AZ: Woman Openly Carrying Glock Threatened by Armed Felon; She Kills Him

Gun Watch ^ | 17 August, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

A woman openly carrying a Glock was threatened by an armed felon in the early morning hours of 1 August, 2016.  She was leaving the gas station with a drink in her hand and the Glock on her hip.  Her daughter would be turning three in about a week. From abc15.com:

Miracle said she was leaving the Circle K near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road with her family early Monday morning when the suspect, Frank Taylor , tried to bum a cigarette. She told him that she didn’t have one, and then seconds later, Miracle said, she could feel the barrel of the gun against her skin.

“He put the gun up to my neck and said, ‘It’s loaded, don’t move,’” Miracle said. ”I think he thought, ‘She’s a little girl. Maybe she doesn’t know how to use her weapon.’”

Miracle said, “I dropped my soda, released my gun from my holster and cocked it. I shot him and ran in the opposite direction."

Link to video of interview with Carolann Miracle

Carolann's father was a Marine.  He taught her well.  The pistol appears to be a Glock model 17 or 22, with night sights.

There are several things to note about this encounter.  Many elements of the story are items often found in armed robberies/muggings.

First is the approach.  It is common for robbers/muggers to use a pretext to close the distance and distract the victim.  Asking for a cigarret is a common pretext.  So is asking for the time.

Second is picking what appeared to be weak prey. Carolann is a small woman, 4'11, 85 pounds.  It is common  for human predators to pick on weaker prey. Maybe he did not see the Glock on her hip.  It was dark.  She was holding a drink from the gas station, probably in her right hand.  If she was wearing a dark top, as she was in the video, the Glock would not have presented much contrast.  While open carriers tend to be very aware of their defensive firearm, many people never notice it.

Carolann did many things right.  The first was to instantly recognize the threat.  Many become mired in the thought that "this cannot be happening"; "this is not real".  People who carry are much less likely to do that because they have considered the possibility of attack and prepared for it.

She did the right thing when she dropped her drink.  Dropping things to access your weapon or to fight better is not an instinctive reaction.  Many people instinctively hang on to useless things that impede their ability to fight.  I taught my students to practice dropping things at the beginning of a fight so that they could draw their firearm, and fight more effectively.

She did the right thing when she fled the area in the opposite direction from the way the attacker was going.  Many attacks, perhaps 50%, involve an accomplice.  She purposefully made the decision, moved to safety, then called the police.

Carolann's response is common.  She did not want to kill her attacker. It was a consequence of what he forced her to do.  She would have preferred that it never happened.

There were witnesses and surveillance video, both of which backed up her story.

Carolann says she "cocked it".  I suspect she was carrying Israeli style, in condition 3, with an empty chamber.  If you practice pulling and releasing the slide as you draw, it can be fairly fast.

What did not happen.

Carolann was openly carrying.  She was accosted by a violent, armed felon.  He did not simply "shoot her first" as many who oppose open carry claim will happen.  Even though he "had the drop" on her, she won the gun fight. 

Action beats reaction.  Dropping the drink likely gave her another second, as the felon probably thought  "dropping drink" not "drawing gun".

It is a known gunfighter tactic that Louis L'Amore wrote about in one of his novels.  In that case, the fictional character let a match burn down to his fingers from lighting a cigarette, thus conditioning his opponents to expect him to flick his hand away from the burn.  Expecting that, they were surprised by the draw.

Maybe Carolann did not consciously make that decision; but the effect was similar.

Carolann Miracle; small woman, Marine's daughter, open carrier, mother, now, undesired, gunfighter.  She survived and lived to see her daughter's third birthday.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch

Clarification:  Frank Taylor pleaded guilty to Trafficking in Stolen Property in February of 2015.


Trafficking in stolen property is a felony in Arizona.

[marktwain]

Most people never notice that a person is openly carrying a handgun. I suspect that happened in this case.

[rickmichaels]

Good news. I love articles like this.

[Mr. Douglas]

I own just about everything L’Amour wrote. I’ve actually learned a lot from his books. And that match burning was not the only trick. There is the ol’ inching toward where you cast a shadow on the perp so the sun blinds him. Not that I’d get a chance to use either of those.

But I get the strong impression that she dropped the drink as a diversion. Pretty impressive. And I can’t get Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona out of my head now.

[LostPassword]

Hillary knows how to keep one of these 2 (not both) from having a gun and plans to do that.

[BigEdLB]

The thug got a final piercing before burial.

[BigEdLB]

Make sure Taylor is of the voter registration list. The dead are voting for Hillary.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

And I can’t get Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona out of my head now.

Ok...now you've done it.

How about Holly Hunter in "Always"?

[Mr. Douglas]

Yeah. The white dress...

[metmom]

I love stories with a happy ending.

***sniff***

[metmom]

Any idea where she shot him?

Was he in front of her or behind?

[Daniel Ramsey]

Great! Lady lives, bad guy gone. Baaad guy. No sympathy from me. And its getting more common, especially the cigarette, the time, do you have jumper cables, etc.

[marktwain]

He was hit in the abdomen.

There was surveilance video, but I do not think it has been released.

[ctdonath2]

“Carolann says she “cocked it”. I suspect she was carrying Israeli style, in condition 3, with an empty chamber. If you practice pulling and releasing the slide as you draw, it can be fairly fast.”

She has a young child. I’ll vouch for “condition 3” around kids not old enough to understand but strong enough to apply 4 lbs force on something interesting. You can’t absolutely guarantee total conscious control of an object every second.

[exit82]

Very impressive young lady.

Made the right decisions under stress.

[rktman]

LOL! Most likely true but I seem to spot OC all the time. Doesn’t bother me in the least but probably some vistors from Cali would find it disconcerting. Hopefully the young lady in the article will not suffer mentally and has a clear conscience. Sorry she had to be exposed to this event but the kids birthday was coming up and she isn’t going to miss it.

[loungitude]

.

[metmom]

That’ll do it.

[metmom]

Plenty painful, too, no doubt.

[waterhill]

She had time to rack the slide? One does not simply ‘cock’ a Glock.

[Scythian_Reborn]

Nice ending, perp got his ass kicked ...