As I was driving home a little while ago I noticed about 15 squad cars, City Police, DPS, Sheriff etc ( everybody pretty much ) pulled off into a group of houses.
On the west side of the road there were a group of young girls, mid teens maybe with about 4 LEO's around them. On the east side, there were 3 LEO's, 1 of which was on top of a male in his mid to late 20's. The other LEO's were at their cars talking with one another. No idea what happened, but it got me to wondering a bit, mind drifted ( being up for 30 hrs straight tends to do that, mind wonders all over the place ), and this popped into my head and I have no idea what I would do...
Your driving down the road, you see a woman, or even a man yelling for help. There is someone chasing the person thats yelling for help.. It looks serious, but you dont know if it's a parent trying to chase down a rebellious teen or what the situation is.. How do you proceed? I'm not someone who just turns the other cheek when someone yells for help... I know it's a wide open situation, thats what makes it difficult..
Now if the person giving chase has a weapon of some sort, I know what I would do.. You can legally defend someone who asks for help, seeing how there is a chase, and a weapon involved that means it's an attack. Since it's legal to use the gun, it's legal to pull it as well, so then I'd give verbal warnings to stop with my gun drawn. But quite honestly, if I don't have any info about the situation, I wouldn't be prepared to use deadly force because I know nothing about the situation, other than the call for help, and a attack in progress. But on that note, no assault is happening, just a chase while someone is trying to retreat.. What would you do if they didn't respond? Or would you go about the whole deal in a totally different manor?
Scenario: Call for help.....
Moderator: carlson1
Re: Scenario: Call for help.....
These scenarios have been discussed here many times.
It is impossible to know for sure what is happening between strangers. You mentioned a few cases that are not what they seem at first sight, and there are about a million others. The person who is fleeing could be a thief, and the pursuer the victim of theft or robbery. They could be a fleeing criminal and a LEO.
Women pretending to be in distress are sometimes lures cooperating with male criminals.
The only ones that I would intervene in without hesitation are an actual rape (not just a struggle between a man and a woman) or beating a child. Both of those are categorical evils that can never be justified.
Otherwise I would call 911 and be a good witness, as the saying goes.
- Jim
It is impossible to know for sure what is happening between strangers. You mentioned a few cases that are not what they seem at first sight, and there are about a million others. The person who is fleeing could be a thief, and the pursuer the victim of theft or robbery. They could be a fleeing criminal and a LEO.
Women pretending to be in distress are sometimes lures cooperating with male criminals.
The only ones that I would intervene in without hesitation are an actual rape (not just a struggle between a man and a woman) or beating a child. Both of those are categorical evils that can never be justified.
Otherwise I would call 911 and be a good witness, as the saying goes.
- Jim