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 #108877  by Kuntryboy816
 
I can't comprehend why they let him get up and walk away. Lucky that the police found the guy afterwards.
 #108879  by dave_in_delaware
 
Kuntryboy816 wrote:I can't comprehend why they let him get up and walk away. Lucky that the police found the guy afterwards.
My guess would be "justified use of lethal force" wasn't justified, as there wasn't any threat any longer (no more baseball bat in hand).

Maybe?

Just my guess.
 #108881  by GatorDude
 
I think that's probably correct, Dave.

Just because that justification may have existed a minute earlier, it did not exist at that point. We should always remember that you should never pull the trigger unless you need to at that moment due to a reasonable fear of your life or the life of others.
 #108884  by Kuntryboy816
 
Sorry if there was confusion due to my response... My response wasn't garnered in a way of "Why didn't he shoot the bastard?" but along the lines of "Why didn't he detain the guy until police arrive?" Given the fact that the guy with the bat threatened/assaulted them in a manner severe enough to warrant pulling his pistol, they had every right (even as citizens) to detain him thus until the authorities arrive. Of course there's always the prudency of whether or not to physically contact the guy in order to restrain him which none of us could decide unless we were there in the moment. It could go either way.. since there were 2 of them against 1...
1. she could of tied him up while he held the guy at gunpoint or
2. he could pass the pistol to her while he tied the guy up

I would guess most people in that type of situation would probably err on the side of caution to keep their distance even if the guy is face down and surrendered. Most don't have the training that LEO do in order to restrain someone effectively and the assailant, at some point, probably thought that as well. Either way both parties are pretty lucky. The assailant is lucky to still be breathing and the victims are lucky that the police found the guy and he didn't get away with the crime.
 #108885  by CorBon
 
Kuntryboy816 wrote:Sorry if there was confusion due to my response... My response wasn't garnered in a way of "Why didn't he shoot the bastard?" but along the lines of "Why didn't he detain the guy until police arrive?" Given the fact that the guy with the bat threatened/assaulted them in a manner severe enough to warrant pulling his pistol, they had every right (even as citizens) to detain him thus until the authorities arrive.
My first thought is that distance is your friend. In this case, it not only gives you more time to react, but also avoids initiating a second phase of this incident. Once you contact the bad guy, who knows what will happen -- and at the point, you have put your weapon into close proximity to the bad guy (which could lead to him taking the weapon). Additionally, you may no longer have the ability to control the situation (because now you may be physically fighting the guy), or the right to use the weapon. YOU contacted him and physically restrained HIM, making a good argument for HIM being the victim.

The second thought could also complicate your actions of physically engaging the person, but -- what crime did he commit? Honestly, he was arrested, but apparently not even charged with a specific crime (yet). Obviously, the situation went away -- if there was even a situation to start with. There's a good chance that no charges will ever result from this, meaning -- if he had been physically restrained by the so-called good guy, would that guy have faced charges?

Distance is your friend, and it's an even better friend if you need to use a scope to see the situation.