18 Dec CASE STUDY: Playing The Bad Guy’s Game
The other day I shared a video on our Facebook Page of a concealed carrier doing an excellent job dealing with some Persons or Suspects (POS’) that were trying to rob a convenience store.
Let’s just say it did not go well for the POS’….
I wanted to expand upon that video and do a more comprehensive breakdown of what occurred and why I think that it is awesome.
Here’s the video. Watch it first and then we will do the breakdown:
Concealed Carrying Man Stops Armed Robbery in Progress!
Posted by Police on Sunday, December 13, 2015
This situation is a foot long crap sammich…. Here are some things to consider:
- Bad guys have the advantage of numbers and element of surprise
- Good guy has tactical advantage of carrying a concealed firearm and isn’t known to have one yet.
- At least one armed suspect, second POS is an unknown as to weapons
- MULTIPLE friendlies.
- Unknown if there is a third (or more) POS
Playing the Bad Guy’s Game
At first the concealed carrier submits and gives in to the POS’ demands. This is a critical step as he is buying time and seeing how things shake out. Without sound its difficult to determine what is being said, if anything at all but I’m sure something along the lines of “don’t kill me” was the topic of conversation.
Situational Awareness: Scan and Assess!
Our intrepid concealed carrier now has to think about his next course of action….
Again, without hearing the conversation, it is hard to determine if there is a reason to escalate or try to let it roll. Here the license holder checks for the position of any friendlies and somewhere to go when things start getting weird.
When a Door Opens…. Walk Through It!
Look… if the POS serves up a softball… knock it out of the park. In this frame we see the attention of the POS’ being divided across too many people.
They got greedy and tried to maximize their profits.
Realizing this the concealed carrier turns his body away to shield his gun and begins the draw stroke.
Things are about to get real here! The concealed carrier has decided to rain some pain on these mutts so here we go!
Who Gets Served First?
Naturally the bad guy with the gun needs to be handled first as he is the greatest known threat. The closest POS may or may not be armed, but we will deal with him later.
The concealed carrier does an excellent job of getting his gun out of the holster and engaging the threat with an effective shot(s) on bad guy 1, while bad guy 2 is still waiting on his loot from the cash drawer.
As soon as the first POS is taken down, his buddy decided to beat feet out of there. The concealed carrier got a second shot off at him with unknown effect. The great thing is though….
THE CONCEALED CARRIER MOVED.
In the video he moves off line and away from the line of sight of bad guy number 1 in order to get a good shot on bad guy number 2.
This pleases me greatly and is one of the number one things we cover in our Defensive Handgun and Use of Force | Concealed Carry | Home Defense courses.
He who stands still in a gunfight, will get shot. He who gets shot, may die. Don’t stand still. – Me.
It behooves you to move…. Get off of the train tracks and look for additional work.
Would this Shooting Be Justified in Massachusetts?
Learn the Use of Force laws in Massachusetts, How to Defend Your Home, and Concealed Carry Skills!
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Next Class is Jan 2 in North Attleboro MA
POST SHOOTING: Things to Consider
The concealed carrier does a great job of getting the weapon away from the POS on the ground and continually scanning for additional threats. You can’t argue with this guy’s ability to defend himself. It’s not over until its over and he stayed heads up and in the fight.
Well done sir. Well done.
Final Thoughts
This situation is pretty much textbook. You have to do whatever you can do to get inside of the POS’ OODA loop and be sure to take advantage of an opening if it arises… provided that it makes tactical sense to do so.
Don’t be a receiver… be a feeder – Kyle Defoor
Leave us a comment on how you think he did below in the comment box!
Jon
Posted at 09:49h, 18 DecemberBob, I like your breakdown but one thing bothers me about that video. I question the second shot at the back of the running POS, it looked like he was already out the door. Where did that bullet go? It does not look like it hit the runner.
Keith K.
Posted at 11:05h, 18 DecemberI don’t beleive he should have fired that shot at the guy running out the door. That would tend to get you in trouble in Mass. The guy running out the door did not appear to be armed or at least wasnt holding a gun in the video (from what I could see). Shooting an unarmed robber in the back. Not good.
Rick
Posted at 09:28h, 19 DecemberI agree: the shot at the fleeing BG was a no-no (unless he was an off-duty cop & had identified as such (fleeing felon and all)). The defender did a nice job under stress!
Rob Curran
Posted at 02:05h, 20 DecemberFleeing felon rule requires that the fleeing felon must present a substantial risk to public safety (armed etc) which would qualify them to be shot by a CCW holder either way.
Rob Curran
Posted at 02:03h, 20 DecemberTwo things on the shooting of bad guy #2:
1. We can’t tell specifically if the suspect did or did not have a weapon. The video isn’t clear enough to tell whether or not he communicated that he was armed.
2. Validity of second shoot: Jump ball. It will come down (at least to a jury) as to whether or not the defender could reasonably articulate that he, or an innocent person, was in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death if he did not act in the manner he did.
These situations develop quickly and move fast… bad guy #2 beat feet pretty quick and the shooter could have been firing before/as he started to move. Again… jump ball on bad guy #2.