Witnessed a beating last night

[give]

i must say i agree with being a good healthy witness is a lot better then being a bad victum,besides,good chance the situtation was shady in the bad neighborhood,better to let them beat each other up,chances are one bad guy is taking out another,good ridence to them

 

[buck00]

This has been the first time I've seen a truly violent situation without the comfort of going through a television screen or PC monitor.

Don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like you have had a sheltered life.

Honestly, you may want to try to diversify your experiences to improve SD awareness. Take a martial arts class, join the military reserves, do some ride alongs in an urban area- get out there and see the bad and the good. I'm not saying go out and get in fights- but you want to build up some life experiences to become wiser. JMO

 

[thebaldguy]

Call 911; the police should handle these situations. Be a good witness, and take notes and video. Getting involved may be fatal.

 

[moga]

I wonder if I would be justified in grabbing a gun if the same thing happened in the front yard of the place the GF and I've been living at (unlikely, our neighborhood is MUCH nicer, of course the rent is also a lot more.

No, no, and no. That line of logic is probably the excuse that the Sheriff uses to deny citizens a CCW. You don't get involved in any one elses' disputes just because YOU have a gun.

...or what I could do if three guys jumped out of a car intent on beating me senseless.

If you are in the house and the guys are outside, call 911 and wait for LE response. Be a good witness and don't confuse the officers by not having a straight forward case as the complainant. Unless they invade your home, and unless you live in a state with Castle Doctrine, which I don't believe that IA is, you don't have a case for lethal force just because you think someone wants to beat you.

 

[JeepGeeek]

Why are we assuming that this was a gang situation? Because of the reace of the individuals?

Race was never mentioned. But hey, nice try at race-baiting!!

 

[buzz_knox]

Race was never mentioned.

Really? Care to try again.

From the original post:

There was an older black car running in the middle of the narrow lot with the head lights illuminating what looked like two black men having a fight.

Sure seems like race was mentioned in the very beginning of this thread, which I presume you read before commenting.

 

[LKB3rd]

My guess is that since they attacked as a group/gang, it seems like they may have been members of a gang. They certainly acted like a gang even if they weren't officially one.

 

[buzz_knox]

It could have been: a gang, or family members/ friends of one of the participants getting involved: various individuals with a grudge against the same person; or neighbors stomping down a child predator who just tried to grab a kid.

No one knows the details which is why being a good witness in this situation is the best call.

 

[ilbob]

Best thing to do is ignore it. Believe me, if you live in such a neighborhood, you get use to this stuff. They usually won't involve you if you stay out of it. In fact, they often try to avoid contact with uninvolved people when these fights start, and very often they are planned.

Yep. Call 911 and stay out of it unless there is some reason to get involved.

 

[macp]

Excellent point

If you come across, two people fighting engaging in an afray, and when you come in sight of them you see one is on top of the other and you see a knife going into the one on the bottoms body, and you use deadly force, on its face you would think you would be ok for attampting to stop a murderous assualt. However when it was all over other witnesses point out that the one on the bottom started the altercation and that he had the knife and was trying to stick it in the other subject and as they rolled around the good guy finally got control of the knife. Then at that point you can be arrested for murder or assualt with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting srrious injury (if the one you shot did not die).

This bears repeating and should be discussed more or even stickied as some sort of 'lessons learned' or discretionary decision-making thread.

 

[David N]

It sounds like you did the best you could in that situation. At least you called the cops.

You don't know for a fact you'll be denied your concealed weapon permit until you apply for one. If you are denied the permit to carry a gun I would find out if pepper spray is legal there.

 

[Lupinus]

You did fine. You kept you and yours safe, you called 911, you collected the information you could on the event. A situation like this is not one where you come to the rescue. You see a woman being raped, someone screaming for help, someone murdering people ala school shooting, etc it is one thing. Basically situations where there is a definitive victim and definitive aggressor/s, this doesn't mean charge in, it means use your brain and decide to help someone in need.

This was a completely unknown situation so there was no reason to get involved. Maybe they were both gang bangers, do you really want to get involved in a gang war? Maybe they were armed and the guy was jest getting a warning, do you want to escalate that with your and his murder? Maybe the guy deflowered his virgin sister using unscrupulous methods and had it coming. Whatever the reason, it was an unknown situation with no idea of who really needed the help, you did as you should have in the situation.

 

[Cosmoline]

Just remember to turn off your lights when looking out to observe. Otherwise you're back-lit which you do not want to be. And don't pull curtains aside.