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In over 30 years, some including military time in hostile zones, I only remember one time I decided to shoot and stopped immediately.
It was as a civilian and an attack by a deranged and belligerent man in my family business. One of our employees had called the police because the man was threatening customers and workers. He was asked to leave and instead went beserk and ran at my father. Standing nearby, I just stepped back blocked with my left arm, reached back, clearing the suit jacket, gripped my concealed Beretta 92, unsnapped the retention strap, and... I never drew. The deranged violent attacker stopped in his tracks, turned and left.
The attack started and ended in about 3 or 4 seconds.
It was very easy to see things deescalate and not go further. I resnapped and went on with my day. Police found the guy further up the street. It turned out he was one of several troubled homeless people given a bus ticket to my town by a church. The church was telling these guys that someone would meet them in our town and give them a place to live. It turned out to be a scam to get some of the homeless off the streets in Philadelphia. The men were very lost and confused when they arrived in our small town.
Anyway, I am glad it all worked out and I did not have actually shoot, or even actually draw. It would not have been a great experience for anyone. A man who needed psychiatric care would have been shot and the legal ramifications would have played out.
It never crossed my mind to tell my father why the guy stopped the attack on him and left. I never did tell him before he passed away 30 years later.
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