Defensive Carry banner

I sure do wish I had something on me..

2K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  BikerRN 
#1 ·
I go to college in Northern Colorado, UNC. In early May of this year I was loading up my car to go biking with my girlfriend and I started walking out of the parking lot behind by apartment building to go make sure I had everything I needed. I have always made it a habit of checking back over my shoulder when I head in since I've been up here going to school (3 full years as of this story). Greeley isn't the best place to live, lots of gangs and crime.

So I look over my shoulder and see these two people walking between the cars and the fence on the far side of the parking lot. It is pretty warm out, about 70 degrees and these guys have jeans and hoodies on and I start thinking, what the.. I hesitate for a second thinking what they are doing and then he switches the gun in his hands displaying it for me to see. At this point they are approximately 15 feet away from me and I finally see what he is carrying. It is a sawed off single shot shotgun, most likely 12 by the size of the shells on the speedloader and the bore of it.

At this point I think oh ****. I'm gonna die right here. They demand my money which I have none of and don't carry cash I don't have, and I tell them I don't have any money. This guy is so afraid he is visibly shaking. Not trembling, I mean his finger is on the trigger and he has like a 1/4 inch jump in his hands he is shaking so bad. When I told him I didn't have what he wanted he began to walk away and his accomplice tells him to just take my wallet. So they take my wallet and say some tough guy crap, "don't call the cops (ya right buddy) and don't be f***'in around in this neighborhood." So they turn around and take off. I immediately call 911 and lock myself in the apartment and get a weapon and keep it close. SIX MINUTES LATER a SWAT team and hordes of officers show up blanketing the entire block. I give them the whole story and so on..

Anyway the stupid kids got caught a few days later because later that day they hit an ice cream man (how much money can one have?) and the ice cream man gets a vehicle description and half of the license plate of the getaway car. They are arrested in there high school. One of them was 17 the other 18, 17 year old was one with the gun.

GET THIS-The police search the house of the 18 year old and find nothing. They want to search the 17 year old's house but can't get a warrant because he is a minor. He possessed a felony weapon and committed a felony assault and they couldn't search his home. The cops call me and ask for more details if I can and I come up with a few related to the gun. The only reason they got the warrant is because I could remember so many details about the gun itself.

In the end they got reamed with charges and are going to jail.

It is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. All I can say is I am getting a concealed weapon permit and I will be carrying MACE at all times.

Oh ya, I lived a block off of campus, and this took place at 4 pm while school was still in session.
 
See less See more
#15 ·
....
Since when can't a warrant be secured on a juveniles home? I do it on a regular basis. Interesting.
That's a new one on me.
 
#7 ·
yup, believe it or not. it was a full out SWAT team. They had the whole block canvassed with body armor and assault weapons and the vans and all. I was told that they did not have enough evidence to search both houses until I gave them the little bit more information that I was able to give. There have been gang vs student assaults before, the police don't react lightly to it anymore.

The bottom line is I'm not really sure that I could have done anything to prevent it, and I don't know that drawing would really have done me any good, it just would have made me feel a little better knowing that I had the option. Not having the option is not a good feeling.
 
#8 ·
A short 12 gauge at close range is bad news on the receiving end even bird shot can be deadly. Even if you were armed and very very good with out luck or blessings or just real skill your chances of winning the fight would be slim. Glad you are still with us and the BG are off the street I hope.
 
#9 ·
Probably a good thing you were not armed. You can not draw against a scatter gun already 'on you'.
oldogy
 
#10 ·
Congrats for staying alive.

That in itself is a task, and accomplishment.

Beyond that I agree with your conclusion; EDC OC/CS at a minimum as cheap insurance.

As to being on or near a campus, that means nothing in the real world.
I don't understand why it is people think/assume that college campuses are some how immune to crime. They are nothing more than small towns of people at the low end and whole cities of population (i.e. University of MD College Park where I went to school) for larger schools...and they are rife with crime from petty larceny and assaults to kidnappings, rape, and murder.
Just like any other place with a population greater than two.

Stay safe.

- Janq
 
#11 ·
Much like an Emergency Aircraft Landing, ANY series of events that result in walking away are...perfect. Narrowing excaping with your hide intact is almost as fortunate as not having the experience at all. Congrats on your luck, let's hope it continues!
 
#12 ·
You probably got SWAT because that wasn't their first rodeo, either that or SWAT was out playing nearby and figured they'd hit the jackpot with your call.

I think I'd be more afraid of a nervous armed thief that I would a professional.
 
#13 ·
Janq-

The reason that I am somewhat in shock with the amount of crime that goes on around the school is that there is both a Greeley police force and a UNC police force. That is a lot of patrolling cops, and apparently that isn't helping the gang situation. It seems as if nothing is being done, especially with all the things you hear about people being followed and harassed. I have had people drive up to me before and ask if I wanted to buy drugs, right off the road in the middle of the day. You report it to the cops and they don't even come to talk to you, they just request a written statement. My point is that a university setting SHOULD be safer, I realize that it is infact not any safer than the area around it but is ridiculous.
 
#14 ·
Cass,

My statement wasn't directed at you specifically, but as in general toward peoples attitudes about colleges and universitys.

Every place has town/city police plus county sheriff (!) plus state police layering, never mind college/university police.
Thing is police are not posted on every corner and alley way at every hallway and room and stairwell. It's just not possible to do...AND...people don't want it anyway, lest they live in a 'police' state.

University and college areas are no more 'safe' or have any greater police presence than most any other place of equal population nor should they be, considering they are not prisoner populations.

- Janq
 
#16 ·
After looking into mace and pepper spray, I decided to go with pepper spray. Seems that fewer people are "immune" to it. Some folks just are not phased by the ingredients in the chemical sprays. Just something to think about. Anything is better than nothing. Just do some research on the two and decide what is best for you. I went with the Fox labs "personal Pocket Unit". Glad it worked out for you.
 
#18 ·
Research Wasp and Hornet spray as an inexpensive alternative to pepper spray and mace. Can is larger but would fit in back pack. Fires a stream to around 20 feet and been told if placed in eyes or mouth area will take a trip to ER for antidote. Really nasty stuff and a good defense weapon for dorm room use. Do the research before trusting your life with it.
 
#21 ·
youngda-

What do you suggest I work on as far as SA? I have been and was conscious of it yet it still happened.. I saw them as early as I could have, there really was just nothing I could have done to react in a retreating manner. The only other thing I can think that I could have done was straight up run away. I chose that I was not faster than bullets and there was no usable cover so I would just give them what they want and hope, yes I know hope is not a plan or a good reaction, for the best outcome possible(surviving).

Basically I agree that I must improve in my SA, but I'm not really sure how, in retrospect, I could have been much more preventative.

I'm open for suggestions from everyone if you've got one!
 
#24 ·
If the TC was armed, could he have waited til they turned around to leave, and then draw and fire upon them? (I personally don't think a wallet is worth it, but in theory, could he have?)

I ran across this in an article last week. (Obviously it applies to TX.)

In addition to the many situations in which it allows deadly force in self-defense, Texas law allows deadly force in defense of property if:

* The person reasonably believes force is necessary to prevent another from taking the property or to recover it once taken (if in fresh pursuit); and
* when the person reasonably believes deadly force is necessary to prevent someone from committing arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime, or to prevent a person from fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime; and
* the person reasonably believes that the property can't be recovered by any other means, and that using less than deadly force might expose the person to substantial risk of bodily harm or death.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top