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Fortunately and unfortunately, I have been in a position quite a few times in my life where I had to make a split second decision on how to act in an emergency. You never really know until you're faced with it what you'll wind up doing. Jumping right in with tunnel vision is never good either, sometimes it just doesn't work out well.
A neighbor with a gun would have been ideal but a few neighbors with weapons with a long reach might have at least kept him away from her. Maybe I'm being naive but my instinct is always to help, not stand back and watch helplessly. It was 3 in the afternoon though, I can't imagine there's that many people around who could have helped.
I really don't think I would watch someone getting bludgeoned like that. The description in the article is horrifying, I won't paste it here in case people don't want to know. I hope she survives.
As a CCW holder, I believe having the permit is irrelevant. It's my belief if he would have been confronted by a firearm, he would have surrendered like he did to the cops while at gunpoint. If he didn't stop the attack, any citizen would be within the legal bounds to shoot him to stop the attack. Use of a firearm to defend others is lawful if you use the same amount of force that the victim would reasonably use. I don't think there's any question that if this poor female would have had a firearm, she would have used it to stop the attack.
I like to think I might have grabbed a spade or fork from the garage and stepped in. Really. No guarantee that I would. Actually, I think I have a machete of my own in the garage, but I'm no d'Artagnan.
That would have been the best option, especially if there were two people coming at him. Of course a gun works best and I agree he would have likely stopped if confronted with one.
As far as the girl being armed, I don't think it's reasonable to expect an 18 year old just getting off the school bus to be carrying...especially since having a gun on school property is grounds for expulsion.
That would have been the best option, especially if there were two people coming at him. Of course a gun works best and I agree he would have likely stopped if confronted with one.
As far as the girl being armed, I don't think it's reasonable to expect an 18 year old just getting off the school bus to be carrying...especially since having a gun on school property is grounds for expulsion.
I am pretty dispassionate about stopping an attacker like this, by whatever means necessary, but a gun in the wrong hands can be a real disaster of its own.
Based on the descriptions of the event, shooting the guy would not have presented me with a moral problem, but I am one among many millions with no training. Where does the bullet go if I miss the target?
And, I HAVE hunted, and recognize "Buck Fever" adrenalin as a very real compromise to judgement and aim.
And there are also many, many millions with moral problems with taking a life, which I honestly respect.
And, I HAVE hunted, and recognize "Buck Fever" adrenalin as a very real compromise to judgement and aim.
I thought about this as well as it pertains to this situation. I think the urgency of the situation would push me to a reasonably close shot to factor out a miss. If I had to shoot that is. Like others have stated, hopefully he would have stopped once confronted by a gun.
I thought about this as well as it pertains to this situation. I think the urgency of the situation would push me to a reasonably close shot to factor out a miss. If I had to shoot that is. Like others have stated, hopefully he would have stopped once confronted by a gun.
I saw no indication at all in the reports that he was hampered by any level of rational thought and function.
Well, he did stop when the police arrived.
Domestic stuff is cops' least favorite, because people often make no sense at all and are radically unpredictable.
Not as terrifying as when the guy came in and shot and killed his wife/girlfriend at the Beaver Creek Target several years ago. I had JUST left the store not 20 minutes before that happened and my mom's next door neighbor was there and ran to hide in the stockroom.
For those of you who are all pro-gun, read this story: Police: Man's gun goes off, kills him in Raleigh parking lot :: WRAL.com. Go ahead and tell me how you receive training on the proper handling of a firearm and need to certify periodically and that this would never happen to someone following proper protocol. And yet....
I've never confronted a machete-wielding person but I have been in situations where someone was being attacked and what I've learned is that you never know what you're going to do until confronted with that decision.
And this has nothing to do with the current state of affairs in Cary, not sure what the OP was suggesting by advising us to "stay safe". It's still silly safe as far as neighborhoods go and I wouldn't lose a second of sleep worrying about being violently attacked while living or visiting there.
Go ahead and tell me how you receive training on the proper handling of a firearm and need to certify periodically and that this would never happen to someone following proper protocol. .
My training included:
The Four Rules
All guns are always loaded. (Treat them so!)
Never point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target (and you have made the decision to shoot).
Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Often posted at ranges, and it's on my Evernote! ;-)
FGS, you can't blame the public for not carrying guns on them. I will never ever own a gun. I don't care if someone else who's well-trained and certified (not certifiable) does, but for me, no way. Nor is it the public's fault some maniac with a machete went on the attack.
How many attacks on the street happen in Apex/Cary? How many are witnessed? Compare that number just to the incidences of accidental fatal gun shot wounds within families.
Pepper spray would have stopped him, a stun gun would have stopped him.
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