Filing complaint against attacker?

[03Lightningrocks]

LOL....now it makes sense.

[Venus Pax]

I've read that filing a complaint against the attacker helps establish who the attacker is. Personally, I would do it regardless, as only a low percentage of people actually die from handgun shootings. (I think it's 30%?)

I've NEVER heard a wise and knowledgable person say not to call 911, but to simply call and keep the message correct and simple. Request an ambulance and police, even if you're positive your looking at a dead body. Hang up if necessary.

[KD5NRH]

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...

Conveniently, the state provided me a couple of nice plastic cards with all that information on them. The police can read those while I hyperventilate, cry like a little girl, or whatever else I do until I hear the special ringtone I have for my lawyer's office, home and cell phone.

[Abraham]

Tonsorial works, but I prefer "Hirsute Adornment"!

[seamusTX]

Hirsute means excessively hairy.

I don't have an excess of hair. Like many older guys, I have less every year; and I have to conserve what remains.

- Jim

[KD5NRH]

You have to call 911.

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

Found it. If the BG (or anyone else within your view) is dead, then it's black and white:

PC37.09. TAMPERING WITH OR FABRICATING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. (bit of an odd header, considering the following, but that's laws for ya)
(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
(2) observes a human corpse under circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that an offense had been committed, knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement agency is not aware of the existence of or location of the corpse, and fails to report the existence of and location of the corpse to a law enforcement agency.
(e) In this section, "human corpse" has the meaning assigned by Section 42.08.

If someone's injured, then you could be opening up a whole new can of worms. What happens if the guy bleeds out over the next hour, and his family sues on the grounds that he wouldn't have died if you had taken the reasonable action of calling 911 once he was no longer a threat?

If the BG is unhurt and runs away, then it's down to the old issue of whoever calls 911 first gets to be the victim until the other can prove otherwise.

[bryang]

Personally I feel that it is to our advantage to call 911 before anyone else calls, no matter what happen.

-geo