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Excaliber wrote:

jimlongley wrote:

fickman wrote:Glad this turned out OK for the victim. . . I hate being approached while pumping gas. It normally only happens to me along an Interstate or near downtown, but once it happened in Keller and it caught me completely off guard. . . the guy came up from the railroad tracks near 377 and was beside me before I processed everything.

I refused him a ride or money, and he went to dig through the trash by the convenience store door (I was on the street-side of the pumps) about 7 yards away. He yelled some offensive "compliments" at my wife as she was washing the windows and I encouraged him to "chill out" and kept my eye on him. He tried to step to the side one length so that I couldn't see him through the pump, but I shifted. He did it again and I again adapted so that he was in my vision. I wasn't staring him down, but I made it clear I could see him.

He looked healthy and in his mid to late 30's. . . athletic frame and about 5'10" with a short haircut (parted) and a messenger bag over his shoulder. I had a revolver in an ankle holster and, not knowing what might be in his bag (which he was intermittently rummaging through), decided that if he approached me again, I would loudly command him to stop and I would draw.

Gas stations present a lot of vulnerabilities: blind spots, lots of traffic, distractions (messing with credit card machine, pump, nozzle, etc.). . . and it's fairly routine, so it's easy to turn off your alert and go into auto-mode.

Good reminder to stay alert and vigilant.

Similar thing on the way to FL last year, which I may have posted about here. We stopped for gas and a biological break in the early early am, and right as my wife went inside, the pack started coming toward me like hyenas. My TX CHL had expired, and my wife was carrying (and inside now) but the .45 was in the glove box, so I "washed the windows" around to the side of the car, opened the glove box, and prepared myself for the worst. They must have sensed that I was not easy prey, because beyond loudly asking for money and backing out to and circling well out of 7 yard range, they made no further attempt to approach. Intimidation at that distance is not really intimidating. By the time my wife came back out the situation was almost over and they ignored her.

I'm glad to hear it ended well - you recognized danger and prepared to engage. They weren't prepared for that and hesitated, trying to figure out what to do, and couldn't come up with a consensus to move in because they correctly sensed that was not likely to go well for them, and they eventually melted away. You did a good job in successfully resolving a very volatile and dangerous situation.

In after action review mode, you might consider that things could have taken a way different course if the BG's had taken the opportunity to accost your wife as she crossed their perimeter on the way to your car. She likely would have had to use her gun to get out of that one. A lower risk alternative would have been when she saw the situation, she stayed in the store and called 911. Help would likely have been a long time in coming, but it would have put you in the complainant position in the incoming calls, and you could have maintained the standoff longer if the BG's took longer to make up their minds.

fickman wrote:Glad this turned out OK for the victim. . . I hate being approached while pumping gas. It normally only happens to me along an Interstate or near downtown, but once it happened in Keller and it caught me completely off guard. . . the guy came up from the railroad tracks near 377 and was beside me before I processed everything.

I refused him a ride or money, and he went to dig through the trash by the convenience store door (I was on the street-side of the pumps) about 7 yards away. He yelled some offensive "compliments" at my wife as she was washing the windows and I encouraged him to "chill out" and kept my eye on him. He tried to step to the side one length so that I couldn't see him through the pump, but I shifted. He did it again and I again adapted so that he was in my vision. I wasn't staring him down, but I made it clear I could see him.

He looked healthy and in his mid to late 30's. . . athletic frame and about 5'10" with a short haircut (parted) and a messenger bag over his shoulder. I had a revolver in an ankle holster and, not knowing what might be in his bag (which he was intermittently rummaging through), decided that if he approached me again, I would loudly command him to stop and I would draw.

Gas stations present a lot of vulnerabilities: blind spots, lots of traffic, distractions (messing with credit card machine, pump, nozzle, etc.). . . and it's fairly routine, so it's easy to turn off your alert and go into auto-mode.

Good reminder to stay alert and vigilant.