What to do if you are followed

[ExactlyMyPoint]

This happened to me in college...many moons ago...many, many, many moons ago.

I am walking home from class. It is about 3:30 pm, daylight, nice weather. I am in a "decent" residential neighborhood. No one else is around. I notice a seedy looking character following me a block or so away. He is getting closer but not making any sudden moves. What do you do at this point?

I guess the more general question would be is what do you do if anyone appears to be following you that you are not comfortable with?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[bluelineman]

Whatever you do, don't go home & let them see where you live. Go to a large public place, police station, well lit area, etc...

[dunndw]

+1
That's what I tell me wife to this day. If I think I'm being followed in the car (which I've never been so far) I'll do the 4 right turn thing...if they follow the "poor lost guy" driving in circles, then I'll drive to the nearest populated place, with my 1911 in my lap

[ppkheat]

Turn at the next corner, when you know he can't see you take off running (distance), turn another corner if you can and do the same thing. In other words lose him on foot whenever possible. Or turn the corner and hide near someone's property as he unknowingly passes you.

If that's not practical, and no cell phone, keep watching for a resident outside his house, they might be apprehensive about getting involved but you won't know until you ask. It's likely the BG will not stop there since he's not sure that maybe you live there, or a visitor or whatever.

Look for a convenience store, fire station, etc and stop in there, in other words be in an occupied public place if possible.

With cell phones these days you could call the police about a suspicious person. The priority/response time may be slow, but it is always possible that a leo could swing by quickly if he happened to be close.

You could always strip your shirt off, run around on all fours while snapping, slobbering, and growling at everything. That would unnerve him

[Ti Carry]

Gain as much distance as possible, change directions as many times as possible assuming that you know the area. Also, create/cause as much attention as you can, find a public place to go as the others have said, police station, firehouse, etc.

This is assuming you are not carrying. If you are just turn and unload every round in the mag on him. Yea, just kidding on that last part!


Ti

[AZ Husker]

Similar, but when I see a panhandler heading toward me, I always beat him to the punch and ask HIM for a dollar.

[MitchellCT]

Assuming you are on foot, take him to the cleaners.

Find a large mall or similar area with lots of entrances, exits, staircases, elevators, escalators, huge shops, ectra...

Wander around aimlessly for a while, then duck into a service exit or something like that and loose him.

Even better, as you are doing it, call 911 and lead the wolf to the hounds.

[Supertac45]

A few years ago, I turned and faced 3 guys that were closing in on me in a different state in a not so nice of an area. I actually took the time to explain to them that it's a nice way to get killed by a gun nut. I still believe that they had planned to strong arm me; but, decided that I might actually pull the trigger on them since I had my hands in my coat pocket and didn't remove them during my discusssion with them. They ended up in their walk moving ahead. I really don't know if I could have taken all 3 out if they had weapons, I doubt it.

[tellico]

has happened to me, more than once, when i lived in a very large city in a foreign country. Depending on the situation and the appearance of the follower, I have successfully used all of the following techniques:

1) enter a store and "browse" until they leave (once I even used my cell and called a friend to come meet me in the store and walk out with me to my destination)

2) turn around and directly approach the person (judge carefully) and in your friendliest, most sincere innocent voice, ask them a question ("do you know the time? My friend was goign to meet me at this corner at (insert current time, -5minutes) and I may be early"- NOT ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS, which would imply you may be lost, but rather implying someone is expecting you, and company is due to arrive at any second)

3) if it gets to the point you have no other good escape, run. head toward lights, towards crowds, towards a busier street. If you are pursued, their intent is crystal clear. since you are on this forum, I assume you have additional means of overcoming the situation once intent is clear.

4) pick another random person (again, use judgement) to strike up a conversation with- even telling them you are concerned about the person (describe) behind you (they automatically look) and ask if they would mind pausing for a moment to "chat"- letting the follower know they have been made, and are now possibly outnumbered or at least more people can describe them accurately should they make a stupid decision.

[Sticks]

I am one to take to opportunity of disappearing into the shadows as soon as I am out of the pursuers line of sight, and wait for them to walk by so I can get a good look at them and maybe switch the tables if needed.

[Pro2A]

This happened to me in college...many moons ago...many, many, many moons ago.

I am walking home from class. It is about 3:30 pm, daylight, nice weather. I am in a "decent" residential neighborhood. No one else is around. I notice a seedy looking character following me a block or so away. He is getting closer but not making any sudden moves. What do you do at this point?

I guess the more general question would be is what do you do if anyone appears to be following you that you are not comfortable with?

I had a similar situation happen to me when I lived in MD a few years ago. I was walking home at night from work and a few guys followed me. Well I had a feeling they were planning on mugging me. Once there were no cars they darted after me. The adrenaline kicked into high gear and off I was without even thinking about it. I ran a mile home in about a buck thirty... even after a 8 hour night at work. In situations like this your body will take over from you if you are in danger... adrenaline is an amazing thing.

[lowflyer]

I might use a lot of eye contact and pretend to talk into my collar.

[retsupt99]

Turn at the next corner, when you know he can't see you take off running (distance), turn another corner if you can and do the same thing. In other words lose him on foot whenever possible. Or turn the corner and hide near someone's property as he unknowingly passes you.

If that's not practical, and no cell phone, keep watching for a resident outside his house, they might be apprehensive about getting involved but you won't know until you ask. It's likely the BG will not stop there since he's not sure that maybe you live there, or a visitor or whatever.

Look for a convenience store, fire station, etc and stop in there, in other words be in an occupied public place if possible.

With cell phones these days you could call the police about a suspicious person. The priority/response time may be slow, but it is always possible that a leo could swing by quickly if he happened to be close.

You could always strip your shirt off, run around on all fours while snapping, slobbering, and growling at everything. That would unnerve him

Assuming 'exactlymypoint' is a guy......if not, additional problems may be encountered.

[Pete Zaria]

I think, like most of the scenarios posted here, the proper response depends on the exact situation.

If I'm being followed on foot in an urban environment with lots of people nearby, I'll probably wander into a well-populated store or square and verbally confront the follower, unless I have reason to believe he's crazy or etc...
If there's a police station nearby, I'm going there. If he has the balls to follow me inside, we'll chat in the lobby.

If there aren't many people around, I'd be going into a much more tactical mindset. If worst came to worst (AKA, no good chance/route for escape) I'd try to set the guy up with a nice backstop behind him (like a brick wall) and then confront as necessary.

How does the situation change if you're being followed in a car?
I've been followed in a vehicle twice before. Once I suspected I was being followed, I made four quick, random turns to see if the person really WAS following me, and both times they were.
The first time I drove several blocks over to my local PD and parked out front, and the dude following me didn't stop.
The second time, I'm not proud to say, I outran the guy. It was on a back road late at night, he was in an old pickup truck and I was in a Lexus. Looking back, stupid move.

How would you handle it differently in a car?

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

[SonofASniper]

How would you handle it differently in a car?

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

If you have a cell phone, call the police and tell them where you are. The dispatcher will help guide you to patrollers nearby. Be ready in case things turn ugle before you can trap the bad guy.


As far as the original question, I think you got some great responses. The only thing I could think of was suddenly turning around and running straight at the suspect shouting something like "Mad Dog Mad Dog!" or "He's got a gun!"

I am curiouse as to what the end result was.