Incident in Highland Park, TX

[Bartholomew Roberts]

For those of you who don't know, Highland Park is a very upper-class suburb of Dallas adjoining the Southern Methodist University campus. It has a very dense police presence and a well-funded police force.

Recently, a student from the nearby college encountered another young man in his 20s assaulting a young woman, also in her 20s. According to the student, he challenged the man. The man turned towards him with a knife already in hand giving the woman opportunity to flee (which she took). The student drew his own knife as the man moved toward him and that is the last thing he remembers.

He was found unconscious and bleeding in the street with a stab wound in the middle of a very nice neighborhood. A reminder to all of us that bad things happen even in the "nice" neighborhoods.

 

[Langenator]

And a reminder to always bring a gun to a knife fight.

 

[beerslurpy]

Wow tough guy. I hope it was worth it to him.

I dont really see the purpose of him fighting that guy, especially if they were equally armed and the girl already got away. Another vote for bringing a gun to a knife fight.

 

[LAK]

The man turned towards him with a knife already in hand giving the woman opportunity to flee (which she took). The student drew his own knife as the man moved toward him and that is the last thing he remembers

A pistol - or an expandable baton - would no doubt have served him better. However, judging from this brief description he may have done the best thing with what he had. His only other option at this point would have been an exit. If possible.

Your assailant may see you as an unwanted witness, and be able to outrun you. Sometimes running - and in the process turning your back - is not the wise thing to do.

-----------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[shermacman]

Probably best not to confront the Bad Guy in this situation. If he was busy doing bad things, and the Good Guy was not armed adequately, a good swift kick to the head might have worked just fine.

 

[ezypikns]

I'm not sure.....

but I think he would have been stabbing me in the back. I believe I would have turned around and run...as fast as I could. Apparently the attacker had broken off his assault of the young woman. If she's moving to safety, so am I.
I have absolutely no training with knives, or any confidence in using one. I wonder how many of us do? A knife is a very up close and personal weapon. It would literally be a last resort. Maybe that's the case here.
Yet another reason to carry.

 

[TallPine]

a stab wound in the middle of a very nice neighborhood

 

[ball3006]

Yep, HP is a la de da neighborhood.....

but it is accessable fairly easily from the not so nice parts of town. And, well, we know how college kids are........chris3

 

[crofrog]

Probably best not to confront the Bad Guy in this situation.

Wow...

 

[crofrog]

Of course, in this situation, you could have pulled the gun from 20 feet away and then you'd have totally dominated the situation.

Unless the guy wasn't intimidated by the gun.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

I think Shermacman meant that it would have been better not to alert the BG, but to attack him and take him by suprise.

 

[RandomMan]

Let us remember this. The story says a STUDENT fought a violent attacker off with a knife. In the state of Texas, it is illegal for even concealed handgun permit holders to carry a firearm onto a college campus. As Barthlomew pointed out Highland Park adjoins Southern Methodist University, and it's very likely this young man was a student from SMU. He CAN'T LEGALLY carry a gun on campus. So those that would knock him for bringing a knife to a knife fight should keep this in mind.

Furthermore, for those who suggest the expandable baton. This is not a viable option either in this state, as batons and clubs are illegal to carry on your person as well. Finally, to those who would suggest pepper spray...I would suggest a knife. This attacker was obviously EXTREMELY violent and I wouldn't want to rely on OC spray as your weapon of choice.

Then there is the issue of contention here, "what a tough guy". This guy did everything within his power to save a young woman from being injured and possibly killed and got injured himself. Sure seems easy for many of you to "Monday Morning Quarterback" without a single care for the gentleman who DID the RIGHT thing in a society that frequently walks away.

Sure, he might have done things differently, but the incident stands and the young man is to be commended.

-Rob

 

[roo_ster]

What RandomMan said, with bells on it.

 

[TC-TX]

DITTO What RandomMan said!

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Too bad RandomMan is wrong. The incident as described did NOT take place on campus. It was in Highland Park, not SMU. So the whole issue of campus legality is not relevant.

It has been my experience that college populations are often comprised of lots of students who live off campus. For SMU, the number would be in the thousands. The kid could have been an SMU student, or a student of any other school, who did NOT live on SMU campus. Even if he lived on campus, his parents may have lived in Highland Park or surrounding Dallas. There are a lot of SMU kids, rich kids from rich neighborhoods around the SMU campus in Highland Park, who opt to live on campus "away" from mommy and daddy in the since they are not at home, but have ready access to all their belongings still at home with mommy and daddy, just a short distance from the dorms. It is tough to drive your Bimmer 2 blocks to get clean underwear from home when you live on campus.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Just to clarify, the person who was stabbed was a student at SMU. No facts as to whether he was coming from campus or not; but as Random Man points out, if he was he would be prohibited from carrying on campus.

Given the age and location of the other two participants, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they were also students.

 

[Euclidean]

Too bad RandomMan is wrong. The incident as described did NOT take place on campus. It was in Highland Park, not SMU. So the whole issue of campus legality is not relevant.

So this young man who most likely had just come from or was going to a place where it's very illegal for him to be armed, and possibly there is a lesser prohibition in place that keeps him from having a firearm in his car (most campuses have one), is supposed to wish very hard and materialize a Glock 23 in his hands?

Thank you for playing.

I refuse to sit here with the benefit of hindsight and blame the victim. He did what I would have done if there was no other option and at the time, I bet there wasn't. He should be given a medal not a Monday morning quarterback treatment.

Let's blame the piece of crap that stabbed him, not the guy who tried to save someone else's bacon.

 

[RandomMan]

Double Naught Spy, if this man who was a student at SMU was not going to or from campus when this incident happened, then I agree, he should have had a gun. If he was going from the campus or to the campus what would you have him do? Break the law by carrying a gun and then potentially have his permit revoked? This way he could be busted for illegal possession of a handgun? I believe that my right to defend myself as a citizen should take precedence over the law, but there is a big line in a big gray area for every person here.

It still doesn't detract from this man's brave effort to face a violent attacker in order to save a woman from bodily injury or death. Whether he faced the man with a knife, ran him over with a car, or faced him bare handed. This young man DID do the honorable, respectable thing.

-Rob

PS: Not every SMU student has a BMW and has rich parents. I was accepted into SMU and I drive a 30 year old Dodge and neither of my parents makes over $40k a year. I guess it's easy to judge when you live in a stone house?

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It is also worth noting that we don't even know if he could legally own a handgun since he could well be under 21.

 

[crofrog]

It still doesn't detract from this man's brave effort to face a violent attacker in order to save a woman from bodily injury or death. Whether he faced the man with a knife, ran him over with a car, or faced him bare handed. This young man DID do the honorable, respectable thing.

From my prespective this community enjoy's eating there own. Not to many "attaboy's" or "nice try's" when someone steps up to the plate and strikes out.

It's been my experince also that those who complain the loudest when someone else fails for stepping up are the ones who are to arrogant to train to win the fight, but yet think they are god's gift to combat.

PS: Not every SMU student has a BMW and has rich parents. I was accepted into SMU and I drive a 30 year old Dodge and neither of my parents makes over $40k a year. I guess it's easy to judge when you live in a stone house?

Yeah, DNS seemed a little bitter. Get made fun of in school or something?

 

[rbernie]

Sure, he might have done things differently, but the incident stands and the young man is to be commended.

Agreed, and we should all be glad it didn't cost him more than it did. Folks that are willing to stand in the gap are a rare breed....

 

[one-shot-one]

???

Bartholomew Roberts: "It is also worth noting that we don't even know if he could legally own a handgun since he could well be under 21."

is this statement accurate? i thought that it was only illeagle to sell a handgun to someone under 21, but not for an 18-20 year old to own/posses one.

 

[duckslayer]

You have to be 21 in order to get a CHL.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

I also commend the guy for putting himself in danger's way to do the honorable thing. It blows my mind that anyone is criticizing the guy for not having a gun. We don't know the details of his living arrangements so it's ridiculous to argue about why he didn't have a gun on him.

So I'll play Monday morning quarterback:

If I witnessed this I would yell at the attacker in a voice loud enough for others in the area to hear. I would initially stop at a safe distance and wait for his response. I would be holding my own knife in my pocket but wouldn't brandish it yet in order to avoid escalating a fight that he may not want to escalate. If he let the girl go and she ran then my personal commitment to that situation is over. When the girl is free it isn't worth my life to try to apprehend the guy.

At a safe distance I can see if he has a weapon and decide how I want to deal with that. If he lets the girl go then I'm going the other direction. If he continues to assault the girl then I will probably decide to physically intervene and I may or may not brandish a weapon. I would have my gun and a knife... but I'm not a SMU (anymore) student living on campus.

If the girl had run to safety and the guy turned on me with a knife then I would make a decision to stand my ground and fight or turn and run. At close range I'm going to fight but if I can turn and run then I will. I won't take a chance at getting stabbed in the back but I don't relish the idea of a knife fight... and I do have some training and feel comfortable with a knife in my hands. I know enough about knife fights to know that nobody wins... there are only different degrees of losing.

Regardless I give the guy props for doing the honorable thing. Even though I may have done differently that doesn't take anything away from what he did.

 

[shermacman]

I agree with you soonerBJJ, with one exception. I rarely carry a gun. I rarely carry a knife. If I had come across this situation I would not have announced anything. I would have punted the guy's head, Adam Vinatieri style.