My wife and I got married way back in 2005. Aside from our wedding, the day had one other extraordinary thing happen --I found myself in the peculiar position of having to pull my gun in order to protect the life of another person.
We were at a friend's house at around 10pm. We were just leaving in fact, when we heard a commotion at the intersection about 100 yards away. At first I ignored it, then I heard, "Oh my God, he's killing me!" I thought maybe it was just a boyfriend/girlfriend thing. But after the third scream in 10 seconds, I decided to investigate. When I ran up I saw two cars, one in front of the other. At the drivers door of the front car I saw a guy beating this poor little girl pretty badly while she continued to hang onto her purse. He ran back to the car in back and got in the drivers door.
I don't honestly remember pulling my weapon, I do remember my finger tightening around the trigger. At that point the loop halted. I was convinced that the girl had been in fear for her life and I believed it was possible that we were both in danger. But something didn't seem right.
So I released the trigger without discharging. Finger off the trigger, I could see the driver of the car just past my front sight. I slowly came to the realization that someone else was in the car... a passenger. Apparently the "beater" had gone over the driver and into the passenger seat.
NOTE TO SELF: Always carry a light source.
The rest of it is a blur, my friend was behind me on her cell phone, her roommate was a 911 operator and I remember hearing her say, "Tell them Mike is the one with the gun, don't shoot him." Then after what seemed to be hours (but was probably only a few minutes) I heard her say that there was a patrol car approaching. I could see him on the other side of the car, lights out, slowly approaching. I lowered my weapon, still not sure of what might come out of the car (the internal loop in my mind had already decided that if a flash came from the car, I was pulling the trigger, passenger first then driver). As the officer exited his patrol car I holsered and put my hands up.
The passenger of the car as it turns out had a long rap sheet, the driver admitted that they had followed the girl from her work and were trying to find a place to do the bump-and-run. I learned a lot that night, a lot of it was how not to handle a situation. After that night I started taking street survival courses, learning how to use the mind as a weapon first and foremost. And then how to properly apply the tools of the trade.
I'm sure other people could have handled it better. I beleive I could handle it better today, since I am better prepared. This is the way I remember it -- it's not pretty but it's real. And to quote my wife, "one less person was a victim because I decided not to just stand by and let it happen."
