyC]

I've got grandkids. I've also got a CHL. I am NOT going to engage in a gunfight with anyone if I feel that by doing so I'd put them in MORE danger.
Likewise.

[gunsmith]

he didn't put his grandkids in a gun fight, sounds like Texans got heads on their shoulders during emergencies.

[jeepmor]

If I was by myself, I think I would have stepped up to the plate if the situation was right. The outcome could have been worse though. You just plain can't John Wayne it in every situation, John Wayne was Hollywood, bullets are real on movie sets. And this man had family with him. Imagine how you would feel playing John Wayne and watching your grandchild get shot becaue you directed the BG's attention your way and he saw your gun. Get him or not, you don't get the kid back. You don't pull a gun during a gun fight when your family is right next to you unless you're all pulling guns.

The man did the right thing, self preservation is a very strong motivator. We all choose living over dying, at least most of us do, some do check out prematurely at their own hands, by decision.

There was a post around xmas time I think of a CCW holding garbage worker that was robbed at gunpoint by some punk teens. He gave up the goods all in the name of peaceful resolution. Material possessions can be replaced. But he said, when that he saw the kid draw the hammer back, that's when he pulled is piece and fired, because he was in fear of his life, before that, it was just a robbery, the gun insuring compliance.

I feel the same way and would give up the goods in the pursuit of peace. I'd give up everything except family members not to be in a shootout. But when an honest citizen has to weigh a shootout with a desparate BG who will shoot blindly versus a citizen who will stick around and face the consequences of a shootout, consequences that could make him miss the BG and hit an innocent, I'd keep it under wraps too.

This man obviously took the highroad and felt him confronting the gunfire with more gunfire would have made matters worse, not better.


jeepmor

[george_co]

Having thought about this many times I think the grandfather did the right think. I as a father would not put my children in the line of fire unnecessarily. I also wouldn't put others at risk unnecesarily.

Unless I could move to a location where the shooters poor marksmanship wouldn't put others in danger (know what your target is and whats behind it) in this case the grandfather would have been the target, his grandkids where around him, and potentially there were other families in booths behind him. Putting all of them at risk wasn't the proper choice. If he could have moved to a point where there wasn't anybody behind or around him, then fine engage the shooter and good luck!

When you move to engage a shooter, you have now garnered that shooter's attention and probably bullets coming at you and those around you from the shooter. My job is to protect my family and sometimes that means getting them on the floor or behind a brick wall, rather than drawing, firing and receiving return fire. Call me a coward if you want, but I will do anything to protect my family, including being a coward.

Personally, the Grandfather is a hero, he protected his family in the best way available to him.