Guy brandished handgun to wife.

[camarowithbass]

To make a long story short my sister pulled into a friends apt complex and apparently took
some random guys parking spot.
Guy was pulling up at the same time while my sis unbuckled her kids, guy gets out of truck demands for her to move
immediately. He then moves jacket to the side and presents a handgun on his waistband.

He proceeds to stand there doing so until she moved parking spots.

She immediately left the complex and came home and told me what happened.

IF i had been with her what would of been the appropriate thing to do?

Thanks for ANY input !

[ajwakeboarder]

I'd leave and call the cops. If he's gonna park there, you know where he'll be. Don't escalate the situation. He just committed a crime and you should report him. If he acts like that, he's probably carrying unlawfully anyway.

[Capt Jeff]

First, I'm glad your wife and kids are OK after the encounter. Sounds like she did the right thing in just getting the heck out of there.

I would have been a good idea to take down the guy's license plate in case you or she wanted to make a report to the police.

Again, glad to hear all turned out well.

[stroguy]

911 within 60 seconds of him doing this. It needs to be accounted for immediately.

[tommyg]

Call the cops immediately if the cops don't do anything at least there
will be a report that will make it easier for the next victem to report it.

[Heartland Patriot]

There is no such thing as "brandishing" in Texas law. What was described sounded like it would fall under disorderly conduct and unlawful carry of a weapon, if I read the Penal Code correctly. However, I'm sure there are other things that the individual in question could have been charged with. I'm glad your family didn't get hurt. Hopefully law enforcement was notified as others pointed out.

[aaangel]

glad your wife and sister and the kids are all ok! i would also try to contact the apartment complex management to see if they have any camera surveillance set up in the parking lot and get this "tough" guy off the streets, before he hurts others or himself.

[n5wd]

There is no such thing as "brandishing" in Texas law.

No, but there is something called "Terroristic Threat".

Sec. 22.07. TERRORISTIC THREAT. (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to:
(1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;
(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury; or
(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building; room; place of assembly; place to which the public has access; place of employment or occupation; aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance; or other public place; or
(4) cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service.
(b) An offense under Subdivision (1) or (2) of Subsection (a) is a Class B misdemeanor. An offense under Subdivision (3) of Subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor. An offense under Subdivision (4) of Subsection (a) is a felony of the third degree.

Looks like that one about covers it.

[C-dub]

I'd leave and call the cops. If he's gonna park there, you know where he'll be. Don't escalate the situation. He just committed a crime and you should report him. If he acts like that, he's probably carrying unlawfully anyway.

It basically sounds like he threatened to kill her if she didn't move her car. Move the car and then call the police or call the next day or whenever. He committed a serious crime!

If this were my sister and she could identify him and his car I would encourage her call the police or go to the station to get things rolling as soon as possible.

[apostate]

Thanks for ANY input !

In that case, I will play Devil's Advocate for a moment and describe two scenarios.

A. He likes the parking spot but has no legal claim to it. He's a bully and he threatened someone over a random parking spot. He broke the law, including something (or multiple somethings) in Chapter 22 of the Texas Penal Code.

B. The parking spot is his parking spot in the same way his apartment is his apartment. Someone was trespassing. He asked the trespasser to leave and they refused. He used the threat of force to terminate the trespass. He may be a jerk but he's legally justified. (9.04 & 9.41, Texas Penal Code)

[RoyGBiv]

Subject says WIFE, post says SISTER

Regardless...
1. Leave the scene as quickly as possible.
2. Take note of perps description (height, weight, hair, clothing), vehicle and license plate
3. Once clear of the area, stop and call police immediately.
4. Press charges, if applicable.

If the guy had a permit, he should lose it.
Even if she parked in his "assigned" spot unintentionally, he WAY overreacted and should be held accountable for the threat. Your wife/sister posed no threat of physical harm to him,but he decided to escalate immediately to brandishing, threat of deadly force. Trespass is not justification for deadly force until the request to leave is ignored... (IANAL)

[strider67]

911 within 60 seconds of him doing this. It needs to be accounted for immediately.

[srothstein]

Subject says WIFE, post says SISTER

I just can't resist pointing out that some people do move from Arkansas occasionally, even to Texas.

[Dave2]

Subject says WIFE, post says SISTER

I just can't resist pointing out that some people do move from Arkansas occasionally, even to Texas.

I thought that was Alabama...

[johnson0317]

It basically sounds like he threatened to kill her if she didn't move her car. Move the car and then call the police or call the next day or whenever. He committed a serious crime!

If this were my sister and she could identify him and his car I would encourage her call the police or go to the station to get things rolling as soon as possible.

Dang right! It makes absolutely no sense to not have done it already. This clown sent a clear message by showing his gun, "Move or I will use this". It really can not be interpreted anyway else. Oh, well, I guess it could. It could be interpreted that this clown thinks he is Bruce Willis, in a DieHard movie...um, nevermind...it really can't be interpreted any other way.

RJ