carrying in convenience store. . .close call?

[dwsintxs]

last saturday evening, I happened to be in a convenience store in Carrollton. A mom and pop store, not a 7-11 or similar chain store. I frequent this store daily.

I was carrying. I've had my CHL since December. I carry a Ruger LCP.

Anyway, it's about 8:30 pm. the place is empty except for me, and the Mom and Pop. A very nice older Korean couple. A young black man comes in. He seems to be maybe 16 or 17, and he's wearing a long bulky coat, and when he walks in, the woman behind the counter immediately asks him what he wants, and he tells her that he is 'just looking'. My radar immediately started going off. After all, who goes into a convenience store to 'look'? Convenience stores are stores you go in to buy something and then get gone, not for window shopping etc.

Then I see 2 more young black men walk in, and they make eye contact with the 1st kid and then those 2 walk together to the back corner of the store and face the corner and start whispering. I see kid #1 look at them, and then he switches aisles and starts (in my opinion) 'pretending' to look at stuff on the shelves.

At this point, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up and I was certain that they were about to rob the place.

I put my hand on my fanny pack and slid the top open and rested my hand on the butt of the gun. Then, I realized that I needed to get out of there. I am not law enforcement and had no business trying to put down a robbery. The kid #1 saw me put my hand to my side and I gave him a strong look in the eyes, trying my best to look as if I knew what he was up to. Don't know if it made any difference but before he looked away, he definitely saw my hand at my side and my shirt was pulled up over the fanny pack. there's no doubt he saw it. Whether he put 2 and 2 together is anybody's guess.

Meanwhile, the Mom and Pop were on high alert. 'Mom' had come around from behind the counter and was standing at the end of the aisle glaring at kid #1, and periodically asking him what he wanted. I have seen them do this before. Their situational awareness always seems to be 'on' for people who come into the store and have seen both of them run people out of the store for loitering too long.

'Pop' was still behind the counter with the phone in one hand and the other below the counter out of sight.

I walked out, got into my car which was parked right at the front door and I pulled the LCP out and held it in my lap.

A moment or two later I see all 3 of them leave the store and walked away (together) down the street.

I reholstered, and walked back inside, and checked out Mom and Pop and everything was cool, and they were both back behind the counter. I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began thinking about what would have happened if these kids had gone through with their planned robbery.

I am utterly convinced that they were in fact, going to rob the place, and don't know what it was that made them call it off. I'm thinking Mom and Pop blustered them out the door. She must have rattled their cages following that one kid from aisle to aisle.

I don't know if I did the right thing, or the wrong thing, or a combo platter of both, but I'm glad it didn't go sideways any more than it already was . . .

[RogueUSMC]

You did good.

One thing though (and you may have done good here too) when leaving, I wouldn't turn my back on them after making eye contact. Once I perceive in him a realization that I am armed, I WOULD NOT turn my back on him.

How I would have proceeded, once I knew they were up to no good, would all depend on if my family or friends were with me. If I am alone, I would probably do what I could to support the storekeepers. If my family is with me, I would probably temp a safe egress from the area.

Use your judgement...nobody has to answer for it but you. You will probably be more critical of your decisions than others will.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

[VMI77]

Not a criticism.....but I have to say, I have gone "just looking" in a convenience store for one reason or another, such as: while waiting to meet someone; waiting on someone I've traveling with; waiting for wife or kids using the restroom. If asked if I needed help I would have said.....no, just looking.

[dwsintxs]

I didn't think of that, and yes, I did have my back to them as I exited the store.
One thing I forgot to add, was that while I was sitting out front, I had a pretty decent view of what was happening inside and my phone was ready to dial 911 had I thought that anything out of the ordinary was going down in there.

I was alone. Had I had any friends or family with me, I would have driven away instead of staying there.

Good advice though, about not turning your back to the bad guys. I will keep that in mind and hope that I never have to put it into practice!

[VMI77]

And if a robbery had commenced? Would you have called 911, stayed in your vehicle, or left....planning to use the LCP only if they attacked you? I'd feel pretty out gunned with an LCP against three guys.

[dwsintxs]

I'm not sure what I would have done. I was thinking more along the lines of stopping it before it got started, and then when I went outside to the car I was thinking I'd dial 911 if anything started and used it in self defense.

I knew I couldn't have done anything inside there, at a 3-1 disadvantage.

Obviously I didn't fully think out a scenario where it would have gone that badly.

Your question makes me re-consider the idea of the wisdom of staying in there at all. It also makes me realize that I should switch out my EDC from the LCP to the S&W M&P Shield 9mm that I just purchased, which I will do as soon as I get the holster i've ordered.

[gthaustex]

LCP to the S&W Shield 9mm

Or better yet, an M&P 9 or Glock 17....with a spare magazine of course.

[locke_n_load]

LCP to the S&W Shield 9mm

Or better yet, an M&P 9 or Glock 17....with a spare magazine of course.

Or, what I carry, Glock 26 with spare glock 17 magazines in my backpack and in my truck... Easy to conceal with 28 rds to do business with

[dwsintxs]

and if each of those 3 bad guys had been using your idea? 3 guys with glocks with 17 rounds each? . . . I don't think I would have had a chance. . . LOL

[locke_n_load]

I would put money down that perhaps maybe 1 or 2 of them would have a firearm, probably not all three, and probably not 17 round glocks. Enough confidence in that to bet my life against it? Definitely not. But I do like having more than 7 rds to do business with. I used to carry a Keltec PF9, but I feel so much better with my glock 10+1 than the keltec 7+1... That and the trigger pull/distance...

[dwsintxs]

The entire incident certainly has me thinking about what happens in public situations. What to do. When and If I should do it.
I wasn't being directly threatened, but had those 3 hurt the Mom and Pop after I left the store I would feel badly about not helping.

Also, if I had attempted to help, would I have been in more danger? (3 against 1)

A simple incident like this raises a lot of questions for a CHL'er

[Paul's Shield]

I probably would have called 911 anyways after the safe retreat to the car just to have them be one step closer if anything had happened, but does calling 911 in a situation like this when nothing has transpired yet an okay thing to do? obviously this isn't some frivilous call but would law enforcement frown or appreciate this?

[MotherBear]

I probably would have called 911 anyways after the safe retreat to the car just to have them be one step closer if anything had happened, but does calling 911 in a situation like this when nothing has transpired yet an okay thing to do? obviously this isn't some frivilous call but would law enforcement frown or appreciate this?

I feel like in the small-ish towns where I've lived, they certainly wouldn't mind a call and if someone was in the area and not tied up with something else they might just swing by and check things out. I've always had good PDs where I've lived, and the message I've gotten is don't hesitate to call. Personally, I advocate making a little effort to get to know your local PD and what their general attitude is. It also means if you ever call them for something like this, you've got a little extra credibility.

[texanjoker]

I've responded to a LOT of calls over the years where the clerk calls in a suspicious person, and the only reason they really called is because of the color of their skin. That could be the case here with mom and pop, and their demeanor amped you up and escalated everybody.

[RetNavy]

I probably would have called 911 anyways after the safe retreat to the car just to have them be one step closer if anything had happened, but does calling 911 in a situation like this when nothing has transpired yet an okay thing to do? obviously this isn't some frivilous call but would law enforcement frown or appreciate this?

calling 911 would be a good idea.... even after the three left you could stay around and inform the officers of the problem.... chances are they could be known to local law enforcement and they would be more alert in the area....
last week when I was at physical therapy my M-I-L had to get some clothes for my daughter, she forgot that we normally set the alarm when no is home and forgot the code.... had three PD units show up....