Robbed at Gunpoint this week - taking ?s

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newbie4help

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Thought this could provide insight to people who are interested in the realities of these situations. Ask away.
 
Actually, it would probably be easier if you gave us some details first. Where were you, what were you doing, how did the robbery occur, how many robbers were there, etc.
 
my question is what happened, like a full page report. Then i'll ask the questions you questioned about.
 
At girlfriend's apartment complex parking lot in broad daylight. 2 civilians were standing within 20 yards. Walking to my car, a car pulled up, with a woman driving, guy jumps out like 3 feet in front of us with gun demanding money. I didn't even see the car - we gave him our stuff and he left. But he told us to turn around at the end - thought about wrestling the gun at that point (I could've overpowered the guy) but decided it was not worth the risk. They've already caught them.

I don't think this was a case of not being "situationally aware" because 1) it's a parking lot - you expect to see cars and 2) we couldn't have seen them where they were parked.

What's interesting is the whole time I was thinking of the lessons of defensive gun use during this. One thing I realized is - yes a gun COULD stop something like this IF 1) You aren't outnumbered and 2) You [had] better practice,practice,practice and be quick on the draw to shoot him. But the bottom line is - he's not going to know I'm reaching for a gun and not my wallet/cell phone so it could be done. Not sure if its worth the chance he just shoots you afterwards.
 
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what kind of gun was it? Caliber? Was it in his right or left hand? How close was the gun to you? What were his exact words?
 
Don't think about wrestling the weapon from him, unless you are trained to do so.

Lot of innocents in the apartments around you.
 
newbie4help,

I have one question.
Now I am not picking on you, and I am not even going to critique what you did , or did not do.
You don't have to post the answer to my question.
The answer is for you first and foremost. Not me, not anyone else, instead you.

What is the earliest signal you had you were about to be a victim?

Don't answer until you give that question some serious consideration.
 
All very good questions - and they reflect a lot of the questions I had about this sort of scenario before I actually experienced it, which is why I wanted to post it.
And before I answer I should give a caveat: I'm sure each person's experience is unique.

PUNCHDRUNK: It was a black snub-nosed revolver (probably a smith & wesson or some clone), in his right hand, not an expert enough/didn't look enough to tell the caliber - I initially guessed maybe .38 or 9mm but who knows. His exact words were "give me your wallet" and later "turn around." The gun was approximately 3 feet from me I would say, never pointed at me to my knowledge, kinda towards the ground. That's all I remember.

V1K1NG0: No, it wasn't slow motion. It was more like a surreal experience, like a feeling that you were in a dream, although at the same time you had this horrifying realization that it was very, very real. The scariest was when I turned around after he said to do so - at that point I guess you could say it was kinda slow motion because I remember thinking christ I hope I don't see a bullet punch through my chest from behind, kind of reflected on life a bit at that point - in reality I'm sure it must've only been like 4 seconds before he was gone.

SM: The earliest signal I had was when my girlfriend gasped when the guy jumped out of the car with a gun - she saw it before I did. At first I thought she was just looking at something random and commenting - then I turned my head and saw the gun.
The car, mind you, came from being invisible to within 3 feet of us in a matter of seconds. If I'd seen it before I would've thought it was just a resident (it was broad daylight, people going all about). A neighbor later told us they had been sitting there for a while.
 
Wow, what a horrifying situation, and thank you for being so open about it and willing to share.

My question is actually to the rest of the board. We know what happened in this situation and how it turned out. Anything lost was purely monetary and no one was hurt.

However, if newbi4help was carrying (maybe he was) and managed to draw and shoot the attacker how do you think it would have played out afterwards.

Was compliance the right thing to do in this situation?
 
newbie4help,

Thank you for starting this thread and thank you for being honest.
All one can truly share are their experiences and observations, and you have truly shared and this thread will continue to share to others.

Folks, one key to staying safe is signals, and picking these up early.

We all have different safe distances.
It does not matter if we are male, female, young, old, physically limited, armed, not armed or any thing else.

What does matter is signals, and the earlier we pick up signals, the greater the chance we avoid, escape, evade trouble, and the greater the distance we have to deal with trouble.


Steve
 
I'm curious how they were caught so quickly. Have they been charged with robbing you at gun-point? Will you be able to ID them in a line-up or photo spread if it comes to that?

It is hard to imagine what went through your head when you were ordered to turn around. Scary stuff.

No second-guessing here. You're both alive and that's all that matters.

I was held up at gun-point 40 years ago on a crowded street in Hollywood in broad daylight. My 2nd day in town. No fun. I was so glad to leave that hell-hole behind. From what I hear, it hasn't improved since then.
 
Folks, one key to staying safe is signals, and picking these up early.
Click to expand...

Interesting story. One question on my mind: What happened to the two people that were standing around during and after the robbery?
I guess what I'm asking is whether they could possibly have been look-outs for the car.

There's not much you can do in this kind of situation. Three feet is not hand-to-hand range if you're the one unarmed. It IS however point blank for a weapon draw. If you're going to throw down, make sure you get off the X quickly. Practice practice practice.
Practice getting that gun out and into a retention-fire position at just above waist level. Practice getting the gun out and moving to the side at the same time. Above all, practice live fire with those. Getting the gun out and slugs on target quickly is a hard thing to do without lots of practice. Hesitation after the decision point to draw means losing the initiative, which can be fatal.

There is also the option you took, which is to give up something of little relative value to spare one or two lives. Some criminals only want the cash. Others will shoot you after, which is becoming more common-place. Braver ones will let you go, then use your ID to find your home and victimize you again.
The concern here is that you never know which you're dealing with until they're gone or you're dead. I've never been in that kind of situation, and hope I never am. But I know I can't trust a criminal with my life, and that's why I carry.

I did have an "[Uh Oh]" situation the other night in a McDonald's drive thru. Long wait in line and the passenger of the car in front of me gets out (in the drive-thru??) and approaches my driver's side. As she rounded the corner of my side, I had my hand on my gun, wondering what the heck this was going to be. It genuinely got my hackles up as a "danger" moment. She ended up going inside to the restroom, I guess, but it was a moment that certainly had me thanking myself for being armed and alert.

BTW, always read what SM says. Sometimes it can be a bit of a riddle to decypher where it's going, but that guy has incredible insight on darn near everything.
 
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I was not armed. If I had been, I don't have enough experience yet to trust myself to draw and fire - might've just made it worse. But I will practice, and if it happens again I'll have to assess. I keep my G17 handy at all times now, including in car, with hollow point rounds. Plan on getting concealed carry license. Best defense is of course avoiding situations to begin with, and escaping if possible before things get ugly.

Robber seemed nervous.

They caught them quickly because dozens of others had been victims and somebody finally got their plate later that night. I already did the lineup.

Thanks guys, love to share and see what everyone thought. It has definitely made me more aware of people out there, but I don't think it's worth going through life paranoid either. I just say - better safe than sorry.
 
Newbie, I'll recommend you try and locate an IDPA shooting group near you. While still "sport" shooting, with rules etc, the defensive scenarios used in IDPA are incredible for finding holes in your skill-set, not to mention getting your mind to be able to focus during physical stress. If you're going to learn to utilize a weapon from concealment, it's worth a few nights at a local match. Drawing with a cover-garment on, reload drills, and accurately placing rounds on target are key things to know and be good at.
You really don't even have to go to compete with others. Finding out what you can do, and what you can do better, is the most important part.
 
Glad to hear you made it out OK. I've often thought about what I'd do in that situation, and of course, one never knows for sure until one's in it. Glad they caught the guy.

Here's a question for those of you who live in non-CCW areas, what do you do? I ask b/c I know people who travel a lot, and when they go to places like DC, they can't legally carry. Yet, DC is one of the crappiest places in the nation in terms of violent crime. What would you do at that point (assuming you'd already survived one gun point mugging)? Take your life in your hands every time you go out your front door and hope that you'll be able to avoid trouble before it happens next time?

Situations like this really make me mad at legislators and gun-ban lobbyists who want us all to be disarmed sheep waiting to be slaughtered. :fire: :cuss:
 
Wow. Glad you and your girl are ok. Most of the good questions have been asked but I've got a couple.
How were they caught?
What is the general population of the area where this occurred? ie-Big city, heavily populated suburb, medium sized city, college town, etc.
Now that they've been caught, how would you categorize them? ie- Crack heads, meth heads, down on their luck, first timers, repeat offenders, etc.
 
Wow, thank goodness no one was hurt newbie4help.

Hopefully you live in a state that has mandatory jail time tacked on for [people] who commit crimes using a gun so this sleazeball can rot for a while.
 
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Tennessee: This was big city - as in 2.5 million people. In Houston actually, just outside the 610 loop which is much less "urban" than inside but still very urban and some rough parts.

They got caught because another person who got mugged later that night got the license plate.

They were definitely repeat offenders - they should be locked away for life.
 
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