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.

[metmom]

Her dropping the drink may have distracted the perp.

[waterhill]

wert the ferk

[Portcall24]

Do you know which book this is in regarding the match?

[Bulwyf]

I wish I owned his books. I’ve been reading them since I was in grade 5. He led to my love of westerns heh.

This story is great and a picture of how being situationally aware and keeping a cool head can save you.

[major_gaff]

Carolann's father was a Marine. He taught her well.

Ooo Rah! Out-freakin'-standing!

[Mr. Douglas]

At an estate sale in Seattle, I paid a hundred bucks for his “entire collection” in softbound leather. It looked like most of them had never been read. Boxes and boxes of books. I’ve only read a few of them, though I have a lot of his stuff in audio form that I got form torrents. I fall asleep to them. I have for years.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Thanks to the Second Amendment, she didn’t need a hundred, high paid Secret Service agents to defend her. My kind of woman. She should run for president.

[marktwain]

Louis L’Amour may have saved my life on night.

I thought about something he wrote, and changed my actions.

I was later told I came very close to being shot.

[Uncle Sam 911]

“armed man” That narrows it down to the usual suspects.

[Rannug]

I have most of his books on my Ipad. He was a great, accurate, writer.

[Mr. Douglas]

I’m not sure, but i think he’s the one from whom I got the phrase, “an armed society is a polite society”.

[Rannug]

Condition One. Every time, every where.

[Moonman62]

He was hit in the abdomen.

...

I’ve read that gut shots hurt the worst. What a shame.

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Every single trainer I’ve been with is against open-carry.

The thug noticed, he chose poorly, but it could have ended a lot worse for this woman.

It’s always better to be gray then black or white when it comes to CCW.

[marktwain]

Firearms trainers tend to focus on tactics instead of strategy. It is completely understandable.

Strategically, open carry has many advantages, the primary one being that it fosters a general awareness of an armed society.

Tactically, concealed carry and open carry both have advantages that are different.

Most firearms trainers train people to obtain a concealed carry license. That is another reason they focus more on concealed carry. There are even a few states that prohibit open carry. (precisely 5, but there are others that effectively prohibit it through extra-legal means)

[Opinionated Blowhard]

He put the gun up to my neck and said, 'It’s loaded, don’t move,’ Miracle said. I dropped my soda, released my gun from my holster and cocked it. I shot him and ran in the opposite direction.

She drew and shot with a gun up to her neck and the perp behind her? Wow. That takes some guts. My hat is off to her.

[marktwain]

“She drew and shot with a gun up to her neck and the perp behind her? Wow. That takes some guts. My hat is off to her.”

We do not know the perp was behind her. I suspect he was in front of her. He asked her for a cigarette.

[alfa6]

an armed society is a polite society”.

That was Robert A. Heinlein in the novel 1948 novel Beyond This Horizion

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Mr. Douglas]

Thanks!

[Corpus_Delicious]

From my reading of it, the thug was behind her.

...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.

If he was in view, that is, in front of her, she would have seen his hand and gun moving towards her. Instead, she only felt the gun on her skin.

She made a critical mistake here, although fortunately her quick reaction saved her. NEVER turn your back on someone who asks for a cigarette or the time. Keep them in view until you can get the hell out of there.