Post 11 – How Self-Defense and Gun Training Can Saves Lives
Post 11 – How Self-Defense and Gun Training Can Saves Lives
Last updated: 9/21/15
On 9-11-15 a man was shot and killed in his car on the eastside of Detroit. I was not working for the Medical Examiner that day because I teach two self-defense classes at the Royal Oak campus of Oakland Community College on Fridays, but my partners transported his body from the scene.
On Sunday 9-13-15 I trained with a small group of individuals that meet once a month as part of our personal development as use-of-force instructors, and because some of us work in law enforcement, the military or private security. In my case I work for TFP Investigations to protect people in danger either because they work in high crime areas or because they are being threatened. Because of the type of work we do at TFP Investigation we spend a lot of time in and around vehicles, and we run into a lot of problems in and around vehicles, so we decided to run several scenarios in and around vehicles, including the shooting on 9-11-15. This was the result:
What the Airsoft does not show are the affects of those first couple shots by the attacker, anyone of which could have killed or incapacitated the person in the car. Bottom line, getting ambushed while in a car is a losing proposition. Which means tactics must do everything possible to avoid being ambushed while trapped in a vehicle.
On Thursday 9-17-15 I spent 8 hours protecting someone in the City of Detroit. Every house we went to that day had a recent shooting nearby while a worker was visiting the home. At one of the houses we went to that day someone was shot and killed only 21 days earlier. These are high crime areas. Consequently we often attract attention from people selling drugs in these neighborhoods.
At the last house I went to that day a car with three males drove past my location, turned around and parked in the middle of the street and locked eyes on me for several minutes (I’m pointing at where they were from where I was).
I moved to the left rear of the bumper of my vehicle and drew my gun so it was in my hand but they could not see it. I made sure I looked unfazed and happy incase they were fishing for a reaction. After several minutes they drove away without incidence.
Nothing happened in this case. But if it had, I was ready to respond rapidly. I have been training street to house length encounters (https://www.livesafeacademy.com/2018/11/27/post-10-what-i-learned-from-the-last-murder-shooting-scene-i-worked/), I had cover and a good line of fire. I was also able to have my gun in hand without escalating the situation or giving up the element of surprise. If I was in my vehicle the probability of me winning, or evening surviving, that fight would have been very little. By applying better tactics I was able to dramatically change the dynamics of that fight if an altercation had happened, substantially increasing my chances and decreasing theirs. Better tactics can also prevent altercations, because criminals seek easy targets.
Moral of the story: Training matters. By studying real encounters, and by vetting tactics and techniques through force-on-force training, you can eliminate a lot of the false beliefs that get people killed. Your life is worth it.
