29 Dec 00

>From a friend and student in Africa:

"A week ago, I visited a friend in an unfamiliar part of town. As I left my parked car, I was passed by two individuals (pedestrians) who were taking a keen interest in me. I made eye contact with them, but there were undeterred and turned to follow me. Keeping an eye on them, I hurriedly entered the foyer of the apartment block and called my friend on the intercom.

The two suspects paused outside the foyer, spotted me, then entered. I was carrying my pistol (Browning Hi-Power) in a fanny pack. I loosened the access panel and placed my hand on the butt of the pistol. There was little doubt now as to what these two were up to. They rapidly split up as they entered, and the one on the left approached me yelling something as the one on the right kept his distance and drew a pistol from under his cardigan sweater.

I immediately drew my own pistol and fired two shots at the gunman (9mm hardball, which is all we can get over here). The armed suspect had drawn his pistol in an exaggerated, theatrical style (imitating what he had seen on American TV, no doubt) and was thus hit by my rounds before he was able to aim or fire. I would have continued to fire, but he immediately turned and fled. His astonished accomplice, though not fired upon, stumbled backward and fell, sprawling on his backside. However, he quickly recovered and was back on his feet at once.

Both suspects, now fleeing, arrived at the exit simultaneously, but the gunman's sweater became entangled in the iron grating. He pulled free and continued running, dropping both the sweater and his gun in the process. He stumbled and collapsed after running several more meters, and from my position I could see him lying in the street. I could also see a pool of blood accumulating under him. His uninjured accomplice disappeared completely.

I was fairly confident that I had hit the armed suspect, because I used my sights as I had been trained to do, but I really wasn't sure until I saw the blood stain. When I fired at him, he ran away very fast. He didn't remind me of a man who had just been shot!

Hearing the shots and suspecting that I was in trouble, my friend (also armed) had arrived at the entrance to the apartment building. He called the police on his cell phone. While all this was going on, the injured suspect got back up and resumed fleeing! He quickly disappeared, but he left a large blood stain on the pavement.

A police vehicle arrived after an hour. After questioning us briefly, they recovered the suspect's gun (only because I pointed it out to them) and left. They wrote nothing down, took no photos, and no measurements. We've heard nothing from them since and don't expect to.

This was my first (and I hope my last!) gunfight. When I fired, I can recall hearing only muffled thuds, and my ears did not ring afterwards. I did experience the slow-motion effect that you had discussed when you were here. My friend recalled my two shots being separated by a scant fraction of a second, while my recollection is that they were spaced by several seconds."

Lessons: Alertness and competent training sets one up for victory! My student was alert and saw trouble in the making. He wasn't confused nor did he lapse into denial. He confronted a desperate circumstance squarely and quickly made a plan, confident in his own ability and resolve. He didn't hesitate and didn't miss. His decisiveness and competence saved his life. Good show!

/John