Had to draw my weapon last night...

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Sounds like a great outcome.

I would have called the police, primarily to be the first to call, and also to provide a description.

This incident proves the value of concealed carry and the fact that a shot need not be fired for the firearm to protect its owner.

Also, it scares one a little. Gives new meaning to the phrase "don't leave home without it."!

I'll bet that guy adjusts his strategy in the future!
 
But, Duke of Doubt, you left out when, exactly, you would've chambered a round !!!
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Never a problem when carrying double action revolver
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It's never a problem with my M1911, Glock 19, Glock 22, or Browning High Power. I never leave the house without a round chambered. I'm betting it's kind of difficult to chamber a round, when one of your hands is occupied trying to draw, and the other occupied trying to stop somebody from stabbing you with a knife, a screwdriver or an icepick, or trying to beat you with a claw hammer, or to choke you to death. I always try to keep things simple...
 
I would have chambered a round precisely at the point where our narrator pulled his gun but shielded it from view. If things were happening faster, I would have chambered on the draw.

Oh, and if I had to put his eye out to buy a little time ("Hey, Moe!"), yeah, I would have chambered after I stopped him in his tracks with that. First things first.

Plenty of time. ;)
 
requirement to notify police?

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but out here all CCWers are required to notify the S.D. in writing within 24 hours of drawing their weapon in public, whether it's used or not.

You might want to check into it.

BTW, it sounds like you did just fine.
 
Around here,if you'd called the cops,they would have jerked your CCW for needlessly drawing your weapon.I think you did everything exactly right.I,personally,would never call the cops unless they were actually needed.THEY don't appreciate being called out for a 'non-event',at least not around here.
 
Yeah, but giving them the robbers' plate after the fact might have let them make a stop and yanked them for anything from licensing and registration issues to probationary issues to illegal carry.
 
That's kind of funny. So if I go into the park and draw once a day, I have to notify the cops each time? That could get to be a real source of amusement for me, and a real drag for them.
 
You did the right thing... People acting as if they are on the cellphone is a common ploy. Surprised that he was actually "on coms" with someone.

GhostRider66 I do not know you at all, BUT

Depending on what you do for a living, this might not have been some random robbery of a "mark" BUT SOMETHING more serious... You would know. I think that we all tend to assume that everyone else here are truck drivers or something. You might be working for SD-6 and FTL or K-directorate is on to you...
 
You might want to tell the store owner; in my experience the nice liquor stores have cameras, at least around the registers. They might be interested in ID'ing the couple.
 
I would've waited in the store for a long while, made sure they left, and hurried to my car in full alert mode.

Also rather than drawing, knowing myself, I would've squared off with him and just stared him down, hand ON but not exposing my gun, just to make sure he's not innocent.

Finally, you also could have RUN. 25' is a long head start to overcome- if somebody is trying to rob you they're not going to bother you more than likely because they want easy prey - too obvious/too much risk/too much energy to chase you down. You can glance ove ryour should and if they're still chasing you then you can draw and fire.

But you did right it seems. I'm just VERY worried about needlessly escalating situations.

What is your profession? Are you an executive? Lawyer? Government? Could this have been an orchestrated hit? This sounds much more than your typical grab and run robbery, if this indeed was more than misunderstanding.
 
newbie4help: "Finally, you also could have RUN. 25' is a long head start to overcome- if somebody is trying to rob you they're not going to bother you more than likely because they want easy prey - too obvious/too much risk/too much energy to chase you down. You can glance ove ryour should and if they're still chasing you then you can draw and fire."

Running in that situation would have taken him away from his transportation and perhaps into the arms of an accomplice in a more remote corner. I'm all for running when the situation calls for it, but I think he did the right thing, here.

newbei4help: "What is your profession? Are you an executive? Lawyer? Government? Could this have been an orchestrated hit?"

It's surprisingly easy for a competent man to overlook this possibility. Just because your opponent is incompetent and comes at you dumb does not mean he isn't organized on some level and backed. Consider this possibility very hard.
 
"A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect his property to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, theft during the nighttime or criminal mischief during the nighttime, and he reasonably believes that the property cannot be protected by any other means."

I believe this is the standard in use in Texas. The application of deadly force isn't the same as the threat of force, but this should give you an indication of what questions need to be answered before firing.

Is a person walking towards you while talking on the phone a threat? On its face, no. Granted, your senses perceived that something wasn't right, & you probably were correct. However, if guy had cringed in fear and ran into the store to call the PD, you'd have some problems.

The "property cannot be protected by any other means" could put you in a jam. Could you have entered your car? Walked away? Trotted?

Pulling out your gun worked in this case, regardless of the guys intent, he left. However, if he had continued to walk up to you, what would you have done? Shoot an unarmed guy talking on a phone? There's no clear intent to commit a crime. The girl would have told the PD that "joe" was asking you for a cigarette or a dollar and you shot him down...

Your behavior should be subjectively and objectively reasonable. Just because you thought something was going on, would another reasonable person reach that conclusion? You will be judged by a "jury of your peers", and I bet none of them CC.

Just giving you the conservative answer, so you can work on your tactics. Start with verbal commands "Don't come any closer!" "Stop or I will shoot you!", something along those lines. Can you escape? Make an attempt to do so...a few steps, something. The guy is 25 feet away, get around the other side of your car and keep it between you.

These scenarios have plenty of answers, some right and some wrong & some that are "more right" than others. You lived to fight another day and probably don't have an outstanding warrant, so it's all good:)
 
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"A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect his property to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, theft during the nighttime or criminal mischief during the nighttime, and he reasonably believes that the property cannot be protected by any other means."

I believe this is the standard in use in Texas.
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I used to live in Dallas. Some old codger saw some people robbing his neighbor's house (they were on vacation) and he killed them with a shotgun. He was put in prison for murder. According to that information, he was acting legally. What the Hell kind of bizzare-o world are we living in?
 
Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. Just to clarify a couple of points:

  • I drive a Jeep Wrangler soft-top. No trunk, no way to stash laptop.
  • I only hit this liquor store about once every three months at random.
  • I work about 50 miles away from there so doubtful that would be related. (If it is, I've got much bigger issues that I thought.)
  • Paid with CC. Did have some cash on me but did not flash that at all.
  • Background was MI in the army. Some experience dealing with professional spooks, etc. These guys we strictly amatuer unless the pros have gotten much better than they used to be at looking cheap.
  • The reason I was the mark was probably the fact that I was only one of three customers and the only one who parked in the outer parking area rather than up against the building.

All-in-all, this was probably nothing more that a quick, although sloppy, attempt at a stick-up. Based on her position at the time when he aborted the attempt. She was probably designated to be the driver since she probably would have been to the car in a minute or two anyway.

I called and reported the entire incident to store management. I talked to a next door neighboor who is a Fort Worth cop. He said really the only help the report would be would be the license plate number which he did take down. I already ran the tags and they do match the vehicle but not the occupants.
 
Spittle8,
If you are talking about the Joe Horn case he was not charged with shooting 2 illegal felons burglarizing his neighbors' home.
 
Post mortem: two people talking to each other on cell phones while in the same store, one of which (large male) follows you to your car? Yeah, you did the right thing, especially by not escalating the situation any more than it needed to be. Having done some extensive people watching wile working loss prevention years ago, always watch people who watch you. Criminals also often work in pairs or teams, which is why the woman was probably his spotter. Way to be alert. :)
 
If you got to your car why did you not just get in and close and lock the door? Then you pull out your cell phone...
 
MT GUNNY, i believe he took his laptop with him because he said he has a soft top jeep wrangler which are very easy to get into, just unzip the rear windows(i have one and have locked the keys inside)

To anwser cerberus65's question as to why GhostRider66 didnt just get in and lock the doors, because many times wranglers just have plastic windows
 
Yep, as mentioned, soft-top Jeep with plastic windows. And honestly, I had barely set my stuff down on the drivers seat, turned to look - hand on weapon, saw his proximity, drew weapon - all happened in about 1.5-2 seconds. I'm not sure that carrying the laptop, moving stuff out of the way, getting laptop out of way, getting into jeep, closing door, locking door, getting cell phone out could have been accomplished in time to deal with a threat that close (if that's what this was). All-in-all, I would much rather have done anything rather than draw my weapon but at that slim second, I barely had time to begin to consider other alternatives. I didn't mean at all for him to see it (and am not at all sure he did). I just felt it had to be in my hand for whatever might be about to happen.
 
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