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What would you recommend in this scenario...

5K views 51 replies 28 participants last post by  howlnmad 
#1 ·
My wife and I recently watched a Forensic episode that chronicled a crime in Canada where a perp killed a young man and woman (raped her) and then killed an older person in the house. The crime started as the young couple (out in the front yard) were approached by the perp. Suddenly he grabbed the woman and held a knife to her throat. The young man complied with the perps demands, all three went into the house... the rest is history.
After watching the show I told my wife I think the young man should have ran like hell, screaming at the top of his lunges (it was a residential area) the moment he realized the perps intent. Even if the perp would have killed the woman at least only one dead rather than 3. I also think there is even money that the perp could have been frightened off at that point. My wife thinks the young man should have immediately lunged at the perp in the hope he would have been surprised and discombobulated him enough to run.
Any thoughts on this???
 
#2 ·
I didn't see the episode, so not sure the exact scenario. BUT, I always Conceal carry and will never give up my weapon no matter who is being threatened. Nothing can end well if only the bad guy has a weapon and or the upper hand.
In the movies, you always see the good guy giving his weapon up when someone is threatened. That is the last thing I would do.
So to answer your question, I would pull my pistol and give the bad guy the chance to drop his knife. If he doesn't, his next move will decide who lives or dies.
 
#3 · (Edited)
It's easy to Monday Night Quarterback - maybe not so much if you are right there in a real situation.

First off - any time someone leads you from where you are into another place - it isn't likely to end well. Like someone forced into a trunk of a car, into a building, into a van - any of that is a pretty sure sign of really bad things to come.

Running like hell is an option. Pulling out your conceal carry and sending the SOB to hell is a better option. You aren't likely to 'frighten off' someone with the intent of murder and rape.

Related to this scenario: You ever read the book or see the movie "The Onion Field"? I had a Professor way back in my school days who was on the LAPD and personally knew both Officers. Long story - but very short it goes 2 Perps got the got the drop on a LAPD Cop. The Perps demanded that the 2nd Officer lay down his revolver 'lest they shoot the 1st Officer. The 2nd Officer complied, so the Perps had BOTH Officers prisoner, took them out to the Boonies and executed one, but the other Cop managed to escape in the dark. Good, true story.

Moral of the story: No matter what, never surrender you weapon to save a friend or a loved one. You will only BOTH likely die if you do.
 
#8 ·
I would rather die fighting then let someone take me into the house and put a bullet in me. I would like to think I would have charged him and a fight to the death ensued. The reality though would probably be different. Not having had a gun pointed at me I don't know, but it's a good question.
 
#13 ·
If the perp has a gun and you have a gun, then the answer is simple.
Shoot the hostage first and then shoot the perp.
Before you say I am nuts, think about it. What can a perp do with a wounded hostage?
You are nuts. You may not have a wounded hostage, you may have a dead hostage. Then you are going away for a long time and have a dead wife.
 
#14 ·
Well in our neck of the woods any unknown person approaching us is told to stand still or back off before in reach.
Second any idiot that threatened Mama would be on their own! Mama stays at a low boil most all the time when we have to go anywhere and she is MEAN!
Third if she ask for my assistance then what are they going to do to me that ain't either already been done or at least attemptted to be done?
Fourth if no one had a weapon except the idiot then well two full rehab powerchairs weighing about 350 to 500lbs each rolling over them might cause them to rethink their attack.
 
#17 ·
To para-phrase the guy with the German accent in those Mexican beer commercials "I don't always carry my PPK, and even when I don't, I always carry my Buck 110". My old Buck folder is as much of my clothes as my skivvies or my socks. I might very well loose in a knife fight, but the other guy will know he was in a fight when it is over.
 
#18 ·
A one-sided knife fight is a bad option, but going in the house with an armed assailant is worse. So much depends on training and physical ability. I've had lots of hand to hand training and I've been in fights (notably one evening in a bar in Manila I told some sailors that the Marines were the Men's Department of the Navy...but that's another story.) Nevertheless at least I know if I go down I'll get some licks in and my wife can run away. No way do I voluntarily surrender a weapon or comply with orders to go to another location, even inside my own home, with an armed assailant.
 
#33 ·
I've been in fights (notably one evening in a bar in Manila I told some sailors that the Marines were the Men's Department of the Navy...but that's another story.)
I will have to pass that one along to my dad. He will have a good laugh.

To the OP, no way in heck am I going down like that. I'll die with my boots on long before I live on my knees.
 
#23 ·
The game is on before the creep is up on the porch. That is where it is won or lost. If someone approaches the porch, stand up and block the entrance with your presence as you are addressing him. You won't have to say anything, your body language says it all. Any move to go through you will by necessity be an aggressive action and full self defense is justified.
 
#25 ·
Bad situation, tough decisions and no real good outcome. Anything you do (including nothing) is likely to get yourself or a family member killed.
The obvious solution is not to get in the situation in the first place. But that's not the question. Question is, you are in this predicament, now what?
Screaming while standing your ground has some merit. Draw attention. Not what BG wants. Depending on physical strength, rushing the attacker is an option. But the wife is probably going to die. Maybe you too. Complying and going inside is definitely out of the question though.
 
#26 ·
Just the other night while filling my truck up I was approached by a man carrying a paper from his "nephews" funeral. He states that him and his dad drove down from Corpus Christi for his "nephews" funeral and now have no gas money or money to eat on to get home. Now I may have been less irritated if I had not seen them 2 weeks ago pulling the same stunt at a station about 5 miles away. Anyways, the guy started to approach me and when I told him that was close enough he stopped. He gave me his spill and I told him that I didn't have any cash. He proceeded to tell me that anything would help him and his poor dad out. I asked how long does he think his scam would work and that I had seen him not 2 weeks earlier doing the same scam at a different station. He got MAD and started towards me in a threatening mannor stating that he only needed a dollar or 2. I don't know why I didn't conceal my pistol that night but I didn't. All I had was the gas nozzle in my hand and a bic lighter in my pocket so I pulled the lighter out and pointed the nozzle towards him stating one more step ******* and I would turn you into candle. He immediately stopped and after a second or 2 he took off in a sprint back to the van he pulled up in and literally burned rubber out of the parking lot. Lesson learned for me, I won't ever leave home without my pistol. Sometimes we're lucky enough to get off with a warning from the big man upstairs, we all need to take it and learn from it.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Canada eah?? No gun!! If it was MY WIFE and some SOB went after her with a knife, I would do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in my power to make sure she ended up safe. I may get cut in the process BUT, at least I tried.
Once she was free, she knows where the gun is. We live out in the country so ANYBODY coming down the driveway that I don't know/recognize is suspect and it's only a matter of a few steps and we'll be armed.;)

Did have an older black man ask me for a couple of $$ as we got out of the car to have breakfast at a local restaurant. Some crap about just getting out of the hospital and needing bus fare to get home? Wouldn't have been much of a job to knock the crap out of him so I gave him a couple of $$. (out of the goodness of my heart) Thinking back, mistake on my part. Should have known better, but...:rolleyes: He didn't even bother to say Thank You when I handed the couple of $$ to him and said "You're Welcome" as he walked away.. Live and learn.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Why, oh why, would anyone let a stranger just walk up to them in a situation like this one. Here, at home, I'm always armed. But if I lived in Canada where it's much harder to get, and carry a gun, then I've always got a knife on me some where. I can't run, even if I wanted to, and there is no way I would leave my wife in the hands of a man with a knife. So the fight is on! I may not win that fight, but I can die knowing I was doing all I could to save my wife. That being said, things might not have worked out any different, but the BG would know the true meaning of determination! If he has a knife to my wife's throat, then that exposed hand, wrist, and forearm would become my first target!
 
#34 ·
I'd never be in that situation, a perp would have to walk down the driveway to get to the gate in the fenced yard, before he could open the gate two pitbulls are going to be on him like flies on poop.

If he should manage to reach a potential hostage he is going to be occupied stopping the blood and prying open Lolo and Weinie's jaws to do much else besides scream for help.

They are very, very protective of their Mamma.
 
#35 ·
It seems to me the assumption is the bad guy walks up, looking like a bad guy, and puts the knife to the womans neck.

Question? He might have come up saying his car broke down or he had a lost child etc....
That would tend to have people drop their guard.

Also action beats reaction. A knife the the throat, I believe, is almost and instant death or serious life threatening injury. Unless you can draw aim and fire ensuring a CNS shot in a couple seconds there will be death or injury to the hostage.
 
#39 ·
I don't care if it's the JW's, nobody gets a free pass here. If I don't know you I'm on Red Alert instantly. Anyone that I don't know is trouble, as far as I'm concerned, until they prove otherwise. This is my property, and you don't belong here unless invited. If I haven't invited you, you are suspect!
 
#37 ·
My wife and I recently watched a Forensic episode that chronicled a crime in Canada where a perp killed a young man and woman (raped her) and then killed an older person in the house. The crime started as the young couple (out in the front yard) were approached by the perp. Suddenly he grabbed the woman and held a knife to her throat. The young man complied with the perps demands, all three went into the house... the rest is history.
After watching the show I told my wife I think the young man should have ran like hell, screaming at the top of his lunges (it was a residential area) the moment he realized the perps intent. Even if the perp would have killed the woman at least only one dead rather than 3. I also think there is even money that the perp could have been frightened off at that point. My wife thinks the young man should have immediately lunged at the perp in the hope he would have been surprised and discombobulated him enough to run.
Any thoughts on this???
"Run like Hell" ????? Too bad the perp didn't catch you and let the girl live.
 
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