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Drive By

2K views 26 replies 17 participants last post by  RETSUPT99 
#1 ·
This question has probably been asked here before, but if it has, I can't find it. I know that laws vary from state to state, but I would like to know what you would do in the event of a drive-by shooting.

Assume for this scenario that you have done nothing to provoke such an attack, but for whatever reason (wrong house, random gang initiation, whatever) a group of individuals in a vehicle drive by your home, slow down and start firing towards you and your home. There are multiple shooters, but no way to know if everyone in the vehicle is an active participant. You are in a position to return fire if you so choose. What would you do, and why?

Aside from "better tried by 12 than carried by 6" and the civil litigation that would likely result from any defensive shooting (unless prohibited by state law), what legal concerns come to mind?
 
#2 ·
If I can see those guns come up, even if I happen to be in a good position to return fire, I'm going to run for cover!!!! I'm going to try to put as many walls and objects between myself and that car as I can. They got the drop on me and I doubt I'll be able to do anything productive except unaimed return fire.
 
#3 ·
Well I just stay inside and call the police, A drive by is just that, they drive by and shoot as they go, then they are gone. Get the police looking for them and if no one was hurt, make the report and then the repairs. Just be more alert and hope it doesn't happen again.
 
#4 ·
Yep, I'd take cover. If it's a drive-by shooting they'll drive by. If they stop, and I thought I could engage them effectively from my cover, I would shoot.

The only legal concerns I would have are the usual (eg. ricochets, over-penetration). It would be a justified shooting and if an "innocent" person in the car was injured or killed by one of my bullets, one or all of the shooters in the car would be held responsible for it, dead or alive.
 
#5 ·
I would most certainly take cover. To engage at the moment would be suicidal. They most likely will drive by. If for some reason they chose to stop and continued to engage me, I would continue to retreat under cover and choose my individual battles to defend myself where I will have the advantage. If this were at my house, I would try to plan my retreat route in such a way as to safeguard my family and gain access to my long guns if possible. Granted that is speaking very optimistic in a horrible situation. I would have no legal concerns at that moment. Survival is primary, attorneys are for afterwards.

Retreat is never a bad option. A retired trooper once imparted this piece of wisdom to me: "Better to retreat and stay alive. You can always bring the army back with you tomorrow."
 
#6 ·
If no immediate cover I'm dropping to the ground and crawling towards the closest cover/and concealment I can find. Hitting a moving target is tough enough with out the adrenaline dump I may draw but shooting at a target that's fleeing the scene would violate the must attempt to flee law here.
 
#7 ·
I would take cover. If you shoot back you will give them a reason to come back. This might have been a random act. Theres also the chance of hitting another house or person in your neighborhood.
Call 911 and get the police involved.Do your best to get a description of the car involved. I know what you really want to do, but throwing a handgernade is illegal
 
#8 ·
cover, call 911.
EVERYONE in the vehicle is an active participant, in a drive by unless they are strapped in a car seat they are active participants.
Returning fire is pointless unless they stop in front of your house or you have a rifle in your pocket, they would be fleeing at that point and the threat has pasted.
 
#10 ·
they would be fleeing at that point and the threat has pasted.
I disagree, as long as rounds are coming in my direction the threat is still very real. However the idea of standing there and returning fire is suicidal!! There are 100's of variables here, location being a huge one. I agree with others take cover as best you can and try and get a good description, most of the time the car will be stolen anyway. Returning fire is usually not a possibility, by the time you realize what is going on and jump for cover it is probably about over. Usually Gang Bangers aren't a very good shot, they use the spray and pray type of tactics. This is why so many innocent people get killed in these types of shootings. Opening yourself up to AK47 rounds is usually not a good idea. Again 100's of variables that would change my reaction one way or the other. Glad I moved from LA to NC years ago. A drive by shooting here in the country, involves a bright light and a 30-06 and a large field in the fall.
 
#9 ·
As everyone else has said already, drop and go for cover. I came from a neighborhood in a major city that had this stuff happen all the time (thank God never specifically at my house). You tend to get accustomed to getting ready to hit the floor the second any vehicle drops to 15 mph or slower on your street. There's really no use in calling 9-1-1, either. I can guarantee you that there are plenty of people up to a mile away that are calling it in... All at the same time.

Cheers.
 
#11 ·
Take cover unless they stop.

If they stop, we're going to have a gunfight, and I'm not pulling a damn pistol to duel with their nines.

I'm getting inside, to one of my (kept loaded) long guns (Mosin, probably).

If they stay long enough for me to bust out a window or get back outside, if they live through it, they're going to regret hanging around.

"Ivan" oughtta take care of the situation, whether it be by bullet hitting the cretins, by muzzle blast incinerating the cretins, by muzzle blast melting down their car, by muzzle blast spraying them with fragments of glass, by bayonet impaling the cretins, by rifle butt cracking cretin skull, or by any combination thereof.
 
#12 ·
In my 'hood' ... I live down a half mile, private, dirt road. The house is 200 feet from the road. Nearest house is a good 400+ feet away, on the other side of the hill.

Anyone coming down that road would have to turn around at the end of my property and come back. If I have time I'm running for the house, and getting one of my long guns in preparation for the return trip or support of my neighbors at the end of the road. If I don't feel I can return fire with a reasonable chance of hitting one or two of them, I'm using the cell phone to call the neighbors at the head of the road.
 
#13 ·
I'd do the ol' "fire drill" - stop, drop and roll. I'd be trying to put as much cover as possible between myself and the bullets coming my way...
 
#14 ·
Here's a variant scenario to up the stakes a little bit:


Say that there's an SUV full of whomever, and they open fire at your house. You manage to dive in time, and are unscathed. but even when you no longer hear shattering and bullets wizzing past you, you hear gunfire continue down your street, and shattering sounds of glass being hit from your neighbors' homes. You look outside and the SUV is slowly creeping down the street, lighting up every house on the block (maybe they just knew the general area of their target's residence?). Your neighborhood at large is in peril. What do you do?
 
#15 ·
Ooh...nice, devilish twist. What a dilemma: Fear of the law vs. ability to prevent harm.

My answer is partly influenced by location. If it's in my town, where I presently live, I grab the Mosin and start blasting at those cretins.

Neither the local PD, DA or any jury around here would convict me of squat if I could prove they were shooting every house on the block, including mine.

If I live in San Francisco or some other Shullbit location, I obediently dial 9-1-1 and go smoke pot or whatever they do out there...
 
#16 ·
Yes, very nice twist. ;O) I'd probably be in with randytulsa2, I'd start shooting. Grab my .223 and start taking shots. If they're just randomly shooting everywhere then it because a threat to the general public rather than just me or the "mistaken house". At that point they've just made themselves moving targets.

Cheers.
 
#17 ·
Well with the twisted version and them still shooting down the block, either the 30.06 or the .270 would accompany me to the front porch and from behind the old oaks that are about 40inches in diameter, there would be some target practice while they rolled down the road. Unless they were driving an auto that was armor plated, they would quickly get the message they were not welcome in my neighborhood.
 
#22 ·
With the 30.06, or .270, I would not be aiming at the the engine block. If they were past my house and moving down the block, I would be aiming at heads in the vehicle. Stopping the vehicle is not what I would be trying to do, that just makes them stick around longer to shoot more. I would be stopping the trigger muscles of the occupants.
 
#24 ·
Dear God I wouldn't shoot to disable the vehicle. That would be like one hound dog trying to corner a half dozen bears. The hounddog is going to lose. :twak:

I would grab my long guns. I have two nice .308's that are just dandy tack drivers. One is zeroed at 100, the next at 200. Shoot to kill. They will get the message very quickly.
 
#25 ·
Once the long guns are broken out, you're looking at a relative disparity of force. The people in the car are technically better-armed, but statistically speaking, criminals in general (and especially those involved in drive-bys) are atrocious marksmen. If you're engaging them at 50 yards or more, the odds begin to stack remarkably in your favour if you're a decent shot with a rifle.

So I think in this situation, assuming you have long guns to use, you would have a good chance to stop the threat.
 
#26 ·
Good News !

In the 'twisted' version... Continuing to fire would be reasonable grounds to assume they were still in commission of a forcible felony ( at least in my neck of the woods ), and I'd have free ticket to return fire.

Run for the house, tell the wife to call the neighbors and THEN 911, fire up the WSM .300 and go to town from cover. I'm a pretty damn good shot, with the scope set for 200 yards I don't think many will be making it back up my road. I'm fairly sure the .300 will penetrate both sides of the vehicle ( and whatever was in between ).
 
#27 ·
Time To Use The AR...

Mr. BushMaster with a EO Tech Holographic Scope would be talking to this particular vehicle...

These types of incidents usually don't seem to last very long. Take cover...stay low...

OMO

ret:comeandgetsome:
 
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