Should I Help A Stranger In Trouble?

[Deanimator]

I once had a fiend who smacked a stranger for pushing a girl to the ground. She got up and went batsh!t after my buddy. She was his wife. Go figure.

Which of course doesn't mean that it wasn't an actual assault, merely that she was just one of "those" women.

I had one living above me back in the '90s. I just kept calling the cops until the boyfriend/husband kicked a cop trying to pull him in off the 6th Fl. ledge. The cop was under no illusions that the guy "loved" HIM and could "change". The last time I saw the wife beater, he was cuffed in the back of a squad car, slamming his head into the side window, a la "Cops". I never saw either of them again after that.

 

[telpinaro]

And how do you know it's not just too young lovers in the back of that car having rough sex? You come blazing in trying to stop their love making, you will have two very ticked off people directed toward you.

Not trying to shoot you down Telpinaro... but without the safety net of the liability insurance that cops have, and the safety net of the societal ideology that "cops were just doing their job", if we are not cops, stay out of it.

I'd ask! If it isn't rape, they'll be embarrassed (and possibly turned on if that's what they're in to), but no harm done.

And obviously, no offense taken or any feeling of being shot down. :smile: Always good to bring up more things to think about! And I should have been more specific in the first post. Basically it comes down to I won't step in to a situation without knowing exactly what's going on, and there aren't many I would anyway. But it'd be really hard to watch someone in that kind of torture, or someone trying to hurt a kid, and not do anything. Depending on the situation, of course. If all I can safely do (for me and the victim) is be a good witness, that's what I'll do.

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[Bikenut]

Once more.... and regardless of the circumstances/scenario....

To all those who carry and would intervene:

Would you have intervened if you weren't carrying a gun?

 

[OngoingFreedom]

It often does, but you'd BETTER have a plan B if it doesn't.

Mine is to shoot the relevant party(s).

That's why I have no intention of drawing my firearm unless I'm 100% certain I'm going to shoot somebody.

We are in agreement.

Actually not shooting is Plan B, and Plan A is shooting to stop (no warning shots either). But if the targeted party ceases to be a threat, as it happens that two to two and a half million times a year in the US then more's the better.

I think we'll agree that the point is that drawing your weapon should never be done to only intimidate but instead with intent to stop the threat. That includes continuing to pull the trigger until slide lock if necessary, or stopping after presenting your daily carry. Once the threat stops so does your use of lethal force.

And with this intent in mind, draw.


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[whodat2710]

Once more.... and regardless of the circumstances/scenario....

To all those who carry and would intervene:

Would you have intervened if you weren't carrying a gun?

Yahtzee!
Which goes hand in hand with my answer of "sure you can help, just don't draw your gun"

 

[Stan45]

Man Strangles Cop in Middle of Street in Broad Daylight. Then He Goes for Officer’s Gun — But Civilians at Scene Are Having None of It
Police in Memphis say bystanders helped subdue a pedestrian who reached into a squad car and tried to strangle an officer and then went for the officer’s gun.
The officer saw the suspect walking in traffic Saturday afternoon, trying to hit passing cars and yelling. After Officer Jennifer Robison approached Alphonso Johnson to investigate, WHBQ-TV in Memphis reported that Johnson reached into the squad car window and grab Robison around the neck.

Police said he also tried to undo the officer’s holster and yelled: “Give me your gun; I’m going to kill you.”
But when people watching from the corner saw what was happening to Officer Robison, they came to her aid and helped her hold Johnson down until backup arrived.

We have a number on this list that would have just walked away. Funny how America has changed.

 

[whodat2710]

The officer saw the suspect walking in traffic Saturday afternoon, trying to hit passing cars and yelling. After Officer Jennifer Robison approached Alphonso Johnson to investigate, WHBQ-TV in Memphis reported that Johnson reached into the squad car window and grab Robison around the neck.

Police said he also tried to undo the officer’s holster and yelled: “Give me your gun; I’m going to kill you.”

I read this completely differently. You have a dumb cop responding to a person displaying at least violent tendencies (hitting cars) if not a complete loss of mental faculties for unknown reasons. She rolls right up to him with her window down because many cops think their uniforms and flashy lights automatically instill fear and respect. She finds that "wow, he's even going to be violent to me and I can't defend myself because I'm still strapped into my cruiser".
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What we have here is a lady cop who will now (probably) tend to be more aggressive and confrontational in the future even if it might not be called for. Darwin awards should go to all levels of society, if deserved.

 

[bosstornado]

I once had a fiend who smacked a stranger for pushing a girl to the ground. She got up and went batsh!t after my buddy. She was his wife. Go figure.

LOL, a pristine example of why we need to show restraint in such cases... call the police by all means, domestic violence is illegal.

 

[wolf_fire]

Man Strangles Cop in Middle of Street in Broad Daylight. Then He Goes for Officer’s Gun — But Civilians at Scene Are Having None of It
Police in Memphis say bystanders helped subdue a pedestrian who reached into a squad car and tried to strangle an officer and then went for the officer’s gun.
The officer saw the suspect walking in traffic Saturday afternoon, trying to hit passing cars and yelling. After Officer Jennifer Robison approached Alphonso Johnson to investigate, WHBQ-TV in Memphis reported that Johnson reached into the squad car window and grab Robison around the neck.

Police said he also tried to undo the officer’s holster and yelled: “Give me your gun; I’m going to kill you.”
But when people watching from the corner saw what was happening to Officer Robison, they came to her aid and helped her hold Johnson down until backup arrived.

We have a number on this list that would have just walked away. Funny how America has changed.

Thing is, I wouldn't have used my gun to help the cop out under this scenario. I would have come up behind him and pulled him off the cop. I wouldn't have walked away in this incident.

 

[Bikenut]

Man Strangles Cop in Middle of Street in Broad Daylight. Then He Goes for Officer’s Gun — But Civilians at Scene Are Having None of It
Police in Memphis say bystanders helped subdue a pedestrian who reached into a squad car and tried to strangle an officer and then went for the officer’s gun.
The officer saw the suspect walking in traffic Saturday afternoon, trying to hit passing cars and yelling. After Officer Jennifer Robison approached Alphonso Johnson to investigate, WHBQ-TV in Memphis reported that Johnson reached into the squad car window and grab Robison around the neck.

Police said he also tried to undo the officer’s holster and yelled: “Give me your gun; I’m going to kill you.”
But when people watching from the corner saw what was happening to Officer Robison, they came to her aid and helped her hold Johnson down until backup arrived.

We have a number on this list that would have just walked away. Funny how America has changed.

Let me ask...

If I were to intervene and help that cop... but the crazy guy managed to kill me leaving my wife without her husband.... would the cop pay my mortgage, buy her groceries, pay her car payment, pay the heat and light bills? Or would my wife be just left on her own?

How about if I were to intervene and save your wife or child but I got killed in the process? Would YOU support my wife for the rest of her life?

Those aren't facetious questions because when I, as an ordinary citizen, put myself into harm's way to save another person I'm not only putting my life on the line ... I'm also putting the future of my loved one's on the line. Is that selfish? No... it is not selfish.. it is something I must consider before I jump into a situation with unknown dynamics.

Please note I didn't say I would not intervene because that is a decision I must make at the time while considering all the known dynamics of the situation.. what I am saying... and this is not directed at you personally Stan45.. or directed at anyone else in particular either... is that it appears to me there are many folks who think just because they are carrying a gun that gun not only empowers them with the responsibility to be some kind of protector of the weak but carrying a gun somehow gives them the courage to get themselves in the middle of danger that they would never even think about getting into if they didn't have a gun.