I got shot at while walking home

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Archibald Tuttle

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I deliberated whether or not I was going to post this but curiosity got the best of me.

A few weeks ago I was walking home when a black suv driving on the opposite side of the street, fired eight shots while calling me derogatory names. I reacted by ducking into an ally and as I turned to see what happened the suspects had sped off. They were using a smaller caliber but enough to prick my ears and get me running. A week before this there was a shoot out in front of my apartment building! I live in a neighborhood that is mainly students from the local college here, not exactly a ghetto but definitly sketchy terroritory. The funny thing is I was getting back from muay thai/mixed martial arts class feeling pretty good about defending myself when it happened.

So I've been considering getting a carry, but what I'd like to know is what you all would've done in that situation if you had been carrying. Does anyone have any stories or lessons learned? Help me out here, I need some sound advice. I'm attending some firearm courses this fall but it looks like I'll have to make due with my mits and knife until then.
 
I would have done the same you did gun or not. My first reaction would be to get my butt outta there. Unless you think you can take out a carload of armed people with a pistol without getting harmed. You did good.
 
Bookmarked...I'll be back. There was a similar post recently.
 
Jesus.. thats crazy...

Now I know why some people carry, now I know why carrying is allowed in the states!
If some guy did that here in an SUV it would be all over the news and on the front page of the paper.
 
I would of done the same thing you did and beat feet. If I remembered the license plate number I would of called it in. I am just glad you are fine and not seriously injured.
 
this is one of those times to be thankful the ghetto bangers dont practice and cant even hold the gun straight;)

but if you havent already call the police. give them as best a description as you can.
 
I was wearing blue jeans and a grey shirt carrying my gym bag around my arm. I didn't look like a banger and YES I DID CALL THE COPS. They assisted as best as they could even though I didn't get a licence plate number and a vague description of three to four white males in a black suv going west.
 
Were any shell casings found? Any evidence of bullet impacts? What was the investigating Officer's opinion/advice for you?

Archibald Tuttle said: So I've been considering getting a carry, but what I'd like to know is what you all would've done in that situation if you had been carrying. Does anyone have any stories or lessons learned? Help me out here, I need some sound advice.
Click to expand...


Well, you're alive. You reported having no more holes in you after the event than the ones you had going into it. How would you having a gun make the outcome any better?
 
Yeah, running would be a great idea but what if you couldn't?

What if they were coming your way and you had no escape but was armed, can you shoot or not?

Too much gray area in this one. I would rather just pull out a firearm and empty it into the vehicle but realistically...in this "civilized environment" with laws and all it doesn't sound like a good idea. So what does a person do?:confused:
 
BTDT and my incident(s) never made the news.
Heck Officers and I even joked about me using Styrofoam cups from businesses where I marked casings one time and whole shells another time I was in an incident making great footage for a TV crew...which never showed up.



Not newsworthy enough. Blood, guts, gore, death...etc., sells the filler called news that runs between Advertisements on TeeVee.


Gun?
I don't know, evading without engaging makes sense to me.
Makes so much sense, that is exactly what I did, and I was CCW-ing.

Guns are fine and dandy, just not the magic talisman and end-all, do-all some make them out to be.


Use Enough Tennis Shoes
 
I'm still waiting to hear from the police. I went to the scene the next day and all the glass from the broken windows were cleaned up and new windows installed.
 
No matter what you may have been carrying you made the smart move. Taking cover first is the best thing to do 99.9999999% of the time. Trying to draw and return fire at someone who is already shooting at you will at best, get you wounded.

I understand what you're saying about the neighborhood. Any neighborhood where college students can afford to live will be a bit (as you say) sketchy.
 
Do you have a police report No? Maybe it would help with more detail if we read that. You don't seem to be fronting much information here. After all, it is a public document. Better yet, if you could be so kind as to scan and post the police report, it would save us all the time and expense of sending off for it. Until I read it, I call prank.

Doc2005
 
I agree with others that you made the correct move. Here in Florida we do not have a duty to retreat but sometimes it is the best move to make. IMHO it definitely beats trading gunfire with a car load of people.

As I said, even if I was armed I would have done exactly what you did. I would have moved to a location that would allow me have the drop on them if they tried to perused you.
 
This was in Seattle? What part of Seattle?

I lived there for a while and was always impressed by the lack of violent crime (and aggression generally) compared to most places I've lived. I always told people who talked about neighborhood safety that (aside from drastic gradients of real estate value) there are no "bad neighborhoods" in Seattle -- at least none worse than the best parts of most cities. For the most part, it makes Austin look like a warzone :) (And in Austin, though it never involved a gun or true violence, I was intimidated on the streets of Austin by thugs a couple of times; once it was 4 young men who pulled next to me and start hurling verbal abuse, the other was some frat boys who chased me down to pour an extra large soda all over me -- in both cases, was random rather than provoked. I still consider Austin a peaceful place, it's just hard to have a big city without some miscreants.)

But Seattlle? Weird :)

timothy
 
I don't think I have ever heard Austin called a war zone!

back on topic, running was your best move, glad you are okay.
 
You did the right thing by running. Shooting at a vehicle that is moving away from you (or towards you) is not a good plan. Too much risk. Best to run.
 
ive first hand witnessed 3 or 4 gunfire incidents on a college campus. Usually after parties on the campus. Only one incident where a victim was actually shot and wounded made the news.
 
one time

near Tompkins Square Park in NYC in 1980 some fellow ghetto dwellers were racing down the street in a old blue station wagon, a shotgun pointing out the window!
I jumped into a dumpster...they laughed....I smelled bad for a few days.
 
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