Sad Story of no CCW

[FranklyTodd]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Police said that a man was in critical condition after he was shot in the back while walking home from an east side grocery store Wednesday night.

William S. Burress was walking near Loeffler Avenue and Cherry Street at about 8:10 p.m. and was approached by two men, police said.

According to officers, the two men demanded money from Burress and he tried to walk away. Police said that one of the men fired numerous shots at Burress. One of them struck him in the back.

Burress, 42, was transported to Grant Medical Center.

Both men were last seen running east on Cherry Street. They are described as black and between 18 to 21 years old. One of the men is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds and was wearing a light-blue hooded sweatshirt, black hat and jeans. The other man is about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds and was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Columbus Police Robbery Squad at 614-645-4665. Anonymous tips can be called into Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-645-8477.

 

[CAS700850]

According to the article, they demanded money, he walked away, and only then did one of the criminals produce a gun and open fire. if this is in fact the true version of the events, the poor man needed body armor, not a concealed weapon. Actually both. At best, under these facts, the best a CCW would have done was allow him to return fire.

 

[retgarr]

It would have given him options other than walking away. But, I can cancel credit cards and get new ID's. You can't win everytime and sometimes you just need to do the smart thing and give them what they want.

 

[revjen45]

Giving them your wallet doesn't mean they won't shoot you anyway.

 

[FranklyTodd]

In a bad area of town, if two males in their late teens demand money, I think I would draw (I'm not saying I have the right answer, only being honest in that uncomfortable exercise of WWFTD - what would FranklyTodd do ).

Whether I would fire or not would depend on further circumstances - I would hope I could tell the difference between an aggressive panhandle (which I have experienced in multiple cities), and a robbery (which I thankfully have not experienced). If I was confident it was the latter, I may have fired, if I thought it might be the former, I might have hesitated to hopefully give the "kids" time to run away.

It almost goes without saying, but I also would never be walking in that area near dark, but that doesn't change the analysis, nor is that a fair way to wave this off, as it isn't avoidable for everyone.

It would have given him options other than walking away. But, I can cancel credit cards and get new ID's. You can't win everytime and sometimes you just need to do the smart thing and give them what they want.

At the same time, I totally agree with this - if I had reason to believe that giving up the wallet would have ended the encounter peacefully, I would like to think I would have gone that route instead - I certainly don't care about the $60 I may have on me, or the cancelable credit cards.

Wow - I guess it comes down to this - I hope I never have to find out what I would do, exactly. But as the quote said above, being armed at least gives you options...

 

[CountGlockula]

Very sad.

But it can also entitled: "Sad Storry of no situational awareness." But then again, how can one be ALWAYS aware?

 

[Leanwolf]

REVJEN 45 - "Giving them your wallet doesn't mean they won't shoot you anyway."

You've got that right!

It is not unusual for a thug to get what he wants from a victim, then try to kill, or kill, the victim. No witnesses.

L.W.

 

[xring44]

Its sad at best, but, if he had been carrying, at least he might have had a chance, this way he didn't have a chance.

 

[bluez4u]

These days, it seems that if you're getting robbed, you might as well guess that you are not going to make it alive thru the ordeal.

 

[eatont9999]

Once they have your money, why do they want you to cancel your credit cards and call the police? Would it not be easier for them to just put a few in your back and go shopping? I would have told them to jog on even without a CCW. If I was carrying, I would have pulled it on them and told them to run like hell.

 

[papajohn]

My attempted carjacking started with what was meant to appear as a random panhandling.
"Yo man, gimme a dollah!"
"I don't carry cash, sorry."
"No $#!t, man, gimme DOLLAH"
"No cash, pal, beat it!"
Then he pulled a knife out of his pocket and reached for my door handle.

As soon as his face got close the muzzle of my .380 smacked into his forehead between his eyebrows.

Then everything got real polite, and I drove home and changed my shorts.

As I put the gun away I noticed the hammer was at half-cock, and if he'd lifted that knife toward me his brains would have been all over the house behind him.

The cops were never called because I couldn't give much of a description. The younger gangstas all look and dress the same. Within two weeks I had a CCW permit and a bigger gun!

PJ

 

[FranklyTodd]

Yeah, OP here, it happened again in little cow-town Columbus:

Suspect Shoots Man Who Refuses Robbery

Thursday, Mar 27, 2008 - 08:34 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A man remains in critical condition after being shot three times at the intersection of 4th Street and 11th Avenue Wednesday, NBC 4 reported.

Columbus Police said Ronald Goodine, 30, was approached by three men who tried to rob Goodine around 3:30 p.m.

When Goodine refused to give in to three suspects' demand, one of the men shot him with a handgun.

The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition

Another guy "refused" a robbery. I guess in the world of Self-Defense "Just Say No" is NOT the way to go! Sad... Notice too, this was 3:30 in the AFTERNOON. Not a great area of town, but not the worst, short walk from Ohio State campus.