In Self Defense, luck is always an element. But it could be good luck, or bad luck. Luck counts, but luck is not a plan.
In this self defense example, our good guy is minding his own business when the attacker picks him as a victim. Our good guy complies with his attacker until an opportunity to act presents itself as the bad guy allows himself to become distracted and take his eyes off his victim for several seconds.
Our good guy demonstrates an important principle in self defense. If you’re going to act, no half measures. He aggressively and quickly attempts a disarm of his attacker. It works surprisingly well and the good guy gains quick control of the gun. He immediately gets the gun into a shooting grip and fires multiple rounds.
If I was an aggressive prosecutor I may try to show that the good guy acted excessively by shooting our now unarmed bad guy multiple times as he tried to flee. As a defense attorney, I would make the argument that the bad guy had an accomplice and the good guy had no idea how far either of these two men were willing to take this fight. Our good guy acted decisively and almost all of his aggressive actions took place in less than 2 seconds. His final act was to physically strike the bad guy with the gun. Here is where the luck starts.
As he strikes the attacker with the gun, it goes off and the round fired travels through the glass door into the shoulder of the second attacker who was waiting outside. The odds of this wild sequence of events have got to be astronomical.
After it became clear that the bad guy had no more fight left in him, the good guy stopped attacking. After the attacker managed to burst through the shattered door and leave, the good guy made no attempt to pursue him. Legally this is a very advisable decision given these circumstances. We also see in the video that the first thing the good guy does after the threat runs out the door is to try to get a full assessment of what is happening outside the store. We can see him looking through the tinted window.
Violence is ugly and it is something that many people shy away from. But when it is required to resist evil, it is best when it is fast, aggressive and as coordinated as possible. This good guy did a fantastic job of defending himself.
This attack demonstrates many of the principles we talk about in our Free Concealed Carry Classes, and the principles that we train around in our Defensive Shooting courses. We have a responsibility to be as prepared as possible if we carry life and death tools on us.
