I drew my weapon in self defense

[gamestalker]

I wanted to share with others a very close call i had one evening on my way home from playing golf with one of my Son's. To start with, I am a disabled elderly man, 5' 4", 120 lbs..My Son and I were on our way home from playing a few holes of golf and ended up behind my Daught-inlaw just by chance. As we were nearing my home my daughter-in-law who was a fair distance in front of us, suddenly veered off the road and had slid into the dirt shoulder. When we saw this we got very concerned because it appeared as though she mayhave had wrecked or possibly hit something. But as we got closer we saw this man in the middle of the road who was now coming at us with obvious rage, flipping us off, and screaming threats at us. So my Son pulled in where my DIL was stopped and before I could get to her to find out what had happened this man is now coming at me screaming threats at me. The first words our of my mouth were going to be what happened, but because he was coming at me with threats and behaving like a maniac I told him to stop. As he ignored me, and bear in mind this all happened in a course of a few short seconds, I drew my weapon and told him to stop and that I was armed. After multiple warnings of " I'm armed and the sherriff is on the way" he finally turned away and left the scene.

The sherriff arrived no more than a minute later and as I, my Son, and my Daughter-in-law explained to them what had happened their response was more than comforting. 3 or 4 officers responded to the call and when they arrived I was asked if I had discharged my weapon but I was never asked to remove it from my hip holster to inspect it for having been recently discharged, I was not frisked or handled at all or detained. I was really pleased with the way all those officers treated me, in that, I was treated as the victim. Further more, the officer I was being interviewed by informed me that according to our consistent recolections of the incident and circumstances, that I was legal in how I handled things. Within a matter of 15 minutes we were all on our way. Oh ya, this happened about 200 yds. from my home and while they were on their way to the scene, I left the scene to go home and take some medication, this incident really shook me up. When I got back to the scene some 2 or 3 minutes later, the officers were already there. They didn't say anything about me leaving the scene or ask me why I left. I've got to tell ya, I was really treated with respect a victim deserves.

What had happened that caused her to leave the road so sudden as she did is the man was in the middle of the road and blocking her path while screaming obcentities and threats at her. She just got shook and did the wrong thing. but also according to her is that she wasn't certain that she had or had not hit him die to his blocking her path. It would have been better for all concerned if she had just managed to get around him and get home. No one would have stopped if she had not, and the sherriff agreed with me on that point, but as well understood that this was why we stopped in the first place. This was actually the only point of advice he gave and it was directed to my Daughter -in -law, just keep going next time.

GS

 

[xjsnake]

Interesting circumstances. Glad to hear everyone is ok and that there was no need to discharge your weapon. Makes me think I need to finally get my CCW even if I can't carry at work (school teacher).

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Glad all worked out. Given the suddenness of it, I think you did a fine job.

 

[Dr_B]

Why was the man stopped in the road screaming at people?

Sounds like you did a good job of keeping your head straight. Was your weapon visible to the other guy after you drew?

 

[MedWheeler]

Yes, more and more LEOs are treating people with more respect, particularly those who are lawfully armed and act with respect themselves.

A week or so ago, a vehicle passed me in a 45MPH zone easily doing double that, in evening traffic. I saw him coming from behind me, and accelerated to keep him from hitting me from behind as he swung wildly from lane to lane to get around traffic. He failed to continue that pattern, and the result was a damaged dually diesel pickup he'd hit, and his wrecked car lying in a ditch. Being a working EMS provider who had just gotten off shift, I stopped to help, but the LEO-past in me told me this could very well be a person who was fleeing the scene of a felony (or driving a just-stolen car.) I approached in a "felony stop" position, at the left rear corner of the vehicle, hand on my pocketed pistol, and demanded he present his hands out the window before I made any further contact. When he did, I ordered him out of the vehicle, and he complied. Turned out to be simply a drunk driver (over twice the legal BAC.)

I told responding deputies I had taken him out in that manner, and was told I had certainly acted in an appropriate manner.

Neither driver was injured.

 

[Blackstone]

What position did you hold the weapon in after you drew and while you were shouting your warnings?

 

[Kleanbore]

We really do not want people posting "this happened to me" accounts here.

I do not want to appear to be singling the OP out. Everyone should read and heed the following:

The ST&T Rules sticky contains the following:

Everyone who posts here or anywhere else on the Internet should understand that such posts are permanent, and they may be subject to discovery in legal proceedings at any time in the future. Should any member ever find himself or herself involved in such proceedings, posts containing comments that could be interpreted unfavorably could prove damaging.

You do not want to publish anything ... where it may be made available to plaintiffs and investigators, that you should more properly tell only to an attorney in confidence in a privileged legal communication.

For those who may not be well versed in the reasons behind this, some additional explanation my be helpful.

First, everyone should understand that if one posts in a public forum on the Internet for anyone in the world with Internet access to read, or when one sends a company email for that matter, one can have no expectation of privacy. Second, electronic postings can be and have been traced back to the originator, authenticated, and used both to facilitate further investigations and as evidence. One's computer may be seized, or subpoenas may be issued to others. Also, investigators can use search engines as well as anyone else.

There are two kinds of situations in which a statement made on the Internet or put in email or posted on one of the various social networks can come back to haunt the originator.

The first involves posts of the "this happened to me" genre. If an incident that could lead to an investigation and/or additional legal proceedings has occurred, anything said about it on the Internet could either be used as evidence or to lead investigators to other facts or information that could be used as evidence that could prove damaging to the originator. For that reason, it is very important to exercise caution in terms of what one posts.

This can apply to either criminal or civil proceedings or both.

It is important to understand that the risks involved may even apply in cases that have not yet been pursued by law enforcement. A statement such as "I drew my gun and told him to get off my property" may be all that is needed to start or provide additional evidence for an investigation that might otherwise have gone nowhere.

In case it is not understood by some, the fact that the investigation of an incident appears to have been "closed" does not mean that the actor is free of risk. A statement by an officer that one "did the right thing", or even a decision by a prosecutor or grand jury to not pursue charges, is not a guarantee against further action. For one thing, new persons may replace others. More importantly, however, new evidence can be brought to light, and a posting here or anywhere on the Internet may just be the thing to make that happen.