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Archive for August, 2010

Trading up

So a man gets robbed, and the robbers get his cell phone. But he got the robber’s gun. Nice trade.

While we do teach weapon disarms in some of our courses here at Force Management Academy, keep in mind that even those who train to do this consider a high risk move. Of course if someone has a gun pointed at you, the risks are already pretty high.

Story here.

A lesson in road rage

If someone cuts you off in traffic, it’s really not that big a deal. Until you make it one.

I doubt the woman in this story had any idea that her response would cause her near death, so let this be an object lesson to everyone else. If you are driving, and some moron cuts you off, or whatever, ignore it. If that is not enough, for Pete’s sake, don’t pull into a dead end or a parking lot, and whatever you do DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR.

Call 911 on your cell phone if you have one, drive to the nearest police station, or find some other means of seeking help.

Story here.

Man asks to fill water bottle, shopkeeper threatens to shoot him

In a day filled with unexpected situations, here is yet another example of “you just can’t see it coming”.

A man goes into a gas station so his girlfriend’s son can use the restroom, and asks the clerk if there is a faucet he can use to fill his water bottle. Hilarity does not ensue. When told it was for customers only, his girlfriend offers to make a purchase. The response? The man says that he is not a slave, and threatened to shoot them “in the head” while digging under the counter.

You can NEVER tell what will set people off. Training can help you know what to do when things like this happen, but can never remove the risks. A good trainer will help you avoid danger when possible, escape it when it presents itself if reasonable, and all else failing, deal with it directly.

Story here.

Shirtless man breaks into two homes

It’s a day of lucky people. This story illustrates a few “Dont’s”.

For example, when you hear a noise and the dog barking in the garage, going to check it out is not very smart. Call the police. This woman is lucky that a physical altercation and hitting the garage floor are the worst things that happened to her.

The next victim was smarter, when she saw the suspect sleeping in her bed with an open knife, she quietly called the police and that was the end of that.

While I understand it is human nature to investigate things that go bump in the night, stop to think if you have the training, tools, and backup to safely do it.

Story here.

Party crashers threaten with guns

When you confront someone, you can never be sure how they will react. No matter how careful you are to not unnecessarily cause a conflict, sometimes it happens without warning, reason, or predictable cause.

Such is the case in this story, when party crashers (4) were asked to leave, they retrieved firearms from their vehicle, proceeded to threaten people with them and even hit one person in the head with the stock of a shotgun.

Luckily, no one was killed. One wrong move by anyone at the party could have caused this to become much worse.

Part of what we teach, beyond awareness and avoidance, beyond combat skills, is the situational mindset. How to keep it together when you must. Situations like these, however rare, are why.

Story here.