Filing complaint against attacker?

[tfrazier]

I know I sound like a broken record, but...
"Silence is Golden!"
The most common refrain I've heard from defence attorneys about their client is: "We wouldn't even be having a trial if he'd just kept his mouth shut."

[seamusTX]

You have to call 911. What are you going to tell them?

- Jim

[boomerang]

You have to call 911.

Do you? It's probably a good idea but is there a legal requirement to call?

What are you going to tell them?

As little as possible. Anything I say can be used against me. I don't think there's any reason to say more than "A man tried to kill me. Please send help." and maybe an address. I have nothing to gain and much to lose by having a conversation with the 911 dispatcher.

[seamusTX]

You have to call 911.

Do you? It's probably a good idea but is there a legal requirement to call?

We, collectively, have never been able to agree whether or not there is a legal obligation to call 911 in the case of a self-defense shooting.

I can't imagine doing otherwise. If the shooting occurs on your property, and the injured or dead criminal is still there, what else are you going to do?

If it's not on your property, and you just leave, the incident is going to be investigated as a crime. With all the security cameras deployed today and possible witnesses unknown to you, that could turn out badly.

What are you going to tell them?

As little as possible. Anything I say can be used against me. I don't think there's any reason to say more than "A man tried to kill me. Please send help." and maybe an address.

That is saying something.

I agree that it would be better to say as little as possible to get the facts on the record.

- Jim

[03Lightningrocks]

The most important thing to remember is to wipe your finger prints off the "throw down" pistol. If you have time, put the bad guys finger print on your own handgun and tell the cops he took your gun and shot himself.

[TheArmedFarmer]

I've thought about this before, and if it were me and I had just had to shoot to stop a bad guy, I would call 911 and say precisely this:

"There has been a shooting. Please send an ambulance and police."

Then I would give the address/directions and then hang up the phone. I would then immediately call my attorney and let him know what happened.

[Oldgringo]

I've thought about this before, and if it were me and I had just had to shoot to stop a bad guy, I would call 911 and say precisely this:

"There has been a shooting. Please send an ambulance and police."

Then I would give the address/directions and then hang up the phone. I would then immediately call my attorney and let him know what happened.

That sounds like a pretty good plan. What if you don't have an attorney (I don't) and your Momma and Daddy have gone on before you, what do you do?

Seriously, the last time we used a lawyer was to update wills a dozen years or so ago and the local guy we used for that doesn't know the difference between a S&W and a Louisville Slugger. Not everyone has a Perry Mason on retainer.

[ELB]

1. If the attacker is among the living, I will press to charge him with anything available, from misdemeanor fashion crimes to capital mopery. And I won't be doing it just to make me look good.

2. Not calling 911 if you have the chance says you are guilty of something (might just be knuckelheadedness, but it won't look that way). You might not find a requirement to call 911 in the Texas statutes, but I know if I were a grand juror, I would be mighty curious about why you didn't report someone's (attempted) use of deadly force against you. Makes me wonder how the fight actually started. Being shot yourself or rendering firstaid to another might be a good excuse for not calling.

3. As to the age-old whaddyasay question, I know what some defense attorneys have said, and I know what Ayoob, Farnam, and a defense attorney in some of my defensive courses have said. I would certainly tell 911 and/or the cops that that guy over there tried to kill me, the ones that got away went thataway, and I will be more than happy to cooperate -- as soon as I can calm down and talk with my lawyer. Lather, rinse, repeat. And if I have any indication I am hurt, from massive arterial bleeding to funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, I will tell them to take me to the ER for a checkout.

[Liberty]

I think the easiest time to say too much is when talking to 911. They will try to keep you on the phone and anything you say can be used against you.

[tfrazier]

My "Silence is Golden" comment was not meant to be 100% literal. The point is, say no more than absolutely necessary.

I keep copies of a written script in multiple rooms in the house in case I or my wife ever have to call 911 for any reason. You may think it's a no-brainer to remember your own name and address, but if you are calling the police because a traumatic event has just occurred or is in progress, you might be surprised at what your mind will blank out as it reverts to it's primitive survival consciousness mode.

The script is simple and goes something like this:
My name is [name], I need police and medical emergency service at my house, [street address, city]. I am a [age/race] male wearing [clothing description]. My wife is a [age/race] female wearing [clothing description].

The I select from the following:

*Someone is breaking into our house [description]. I am a former police officer armed with a [handgun / shotgun /rifle].

*Shots have been fired and [race, sex] attacker(s) wearing [clothing description] is/are injured and [inside my house / in my front/back yard /has fled [direction]

*[I / my wife] has been attacked by an intruder and is injured

*We have a medical emergency [description]

That doesn't cover all contingencies, but it will help me focus on the important facts and keep me from unnecessary expansion during the crisis. It also ensures that when the police arrive, they have foreknowlege of what the good guys are suppossed to look like and what the bad guys are supposed to look like. That lessens the probability that they might shoot me in error if I happen to be in a situation where I am forced to still be holding a firearm when they arrive; like I have a bad guy cornered at gunpoint who has a knife or club and won't drop it but also isn't advancing on me. Not a likely scenario...he'd have to be more than twenty feet away if he had a knife and wasn't willing to drop it, or he'd be getting aerated (but that's a whole 'nuther tactical discussion).

I also keep an old out of service charged mobile phone in each room, just in case an intruder is smart enough to cut lines or pull one of the land line phones off the hook.

By federal law, even non-active mobile phones still have to be able to dial out to 911.

The great thing about having a prepared script is, in the event you ever end up in court and are being grilled over what you said on the 911 call, you can always truthfully say you were reading a script prepared with no foreknowledge of the event for the reason I stated in the second paragraph. It will pretty much nullify any of the words on the script from being held against you in relation to the event itself.

[stevie_d_64]

Barfing, and or talking too much to investigators is way too "tonsorial" to me...

Jim, you are getting full faith and credit for this word now!!!

Name, rank and serial number is plenty of information to give to the on-scene folks as soon as you tell them you'd be glad to talk some more after you get your BP down and you've had your chance to consult with your lawyer...

Thats pretty much been the "proper" template that I've understood (over the years) to be the best way to keep the shovel out of your hands digging your own hole...

[Oldgringo]

Guys,

Tonsorial does not relate to tonsils.

[seamusTX]

I took what Steve wrote to be a pun.

- Jim

[03Lightningrocks]

Guys,

Tonsorial does not relate to tonsils.

So you think he meant barber like?

[boomerang]

It sounds like a hairy situation.