+1 for this advise.karatedad wrote:If ever in this situation, I will do the following in this order.
1. Call 911 and state my name, location, a person has been shot and their condition. They will try to keep me on the line.
2. Hang up on 911.
3. Call my attorney and explain situation.
4. Wait for police to arrive.
5. Follow attorneys instructions.
I hope this time never comes.
My pre-paid legal service says to do exactly this but also between #3 and #4, you may want to put the weapon away. You also need to make sure witnesses are still there and stay on scene.
LEO's are trained with a process to go through and they will, whatever else happens, go through this process with them. Appear to be accepting of what they are doing, even if you disagree with it as aggravating them will do you no good in a court. What they do may well (will?) include disarming you, handcuffing you, taking statements from witnesses and you to understand what happened.
They don't know what happened as they were not there, so tell the LEO's what the attorney told you to do and say when you were on the phone with them. My scheme has an ID card that I should show to the officers and after that point say nothing more. The card has my member number and the phone number of the attorney service. All that should be enough to confirm for the LEO that you are acting under attorney instructions and that they need to follow the procedure they have and not mess me about trying to peg me as "the shooter". Not that they would, but better safe than sorry. After all, its YOUR skin in this... EVENTUALLY a local attorney and/or one of the national people (depending on how much you pay/which scheme you buy), will arrive and take charge of your situation.
Remember the issue is "Should I draw my weapon and kill the so-and-so who I see carrying my $600 TV away?" as this is often NOT the right thing to do. It might stop the theft and be what you feel you want to do (and even have a right to do), but it may expose you to much worse down the line...