I got into an unfortunate situation one day and ended up firing a warning shot in a shopping mall. I know, it sounds highly dubious and no doubt there will be those of you who condemn that action outright. But that was the only viable option I saw under the circumstances. In hindsight there were other options, but of course when you are in the middle of a bad situation you don't always think with military precision
So, let me set the scene. Please excuse my rudimentary diagrams. The incident took place in 1995 in a rough part of Johannesburg called Hillbrow. At the time I didn't have a car and I was forced to shop in that area at least on some occasions. The shopping complex was a three storey building with groceries and general goods in the basement, clothing and accessories on the ground floor, and various other items such as kitchen white goods on the first and second floor.
I had just finished getting groceries in the basement and I was at the parcel counter getting my shoulder bag (you aren't allowed to take bags into the shop). While I was standing at the counter I heard one of those security arch alarms go off (you know the kind that detects tagged items). This arch was one of a pair at the entrance to the stairs and the up escalator at the end of the store. A robber had tried to get through the arch with stolen goods and a male security guard had grabbed him by the arm. Here is the layout at that point:
1 = The robber
2 = The male security guard
4 = Me
Shoppers and staff = unmarked dark green
Solid masonry is in black, doors purple. One office was either plywood or drywall, I don't know which (in brown).
The teal blocks on the right are the tills (checkouts).
At this point, the robber beat up the security guard quite quickly, and threw him a little way towards the wall and towards the side. I had my bag from the parcel counter and I was turned to face the stairs. The robber took off up the escalator and the security guard was lying groaning on the floor. I didn't do anything at that point, just walked towards the exit. Now here is where things went sour. A female security guard came down the steps just as the robber was going up the escalator:
3 = female security guard
She managed to get hold of this robber by his shirt lapels and also managed to drag him all the way down the escalator backwards. It was quite comical how he had to frantically keep his balance but surprisingly he stayed on his feet until they got to the bottom of the stairs and escalator. At this point he reached in his shirt and produced a long knife, which had been filed on the top edge so that it had two sharp edges. He then stabbed the female security guard (it looked like root of neck, but the blade was on the other side of her neck and I couldn't see exactly). She didn't scream, just dropped motionless on the floor in a heap. As far as I was concerned this woman might have sustained a fatal injury. Now in SA at that time, you could shoot somebody dead to prevent or capture them in circumstances where they were perpetrating or had perpetrated a Schedule 1 offense. Without going into details, at that point right there I was entitled to kill him as an armed citizen. But please note two distinct disadvantages. First check the layout at that point:
Second, guess what gun I had...a .25 Baby Browning (this was before I got my car and my 9mmP). So at this point, I wanted the guy, I wanted him out of circulation. He was standing over the woman and several of the tellers were screaming and the manager came out of his office to my left. I dropped my shoulder bag and groceries and drew the .25 and yelled for the robber to stop.
Now this was quite a distance, I don't know how far, but further than I am inclined to target shoot with the little gun. I am not even certain whether he could make out what I had drawn. The office behind the robber was plywood and the door was closed. I didn't know if anyone was in there or not. There were shoppers and tellers on the right, some of them crouching. I didn't know whether he was going to stab this woman again or anyone else, and I also couldn't guarantee I could hit him from where I was. He didn't comply, he didn't put the knife down and I got very edgy about this situation. So here is what I thought: the only 'safe' place I could fire a shot was into the steps of the escalator. This is how I saw it in my mind's eye:
Yes, it constitutes a warning shot which I know very well is hardly ever justified, but I wanted this guy's attention and I wanted him to stop what he was doing and to know that I had the gun. I could't see my way clear to shoot him. So, ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you that I did indeed fire the shot, and here is the approximate trajectory:
The bullet was channelled into a gap between two escalator steps and disappeared into the works of the escalator. Subsequent to this incident I was not able to find any fragments of the projectile on the floor. I am asuming that the FMJ is still in that escalator well.
Of course, a shot fired in a store is VERY loud, even if it is just a .25 and people dropped their groceries and tellers slammed their tills closed and there were a few screams. Honestly, what I was expecting the robber to do was lay down the knife and put his hands up. That's how I thought things would work, because that's what I would do if I had a knife and another guy had a gun. Well, that isn't what happened.
The robber made a run for it, up the escalator. He was moving at a good pace.
I gave chase, yelling for him to stop, gun still drawn. I was in quite good shape because I didn't have a car and had to walk or cycle everywhere and I also played squash at least three times a week. But this guy could run and he ran flat out up the escalator and out onto street level, knife still in hand. I chased him down two city blocks and people were scattering on either side of us. I was gaining on him and the more I ran the more annoyed I got. We made a left and ran another city block and then he got to a corner just as a double-decker bus was coming around and he knew he couldn't get around before I closed the distance. So he spun around on the corner, lifted the knife up and prepared to stab me.
At that point I stopped really fast, a few paces from him and aimed the gun at his face. It was quite ridiculous because all I could think of saying to him was 'No.'
Just that one word.
There were people milling around across the road and there were people in the bus behind the robber. I was definitely in the minority, demographically.
Here is what he did: he cocked his head to the side to see if he could make out whether the safety catch was engaged or not. He couldn't make that out. He then looked where my feet were and then looked into my eyes for a few seconds. I think he appreciated at that point that this was a small gun, but I was likely to shoot. I had pressure on the trigger so that the knuckle of my index finger was white. Only after he had considered all these things did he comply.
He put the knife down and another security guard arrived soon after that and took him back to the store.
The female security guard: fortunately the robber had over-stabbed and the blade had gone behind her right shoulder. The force of the blow on the root of her neck is what knocked her senseless. She was okay.
The guy who came off the worst was the male security guard, although I don't doubt they gave that robber a good kicking before the police came for him.
