Co-worker walks in on armed robbery

[Bartholomew Roberts]

One of my fellow gun-nuts at work stopped by to tell me he had the "What kind of gun do I need" discussion with one of our co-workers. Seems they walked in on an armed robbery in progress last Saturday morning.

The criminal in question decided to rob a Petco that particular Saturday morning. He had some type of semi-automatic pistol (still unidentified) and was continously racking the slide during the robbery as well as pointing it all about. The bad guy in question robbed only the store and none of its customers. Didn't seem to be the sharpest guy from the description and drugs and or alcohol are considered a likely influence.

The co-worker was semi-OK and his wife, who was with him, was pretty shook up. All in all, it left me wondering what I would have done in the same situation. I'm generally armed; but I have to admit the attractiveness of sinking neck-deep into legal fees to protect a Petco store (who would probably resent me for the action anyway) is pretty low.

Admittedly there is little info to go on here; but some thoughts on what the best course of action might be?

 

[sm]

Without more info...

To avoid Problem #2 -

-Seek cover ( for self and wife) and make a good witness (s).
-If can exit ( or cover wife while she exits safely) someone call 911 and ID Perp and Good Guys.

That said -

This would apply if the perp did NOT have anyone in "his sights" - just using gun as scare tactic ( racking slide makes me wonder if gun even had a mag or he kept ejecting ammo).
Perp had NOT fired a round, on purpose or random,at anyone - shot anyone...attemping to take a hostage.
One- lets say as a CCW customer - WAS "in fear of life or life of others". Then using cover , engaging brain, cleanse the gene pool. This may not set well with Petco, Problem #2 is now a factor...your responsibility is to self and wife - not Petco's feelings, PR, or profits.

Need more info of course...

 

[Josey]

Sounds like a toy/airsoft/pellet pistol to me. I would have hit him with a 50 pound bag of dog food! CCW would not be at issue. Whether or not the perp gets up would be. He would get a 50 pound bag everytime he tried to get up.

 

[Trebor]

If you honestly believe your life is in danger, that's the time to use your gun. If it falls short of that, don't use the gun. Without being there myself, I can't say if the simple fact that there was an ongoing armed robbery would, in itself, make me feel my life was in danger. It all depends on the totality of the circumstances and what other options, if any, you have.

I would never intervene in an armed robbery JUST to intervene. If I use my gun, it's because I believe my life is in immediate danger and that the use of my gun is necessary to protect my life. If an armed robbery just happens to be stopped in the process, that is a unintended side effect.

 

[Kestrel]

Josey - Hahaha! That would be a humiliating end to his shenanagans!

Steve

 

[Aikibiker]

My actions would be dictated by whether or not live ammunition popped out when he racked the slide. If that happened he would be a threat and I would react accordingly.

If the robber's pistol wasn't loaded or a fake my reaction would vary according to a few things:

Size and physical condition of the perp. I.E. can I beat him up without getting hurt. Fighting is fun if you win.

If he is to big to take hand to hand is he likely to harm anyone (pistol whipping with the empty gun, striking the cashier to hurry him/her up, etc.) If yes to both I would respond with lethal force. Florida does not require a threat to life for the legal use of lethal force only the commission of a forcible felony. Strong arm robbery qualifies, but I don't want to kill anyone if I don't have to.

Can I sue Petco for emotional trauma? I am recently graduated and finding a job has been tough.

 

[Finch]

While it would make sense to save ones own hide, I don't know how I would feel if someone was killed and there was something I could have done about it.

 

[Diggler]

As long as there's no ammo coming out when he racks the slide, just ask him,

"Don't you think you should load the thing before you try to rob someone?"

He'll probably get so flustered he'll run out.

 

[foghornl]

A large can of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Ravioli firmly applied to back of head of Bad Guy works well, too.....

Never mind how I know, I just know........

 

[sturmruger]

I would have thrown a snake on him. I had a friend that was from the inner city. The only animals he had ever seen were at the zoo. When he was at our house he was even scared of the chickens!! I would toss it on him and say something like "watch our for those fangs"

 

[Cosmoline]

Run away unless you're about to be shot. If you're about to be shot and cannot get out, use your CCW to defend yourself and empty it.

If you can get away, the situation is less clear. In many places around here, knowing police reaction time I'd feel obligated to intervene. I would NOT do so in Anchorage, but certainly would in Willow or Trapper's Creek. If the perp was holding the firearm at anyone, and I coudl get to my truck, I would use my truck rifle to shoot him as soon as a shot presented itself. Whether or not he seems to be racking the slide doesn't matter to me. It's easy enough to fidget with the slide of a loaded semi, snapping it without ejecting a roudn. I'm going to assume the firarm is loaded and that he presents a imminent deadly threat.

I think smarting off to him or attempting to use less-than-lethal force (ie getting in a fist fight) would be a very, very bad idea. The man has a firearm and is threatening people with death. That's all there is to it. If you're not prepared to blow the guy's face through the back of his head and watch his headless body flop around and squirt pints of blood all over the floor, you need to just get out and call the police.

 

[Arcli9ht]

Depends on the robber. If no ammunition is coming out of the gun, and I am calm enough to see him racking the slide repeatedly, I might get one of those MONSTER BONES from aisle 6... those things weigh like 10lbs. You could easily beat someone within an inch of their life with one.

On second thought, the headline might read "Man boned at local Petco" and I wouldn't want my name anywhere near that article.

/Arcli9ht

If he is assaulting people with a fake weapon, it's your duty to pound the beajesus out of him in public.

 

[444]

In Petco ?

I would have released my cute little dog on him. He is about 3/4 through one of those "monster bones" that I just gave him this morning.

 

[Kestrel]

If there were no bullets being ejected, maybe start towards him slowly, in a low crouch, with your arms reaching towards him, uttering in an Ernest T. Bass voice:

"I'm a gona git you..." with a maniacal grin on your face.


sturmruger - funny! What would your friend do when you threw the snakes on him? I remember when I was a teenager, one night I was driving around with a friend. We were looking for someone's house and I had some fireworks in the car for some reason. We had lit some earlier and threw them out the window. Well, at some point my friend was trying to read a map with the interior light on and I lit a pulled fuse out of one of the firecrackers and threw it on the floorboard on his side and screamed... Hahaha - I still laugh when I think about his reaction. He just about went through the roof of the car.

Steve

 

[sturmruger]

Steve I never did throw any snakes on him, here in NW WI we don't have much for snakes, besides he was scared to death of a lowsy chicken I think he would have had a coronary if he would have seen a snake.

 

[bogie]

First slide rack: Pay considerably more attention...

Second slide rack: Try not to giggle...

Third slide rack: Ask him what kinda lubricant he prefers.

 

[strambo]

Third slide rack: Ask him what kinda lubricant he prefers.

Lubricant...for the monster bone?

-cause I'm gonna shove it up his....

 

[CZ-100]

If you honestly believe your life is in danger, that's the time to use your gun. If it falls short of that, don't use the gun. Without being there myself, I can't say if the simple fact that there was an ongoing armed robbery would, in itself, make me feel my life was in danger. It all depends on the totality of the circumstances and what other options, if any, you have.

I would never intervene in an armed robbery JUST to intervene. If I use my gun, it's because I believe my life is in immediate danger and that the use of my gun is necessary to protect my life. If an armed robbery just happens to be stopped in the process, that is a unintended side effect.

My thoughts Exactly.