Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 05/21/2015 6:00:26 AM PDT by cripplecreek
A quick-thinking man who refused to become a victim hopes he taught a young bad guy a lesson.
Most people who carry a concealed handgun won't be in the situation where they have to draw and use it. That was a reality Tuesday for a Waterford man.
James Dockman refused to pull the trigger and tonight the 49-year-old explains why.
"Do you really want to (expletive) do this," Dockman said to the armed robber.
The young man holding the weapon didn't want to answer, fleeing.
Dockman said he was headed to his dialysis treatment around 4 a.m. Tuesday when he noticed someone coming out of the woods. The suspect walked up to his sport utility vehicle asking for help.
"He just goes leans in and (holds up a gun)," Dockman said.
So James who's licensed to carry a concealed pistol, responded in kind. He pulled out his 9mm Ruger, loaded with hollow points with a round already in the chamber.
"This guy had a gun on me, I got a gun on him," Dockman said. "I don't want to kill this kid. But I'm going home. He started looking both ways at me and kind of like he didn't know what to do."
The standoff lasted seconds but James says it felt much longer.
"All it would have taken was a twitch and I would've killed him," Dockman said. "He goes 'Have a nice day.' And then he backs up and as he backs up I brought my gun back down and he went back into the woods."
Dockman's quick draw which thwarted robbery and possibly bloodshed, was praised on Facebook
Andy Kinnison wrote "Good job on the good guy for carrying." But others unloaded a salvo of criticism.
Viewer Rick Smith wrote "Do not play games when threatened. When confronted with a gun in a crime, eliminate the threat immediately without hesitation."
And Grant Laskaska wrote "Don't pull it unless you're going to use it."
"A lot of people said 'I would've shot him,'" James said. "Well you know what, when you're in my shoes let me know what you're going to do. Until you're in my shoes I don't give an (expletive) what you think."
FOX 2: "Were you ready to shoot him?"
"I would have killed the man," Dockman said. "I would have killed him. I didn't want to. I don't want to live the rest of my life with that on my conscience of killing a 20-year-old kid.
"I'm 49 years old. I've been around a little while now. But push come to shove, I'm going home with that lady in that car there, that's my wife. I'm going home with her one way or the other."
More than the gun in his face, James says he'll remember the look in his would be robber's eyes. A look that was desperate but afraid - and that was before James drew his pistol.
"That guy wherever he is, he's still alive," Dockman said. "I'm glad he's still alive and pray to God he learned something from it."
Armed non shooting incident.
indeed. The synergy of two dim witted thugs “working” together..would likely have produced a slightly less desirable outcome for the would be robber.
Good on him but he took a big chance. I wouldn’t have.
It’s obvious that he sensed the perps fear and confusion, which obviously saved the kid’s life.
I hope the perp gets right with God but, he could just as likely kill his next victim.
He let him off to prey upon someone else. If you need to pull it, you need to use it.
James Dockman is lucky he is not dead.
And his wife a widow.
If you are going to pull a gun to defend yourself - you better be prepared to use it.
The idea of ‘carry’, is to carry a tool that would save your life.
Sometimes, teaching the perp that you are also armed,
might stop the potential problem.
Sometimes, you have to use that tool.
In carrying, you hope NOT for that moment, but you
have resolved, that necessary action would be wielded
with the precision needed to fulfill, that moment.
That, is self-preservation.
Wow.
Not mentioned or considered in comments I’ve read:
He just gave a predator with a deadly weapon an option to consider what he does next time.
I wonder if he can live with the fact that he likely will see the perp’s picture in the paper in the near future, having killed another victim, and he could have prevented that death...
There is still an armed thug in the woods. His next victim might not get time to draw.
I prefer not to lock myself into an action that may not be appropriate or adult.
/johnny
“This guy had a gun on me, I got a gun on him,”
Stupid move. Must have been watching too many TV and movies where two enemies pull handguns and then don’t fire.
It is like saying to the other, “MY trigger finger is faster than your trigger finger AND bullet!”
I disagree. There are many scenarios where brandishing a weapon could end the threat. If, for example, they turned and ran away, your recommendation would be to shoot them in the bacK? No thanks. I don’t want to go to prison.
“That guy wherever he is, he’s still alive,” Dockman said.
Sure, but his next victim might not be so lucky.
It seems your comment is based on facts not in evidence....the perp had a gun pointed at this citizen. In most cases when that happens i.e. he manages to get to his gun, he gets killed or maimed even if he does manage to take the perp out.
BTW, I was not suggesting he shoot him in the back as he ran away, if you read that into my comment, you were looking for a reason to state the obvious i.e. don’t shoot fleeing felons.
Next time - and there will be a next time - that kid will pull the trigger first. How many people will he kill before he is stopped for good?
Never a blowhard deficit at FR is there?
That is probably what will happen.
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