[QKShooter]

Here is one to make you put your thinking cap on. :blink:

I like to post these strange actual rather than fictitious scenarios every once in a while.

Here is what we know from reading the story below.
All of those that were shot survived. BUT, depending on where exactly you were hit - there is a remote possibility that you may not. I'm best guessing that any dart that could penetrate 2" into a thigh muscle could possibly pass between ribs and penetrate the heart. Also and obviously a hit to the eye and it's likely that you'll be blinded in that eye.
We also (according to the info provided below) do not know if the blow gun shooter "tipped" his darts with anything possibly poisonous or infectious.

Do you respond with deadly force. As far as I know there is no existing legal precedent set for responding to a dart attack with deadly force.


Four Hit With Blow Darts in Delaware
AOL News

filed under: Crime News, National News

(Aug. 12) -- Authorities in Delaware are investigating a recent series of blow dart attacks in which four people have been injured.
One official described the attacks as "a scene from an Indiana Jones movie."

The first report came Tuesday morning from cyclist Dan Wilson, who said he was shot in the thigh with a dart while riding his bike, according to a report from NBC Philadelphia.

Wilson was not badly hurt, but said the dart was lodged over two inches into his leg.

After hearing reports of Wilson's attack, a woman came forward to say she was hit in the neck with a blow dart while biking on Monday.

Both Wilson and the woman said they noticed a white pickup truck driving by at the time of the incidents.

The case grew stranger Wednesday with the report of two more blow dart attack victims.
One of the victims, a 17-year-old, was hit in the hand and the injury will require surgery, WPVI-TV reported.

WPVI reported the fourth person had been hit by a blow dart, but did not have further details on the incident.
Both of the latter attacks allegedly occurred before Wilson was shot, but the victims only came forward after seeing news reports on the incident.

"This has to be one of the strangest incidents of late and in the years I've been a state trooper I've never seen anything like this," Jeffrey Whitmarsh, of the Delaware State Police, said.
Police are investigating but have few suspects or leads in the case.

 

[Saber]

A blow dart device can be lethal so if one was pointed at me and I had no other recourse, I would shoot.
Regards,

 

[dnowell]

I don't care whether they attack me with a blowgun, weed whacker, 2x4, or a sock full of rocks. Attack with a weapon = bang bang bang...

However, it sounds like these were more or less random attacks. If someone wants to hit you and runs away afterward, you can't do a whole lot about it. I certainly wouldn't shoot someone in the back after they attacked me, even if they had it coming.

 

[jumpwing]

I wouldn't want to get hit with one that had been smeared with feces or infected blood.
The potential for lethality is there, and so is the potential for shooting back.

 

[RETSUPT99]

What kind of twisted individual is using a blow gun to shoot darts (tipped with something?) at people out on the street? There is no shortage of 'crazies' roaming our streets. Now that this has happened several times to various individuals, this goes way beyond some 'dare' or 'prank'.
A weapon is a weapon...:yup:

You try 'blowing' a dart at me, you may find me 'blowing' lead back at ya'...:yup::comeandgetsome:

 

[larefugee]

Deadly weapon. Respond accordingly.

 

[QKShooter]

Well, it looks like some of those broadhead hunting type darts with the bladed tips could do some cutting damage to an artery. A neck shot could be quite serious.

The paintball gun attacks were vogue with the sicko crowd for a while - this one is a brand new wrinkle on attacking completely innocent people for no reason at all.

 

[dukalmighty]

If they are tipped with poison could be fatal,I would shoot to stop the threat,I would bet money it's some stupid punks thinking its funny,til somebody gets killed and then they are facing murder charges

 

[tbrenke]

I don't care whether they attack me with a blowgun, weed whacker, 2x4, or a sock full of rocks. Attack with a weapon = bang bang bang...

a sock full of peas = bang bang

 

[archer51]

Hopefully there won't be a bunch of copy cat attacks now. A blow gun is a deadly weapon, they are used for hunting and for protection in some parts of the world. IMO an attack with a blow gun is an attack with a lethal weapon and should be dealt with as such.

 

[David in FL]

Obviously circumstance specific, but given the extreme limitation of in effective range of a blowgun, I'd likely simply move outside of effective range and dial 911.

Just because you can respond with deadly force, doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

 

[Hopyard]

Last resort

Obviously circumstance specific, but given the extreme limitation of in effective range of a blowgun, I'd likely simply move outside of effective range and dial 911.

Just because you can respond with deadly force, doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

:congrats:

Lethal force is the last resort.

That said, I bet the folks hurt never quite knew what was happening until they were hit. Even if armed, there was nothing much they could do.

Drive by "shooting" are hard to deal with. They come out of nowhere and are gone before you can react, assuming you aren't harmed enough to prevent reaction. It would be no different if they threw a knife.

 

[Vtxdpm]

Use of deadly force to defend yourself against deadly force or great bodily harm.

An eye shot would certainly fall under the potential for 'great bodily harm' and you don't know where that shot is going to hit until it's too late. And as another has posted, who knows what those darts are tipped with.

If I could remove myself from the situation, I would. If I could not, I would defend myself to the degree possible. Same as any other defensive situation.

If you live in an area where defending yourself is likely to land you in hot water, find a way to get out of that situation too. It's one of the reasons I left PR of NJ for a free state.

 

[jbs]

i had the short, low power, blowgun when I was a kid. It would put a dart through a 3/4" piece of plywood at 50 feet. Accurate as hell too.
Deadly weapon.

 

[varob]

It's a good thing Va. just got reciprocity with Delaware.

 

[titleist]

I understand the concerns about the chemical risks involved, but the time required to reload and reacquire a target is relatively high. If they are in contact distance,take the blow gun from them and let them pray they took the front sight off (any hunters out there?). If long distance, retreat, call police. If somewhere between 20 yards and contact, put my hands on my forehead, let my forarms protect my face and throat, charge the guy, then let him pray he took the front sight off.

 

[chains1240]

I wonder how long it would take for the person to stop shooting at you after you drew your weapon. Shooting back may not be necessary?

 

[Over Actor]

Life, limb or eyesight.
If you could see someone shooting darts at you I would return fire.

 

[alexcantslee]

Thoughts

Ok, in this situation, realistically, you get hit with a dart by some punk whos run off already and is no longer a threat.

That said, I think it would be just cause for defense. Its my sincere hope that I don't sound crass but a woman has a right to protect herself against rape, to keep her body from being violated. Seems that using a sharp object to make a hole that didnt exist in the first place in someones skin with a dart would be more in that category. Rape in and of itself isnt fatal (Generally, diseases and such aside of course) but I CERTAINLY think it justifies deadly force. This dart thing is a deliberate and malicious attack on the well being of someones body.

Like I said, in the situation, not much you can do a bout it after the fact but it certainly seems like you should be able to defend yourself after being attacked.

Alex!

 

[Bark'n]

Blow dart in the chest doesn't have to hit the heart to be lethal. The lungs expand right up against the ribcage and if a dart goes between the intercostal space between the ribs, you can certainly get a "pneumothorax." (Collapsed lung) A traumatic pneumothorax is always considered a life threatening injury.

Of course there are also other lethal wounds which could be made by a dart. Especially with some of those broad heads. In the neck; the carotid artery, internal & external jugular veins are all vulnerable. Shot in the upper chest around the collar bone area, again you have the lung as well as subclavian vein and the subclavian artery are also very vulnerable.

All of the blood vessels I have mentioned are major vessels which can cause death in a matter of a couple minutes (depending on how severely they are damaged) and some of them are difficult to control and stop the bleeding. None of them are areas you can use a tourniquet on to stop the bleeding.

Obviously, shot in the eye causing loss of vision is considered a "grave or crippling" injury.

I think it can be safe to say that a blow gun can be realistically and legally considered a deadly weapon.

Now, anyone taking any of Ayoob's classes knows about unscrupulous prosecutors who try to say shooting someone with a knife who was 10 or 20 feet away was a heinous and depraved crime of cold blooded murder and do prosecute people for that. And we all know that is pure bunk!

So one can only assume that an unscrupulous prosecutor will try and say the blow gun was just as innocuous a weapon as some guy who only had a "pocket knife" and try and say you were unwarranted in shooting.

You'll have to attack that accusation the same way you would for shooting a knife wielding attacker.

Now there are those who may say, the range on a blow gun is such that you can avoid it by getting further out of the way... Really?

Exactly what is the range of a blow gun? Do you know? Is that range set in stone? Can you assure me that at XX feet, a blow gun can no longer maim or blind someone?

As far as I'm concerned, a blow gun used in an assault is a deadly weapon and warrants a lethal force response.

YMMV