Suspect in custody after good Samaritan is shot dead outside Arlington Walgreens

[Excaliber]

he simply used bad tactics and got way too close to someone he knew was an armed violent criminal and put his gun within that person's reach. In yet another confirmation that action is faster than reaction, and his weapon was slapped away as the BG brought his up to fire.

I don't see anything that says the victim was unwilling to use his gun. I think his tactics left him in a situation where he was unable to do so in time.

I agree with most of what you say; I just believe that someone who was mentally prepared to pull the trigger wouldn't have gotten that close in the first place and that this poor man used his gun as a mere threat.

I wasn't there, obviously, but from my understanding he went up to a shooter who was already in his car - and somehow that shooter was able to 1. get out of his car and 2. be close enough to slap his gun away. To me that strongly indicates our guy wasn't mentally ready to shoot at the first sign of offensive movement, possibly still unsure if he was legally allowed to do so.

Not a criticism of a brave man, I'm just trying to work out likely reasons he didn't shoot first and what we can learn from it.

If the shooter was able to get out of his car and then slap the gun away, I would have to agree that, in addition to using poor tactics, he wasn't mentally prepared to shoot.

Having a gun in hand that one is not prepared to use while facing an armed violent criminal is worse than not having a gun at all.

[Scott B.]

"Contrary to some media reports, Antell did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Lt. Christopher Cook of the Arlington Police Department."

Reported in today's Houston Chronicle.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 395581.php

Doesn't make it any less a tragic or unnecessary death.

[Dragonfighter]

Unfortunately, I don't think I agree with the pacifists of the group who would duck and run. I believe if I were in this situation I would not only worry about the harm he just did but also the harm by the perpetrator leaving the scene and killing someone either in a chase or spree killing. No one knows the mind of a person at the time of the incident and the Good Samaritan may have feared he would hurt others. I do believe there are lessons to be learned, either you are in the fight or you are out of it and if you are in it you better be willing to pull the trigger first.

I know I will get blow back but I grew up in a rural area of the state in a LEO family and knew that help would be a long wait, so maybe I see things a little different than most, I would have stopped him if I could have done so without endangering innocents.

I also remember a Good Samaritan deer hunter on Hwy 67 a long time ago that shot and killed a man who had just shot a Texas DPS trooper, this man choose to remain anonymous for a long time but has since been identified and has been considered a hero by the DPS and even given a commerative pistol as a token of their appreciation. This appreciation was not only for avenging the death of a DPS Trooper but also from preventing this person from going on to harm or kill others. He stopped a bad guy that day.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/8242-patrol ... arles-long

More people need to take action and less people will consider doing harm to others. There is not enough police to be everywhere and if the bad guys think they can get away with it, then they will continue to do things like this, but if this or any other bad guy thought or knew that several other people in that Walgreens had a weapon and would use it (not back down) then he might not of even been there in the first place.

Let the bashing begin.

No bashing here. I can think of a few situations I got involved in, even before CHL, because I was afraid of where it was going.

I also will echo and agree with, you're either in the fight or out of it. If I have a sites and do not see a rapidly diminishing target, I'm shooting. As someone on here said, if it's worth pulling the gun, it's worth pulling the trigger.