Jersey Village, Carjacking

[fm2]

Here's an excellent account of un-equal initiative & dis-proportionaly armed encounter.


From Police Magazine online:

Jersey Village, Texas 01-31-2006

Two men made a big mistake when they tried to carjack and kidnap Officer Holly Mong.
by Dean Scoville



Distracted. That's what Holly Mong felt at 6:30 on the morning of January 31, 2006. Distracted.

And in a rush.

Only one day after getting off probation, the Jersey Village, Texas, police officer was scheduled for in-service training for a new computer system and was already late getting out the door when she realized that she'd forgotten money for the toll road.

Doubling back inside her residence, Mong grabbed some change from a jar she kept in her home office, then made a beeline for her Jeep Liberty parked a mere 20 yards from the door of her apartment.

She'd just gotten into the vehicle and no sooner closed the driver's side door than it flew back open.

A large man wearing black gloves and a stocking cap mask stuck a gun in her face.

"Move over."

In that split second, Mong was no longer distracted.

Held at Gunpoint

A second man, also decked out in all black, opened the back door of the Jeep and jumped into the right rear seat. The only words that Mong could muster were, "Oh, my God."

"Shut up!" the man in the driver's seat barked.

Mong's mind raced. Where did these men come from? Surely, her state of distraction couldn't have been so all consuming that she missed them.

She suspected that the early morning darkness and the lack of lighting around the apartment complex—something that her fiancé had lobbied hard to have corrected—conspired to prevent her from seeing her attackers. She also figured they had hedged their bets further by lying in wait beyond a grass knoll, a drop-off that would have concealed anyone below her visual plane.

For a second she considered the possibility that they might have targeted her because of her job, but quickly brushed the idea aside. She was thankful that her attire—navy blue zip-up sweatshirt with a hood, tank top, and jeans—didn't scream "cop."

But Mong's choice of garments was only a small comfort. In the overall scheme of things, she knew there were several things working decidedly against her.

If the first man was armed, it was a safe bet the second was, as well. And the sight of duct tape in the first man's non-gun hand only strengthened within her a growing certainty of their intentions.

They were going to kill her.

A Slim Hope

The thought was horrifying. Even more so because Mong knew she might be murdered with her own sidearm, a 9mm Springfield XD that was in a leather purse beside her on the passenger seat. Also inside the purse was her police ID, a virtual death warrant.

Mong knew that the gun in her purse was her only hope for salvation. She moved to the front passenger bucket seat, and slid her hand into her purse grabbing the pistol.

With the gun in her hand and concealed from view, Mong figured that if fortune truly favored the prepared, she had a fighting chance, for she was conscientious about carrying her double-action sidearm with a full magazine and one in the chamber.

All the same, she knew she couldn't hesitate and fixated on a singular thought.

I'm going to shoot fast or I'm going to be dead.

Two Seconds of Hell

She did just that, catching her kidnappers by surprise.

With her first shot, a bubble descended over Mong, enveloping her, muting her hearing so that each subsequent round she squeezed off became a muffled report despite the closed confines of the Jeep.

Her first Golden Saber round grazed the driver's right arm and chest. A second entered his right arm near the shoulder as a third bore into the shoulder itself. A fourth tore into the man's head just below his right ear.

With her left hand on the seat for balance, Mong twisted her torso and rotated the muzzle from the driver to the rear seat passenger. She was firing fast.

The next two rounds missed. She kept shooting. And her bullets began to find their mark.

One grazed the back seat passenger in his left shoulder and neck. Another pulverized the left side of his nose. A final round took out his left eye socket.

A stillness settled over the scene. The only thing that moved was Holly's skin, shivering with the adrenaline that coursed through her.

For a stunned moment she sat, evaluating whether or not she could get out of the vehicle without either of the men still being a threat. Once she made sure that the two were either unconscious or dead, Mong jerked the keys from the ignition then fled for her apartment.

She met her fiancé, Shawn Horton, at the door. Shawn, also an officer with the Jersey Village Police Department, had his own sidearm in hand in response to what he thought was a home break-in. Mong quickly related what had happened and Horton ran outside to cover the suspects, pending the arrival of backup.

Dead at the Scene

As officers descended upon the scene, they found Mong unharmed. The same couldn't be said of the men who attacked her.

Already wanted in connection with a sexual assault at the time of the attempted carjacking, the suspect in the rear seat, Cordale Stubblefield, was pronounced dead at the scene. Stubblefield was also responsible for the gun wielded by the driver-side suspect; he'd stolen it from a customer's car at the tire store where he worked.

Formidably strong, Stubblefield had been conscientious about working out and taking creatine supplements. Unfortunately for him, no amount of body building could make him bullet proof.

The driver, Christopher Wayne Yell, survived the shooting. But he was left with no bone on the lower left side of his head. If he were to be struck even by a fist in that area, he would mostly likely die. He lives with perennial nightmares and cannot stand for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Like Stubblefield, Yell was no stranger to criminal activity. At the time of the attack on Officer Mong, Yell was on probation for a home invasion robbery. He ultimately received an 18-year sentence for violating probation plus a consecutive 18-year sentence for aggravated robbery against Mong.

Some 45 minutes after the shooting, a sergeant on the scene took note of a car parked across the parking lot, approached on foot, and peered inside. There he found a 20-year-old man scrunched down in the back seat. The would-be drive-away man explained that he'd hunkered down and hidden to avoid getting shot. He was then taken into custody without incident.

A New Mind-set

Mong admits that she was not aware of a threat in the seconds preceding the incident because her mind was on other things.

"I wasn't paying attention," she reflects. "I was worried about running late. When you're in your comfort zone at your house, you don't think anything like that is going to happen to you. I didn't even notice them coming up, even when they were coming up behind my vehicle because they walked across the parking lot and I was parked face in. They walked to either side of my car. I didn't even notice them until they were up to the driver's side of my door. I was completely not paying attention."

When asked if she experienced any post-shooting anxieties, Mong says, "I never really had any concerns about if what I did was wrong because I knew they were going to kill me. I was in fear for my life, so I never had any fears about, 'What if I'm going to jail for this?' or anything like that. They came to me. They sought me out. So shame on them. They were the ones that did it."

Mong doesn't necessarily believe in precognition, but she says a nightmare she experienced before the shooting could have been a warning that something bad was about to happen.

"The night before this happened, I had a dream that I was on duty and went into a convenience store that was being robbed and I ended up shooting the robber," she explains. "I don't know if that's just coincidence or what that is. I've had dreams like that a couple of times before, but that one was the most vivid ones that I ever had. I didn't honestly think anything of it when I got up and started getting ready for work. I didn't think that anything like that would ever happen to me."

That nightmare would not be the only cause for Mong losing sleep. A few weeks after the incident, she battled insomnia.

She also became anxious whenever she had to leave the house at night. "It was hard for me to go anywhere by myself," she says. "My fiancé went with me everywhere I went. I did not want to go anywhere by myself. We ended up having to move into a different apartment inside the same complex, so I was never again at that apartment by myself."

Since the shooting, Mong has become vigilant on multiple fronts, both in terms of mind-set and daily rituals.

"I don't think that I would have done anything differently," she says. "I think that I had a pretty good outcome from all this. I was not hurt in any way. I'm 10 times more aware of my surroundings now, whether I'm getting into my car at my house or in a parking lot somewhere going grocery shopping or whatever. I'm always looking to see if there's anyone sitting in a car or what they're doing. Even when I'm driving down the road, I'm looking at people next to me because you hear about all the times that people are sitting at a red light and people coming up and pushing them out of their car and stealing their car. I'm just more aware of my surroundings now."

Finally, Mong says that she is more diligent about carrying her sidearm off duty. "I carry a gun with me everywhere I go. I carried the gun a lot before. I think it was probably just because I was new and could carry it around," she reflects. "But now I don't leave my house without carrying one."



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[casingpoint]

Love those Golden Sabers.

[dave_in_austin]

Here's an excellent account of un-equal initiative & dis-proportionaly armed encounter.

<Snip>

Stubblefield was also responsible for the gun wielded by the driver-side suspect; he'd stolen it from a customer's car at the tire store where he worked.

Someone would really leave a gun in a car when getting new tires! What next?

[NcongruNt]

Wow. That got my heart racing just reading it. Good on her for acting quickly.

[Liberty]

I counted 9 rounds with no time for reloading from someone who was shooting pretty darned good concidering the circumstances. Considering the placement it is doubtful a bigger bullet would be more effective.

[03Lightningrocks]

Quite honestly, this story has me second guessing my decision to carry a weapon with 7 rounds in it. I do carry a spare magazine in my front pocket with eight rounds. But in a situation like this, going for a magazine or a bug quick enough to keep the guy in the back seat from grabbing you, would be almost impossible.

[Rex B]

I had the same thought. My pocket pistol has 8 rounds, but my car pistols are 9mm doublestacks.
I want to re-think their placement.

I cannot draw from my pocket while sitting in a car.

[Purplehood]

I am not a Secret Agent or LEO-type, so I cannot envision having a "BUG".

The purpose of my one-and-only Primary weapon is to have it just in case I ever need it.

I also hope to avoid mall-shootouts, school-massacres and sniper attacks.

I hope that never happens.

This is just my personal opinion and I have no problem with others having the "BUG".

[longtooth]

This was a good response.
For those of you that have questioned your 7 or 8 rd carry, there are many of us here that carry a 1911 w/ that 8rds. Some the standard 7. If you train w/ that you will become proficient w/ it.

For me the thing that was more important than the hicap mags was the fact that she did not have it on her person. If that purse had been in the floor for her to have to reach for it, then it may as well have been in the trunk. If you cant get to it, it does not matter how many rds are in it.

[nils]

All I have to say is Bravo to this officer...what an incredibly tough situation for her, and the strength and skill when needed was there. I'm glad that both BGs were taken care of...that's right, I said it....bad guys deserve to die or be horribly injured...there is no gray area, no middle ground for me. If you wanna take what's important to me....expect some hollow points for your trouble....

[fm2]

Quite honestly, this story has me second guessing my decision to carry a weapon with 7 rounds in it. I do carry a spare magazine in my front pocket with eight rounds. But in a situation like this, going for a magazine or a bug quick enough to keep the guy in the back seat from grabbing you, would be almost impossible.

Rex B & Lightning, I'm glad you added your thoughts. You are both correct about accessing inside your pocket when you are in a Fouled Up Tangle with a BG that has the advantages stacked in HIS favor. You might need to get to those tools or keep them in action while you are being assaulted, maybe after you've been cracked in the head, maybe mashed into a confined space, whatever the bg/s can do to stack the odds against you.......



Purplehood, Like LT said "having" your tool options on you is an excellent first step. They aren't talismans though, so getting them into play is more important. So, when considering "where" you have your tools, you need to think this through a little. If you choose a sub-optimal carry method, think about transitions. What to do to make space/get time to get your tools into action? There is a timing decision here that can cost you dearly.

[SlowDave]

For me the thing that was more important than the hicap mags was the fact that she did not have it on her person. If that purse had been in the floor for her to have to reach for it, then it may as well have been in the trunk. If you cant get to it, it does not matter how many rds are in it.

I guess I disagree. I don't think there is any on-person carry that would have a quicker draw in this situation than in the purse. She can completely put her hand on the grip and finger along the top of the trigger guard before arousing any suspicion. From that point to firing is VERY quick. I will venture to guess that no other concealment would allow as short a time between showing your intent and firing than the purse. Yes, IF the purse were in the trunk with her weapon in it, she could be considered completely inept. But, it wasn't, and she wasn't.

Sometimes makes me wish I was a female or could get away with carrying a purse w/o undue suspicion.

Great action under pressure. Kudos to this officer!

[Liberty]

For me the thing that was more important than the hicap mags was the fact that she did not have it on her person. If that purse had been in the floor for her to have to reach for it, then it may as well have been in the trunk. If you cant get to it, it does not matter how many rds are in it.

I guess I disagree. I don't think there is any on-person carry that would have a quicker draw in this situation than in the purse. She can completely put her hand on the grip and finger along the top of the trigger guard before arousing any suspicion. From that point to firing is VERY quick. I will venture to guess that no other concealment would allow as short a time between showing your intent and firing than the purse. Yes, IF the purse were in the trunk with her weapon in it, she could be considered completely inept. But, it wasn't, and she wasn't.

Sometimes makes me wish I was a female or could get away with carrying a purse w/o undue suspicion.

Great action under pressure. Kudos to this officer!

When I am travelling I carry one on the hip and bring one to the car in a canvas shopping bag. I move the car gun to either the door panel pocket or between the seat and console. The Gun on my hip would be just about useless while I'm seated in the car.

[srothstein]

I just wanted to point out one very important factor in this story that seems to have been missed. I noticed it being missed when I read the article in the magazine and no one here has commented on it yet (probably some one else thought of it but just did not comment).

The story happened to involve a police officer, and she got honored by her department. I really have no problem with any of that, but this shooting had nothing to do with law enforcement. The officer did a great job in defending herself, as an armed CITIZEN. She was a citizen who was in the wrong place (or mental state) at the wrong time. She survived because she was an armed citizen who could recognize the problem. She was lucky that she could fight back because she happened to be an officer.

This exact same scenario could happen to any other citizen in the country at any time. It is one of the best reasons I know of to allow citizens to carry. Look at the story and think of what YOU could have done in that case. This could very well have been you, or might be you with the next two car jackers.

[fm2]

This exact same scenario could happen to any other citizen in the country at any time. It is one of the best reasons I know of to allow citizens to carry. Look at the story and think of what YOU could have done in that case. This could very well have been you, or might be you with the next two car jackers.

No doubt about it, that's why I thought it was relevent. This article should be published in main stream magazines. It illustrates how the BG's work and allows much discussion.

The CQT 240 course at USSA has some car jacking evolutions. They are very dynamic and unpredictable, some I, saw very closely mimic this incident.
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