Just as a learning exercise, let's change the setting to a mall or a grocery store. As a CHL, we're armed, but we didn't have the benefit of hearing the suspect say he had a bomb. All we see is some fellow running from two guys with guns, neither of whom are in uniform or have badges visible. It would be very easy to mistakenly believe the suspect was actually a victim, especially if we were to see the two guys taking a sight picture on him and he didn't have a gun visible.
So what do we do? Nothing. There is absolutely no way for us to know what's going on under these circumstances. If none of the players pointed a gun at me, I'm not going to do anything.
To really put this in perspective, remember we'll have only a split second to a few seconds to evaluate what's going on, decide whether to act, and if so, how to respond. That's why it's a good idea to consider some of these potential scenarios ahead of time so we can avoid the natural instinct to get involved without truly knowing what is going on, possibly with tragic results.
Please recognize my hypothetical situation involves a very ambiguous scenario. I am not saying we should never come to the aid of a third party, but we have to remember that things may not be as they appear! It would be bad enough to allow an innocent person to be harmed or killed by our inaction, but it would be far worse to wound or kill an innocent person, because we acted without sufficient knowledge or information. The BG’s have it easy; they just shoot anyone they want. We have to be a bit more discerning.
Regards,
Chas.
Maybe I can try to put something together for the DFW area.