I almost cleansed the gene pool

[Sir William]

I went shopping today with friends for antiques. We went out to eat afterwards. We decided to watch some DVDs and have snacks. I went home about 0100. My dog needed to go out for a walk. We were within a block of home when I noticed a couple walking along the other side of the street. They reversed direction and started walking back behind me. My dog went ballistic at once. I was having a little trouble keeping him reined in. He was standing on his hindlegs and pulling as hard as he could to reach out and touch them. I managed to convince the dog to move and we went on our way. We rounded the corner and started uphill for home. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!! Three 22 rf shots went off from behind us. I dove behind a parked car, drew my BHP, flipped off the safety and laid prone while scanning the area. The couple was cursing and running away from us. I reapplied the BHP safety and called 911. My dog was prone and growling beside me. The PD sent two prowl cars for a shots fired call. I described the couple and gave the dirction of travel and where I thought they ran to ground. I did three things wrong. I should have trusted the dog and his instinct. I failed to stay on the line with 911. I was concerned with controling my dog when I should have had my hand on the grip of my BHP. If the shooter had been stupid enough to engage me, I believe I would have ended his life. They both ran away. It was close. The truly odd thing was that I did have a hot flash and pounding in my ears, my mouth was dry and I broke into a cold sweat after being hot. I didn't shake or lose auditory function. I simply found it strange to go from hot to a cold sweat so quickly. Adrenalin and blood pressure I daresay.

[Cowled_Wolfe]

You're still alive, and that's what counts most of all! And with luck, maybe the cops'll get them? Either way... I'm glad to hear you're alright.

Wolfe.

[sterno]

So they fired at you after you turned the corner? Are you sure it was that couple?

That's a good question though. How do you handle a keyed-up dog, a cell phone call to 911, and your handgun with only two hands? Which two to choose...

[Chris Phelps]

That's a good question though. How do you handle a keyed-up dog, a cell phone call to 911, and your handgun with only two hands? Which two to choose...

You stay on the line with 911, keep your handgun for personal defence, and let the dog go.


or put 911 on speaker phone and set the phone down.

[SMITH910]

Did the cops find casings on the ground? Did they find evidence that it was from where that couple were standing/walking? Weird, glad you're okay.

[azredhawk44]

I did three things wrong. I should have trusted the dog and his instinct. I failed to stay on the line with 911. I was concerned with controling my dog when I should have had my hand on the grip of my BHP.

Thank you for sharing.

I have wondered what I would do if I was in this type of situation, and somehow I always end up having 4 hands! Dog, Cell Phone, gun and reload! I am somehow transformed to a Hindu god with 4 arms.

It just "clicked" to me that I need to let the dog go, and possibly drop the phone to the ground while still online with 911 if I need the second hand.

[Bo Hunter]

First let me say, I'm glad you are okay. That sounds like some scary stuff!

No offense, but I don't see where you "almost" did anything except "almost" get shot. You were already around the corner, facing AWAY from your alleged attackers, you never saw WHO shot - and by the time you were diving behind a car, and pulling the high power, you could have already had 3 bullets in your back... I'm not trying to be a jerk, but that is how I read the story.

Also - could you clarify some things?
When you say couple, do you mean a man and a woman?

When they turned to follow you direction of travel, did they remain on the opposite side of the street?

When the dog started going nuts, what did they do? Simply stand there and wait? I mean, if I were walking down the street, and someone on the otherside of the street's dog started going crazy - at me - I think I would continue walking - to get further away in case the dog got loose.

How long was it, from the time you got the dog calmed down, to the time you heard the shots? Was it long enough for you to "forget" about them?

Just curious if you ever made eye contact with them, and if so did it make you uneasy? Did they do anything (other than changing direction) that should have put you on higher alert?

If the shooter had been stupid enough to engage me, I believe I would have ended his life.

This is one I don't understand? Do you mean when you were wresting with your dog? I am imagining you with two hands on a leash trying to fumble with your dog. Had he drawn at that point, do you think you would have time to have dropped the leash, gotten control of your gun, and returned fire PRIOR to being shot? Or, do you mean that if he/she had CONTINUED to engage you AFTER firing the first three shots, you would have then shot?

I see it as a simple scary ambush that you really had no control over - nor did you really have any way of protecting yourself other than possibly changing directions when they did, to see what their intentions were.... Did you hear the bullets striking anywhere near you?

Not criticizing, just trying to learn. This sounds much more scary than many of the other attacks that at least have some foreshadowing....

EDIT - I'm not criticizing ANYTHING you did or the way you handled yourself or the situation - but it appeared you thought you were in control of the situation, where based on the story, it sounds as though you weren't (false sense of security from something, perhaps surviving?). Thats all I was getting at. I can't say I would have done anything differently if I were in your situation, other than have looked over my shoulder a few times (and you probably did that anyway).

[claude783]

OK, Monday nite quarterback time:

Lay on the ground, keep gun on ground next to you, talk on 911 and control dog. If gremlins come your way, let dog go, as that will grab their attention, while dog is running towards them, lay down cell phone and pick up hand gun and dispatch said gremlins to the next world!

A snarling, charging dog, will focus their attention, makes them more like fish in a barrel as they lose sight of you...aling sights, and shoot them!

[Mikeyboy]

Unless you have a dopey dog (One Black lab I had would growl at his reflection in the mirror, loveable but just plain dopey), always trust your dog's instincts. The pounding ears and other stuff is adrenaline and other fight or flight hormones kicking in. I get the same way in crisis situations, almost like a fever. Good news is you will have an extra boost of energy to fight or run, bad news is you need to calm it down a little to shoot straight.

[CobrayCommando]

This is weird, it sounds like someone tried to assassinate you...

[FirstFreedom]

-Very glad you're OK.

-Wish you would have cleansed the gene pool - too bad no opportunity to do that.

-You did fine, all things considered.

-That's one tactical dog ya got there.

-Did you see where the shots hit; how close they were to you?

-Where in the heck do you live?

[Ronny]

Glad you and your dog are okay, but are you sure the "couple" did the shooting? They might have been "cursing" because they were getting shot at also.

Also, did you hear anything akin to the sound of incoming fire aside from the shots? (bullet hiss or impact sounds)

[stinchcomb]

I've only had to draw my gun once in self defense and I didn't perform as I thought I would. Even though I'm older now, you just don't know how you re-act when the time comes.

I was 13 and and carrying a Marlin .22 mag lever action given to me by my father which was given to him when he was 16. I was exploring the 100 acre wood behind the house without the help of Pooh and friends. The area was known to have a pack of wild dogs that wreaked havoc on local livestock. I came face to face with this pack a long way from home. They where standing on the opposite side of the creek just staring at me. I've always been told to be aware of the quite dog that just stares. When the lead dog a large white Shepard mix started down the creek bank followed by his friends about 9 of them total. I levered in a round drew on them and fired, but I was so nervous I didn't hit a living thing and didn't think to quickly rack in a new round. Luckily that single shot was enough to scare them off. I had the same sweat and shaking hands, but I didn't run home. Instead I regained my thoughts levered in a new round and continued on my way. After that I made the decision to always carry when ever practically possible.

[kjeff50cal]

What's with these white shepard mixes. I had a very similar situation along a creek turned rice irregation canal but I was armed with a .50 cal (yes that is why my handle) muzzleloader looking for deer sign.... I was near the communtiy dump and I hear barking. I look up-slope to a fence line that borders the creek and there were 5 dogs with a white shepherd looking at me. All they did was bark and they seemed mindful I was carrying a gun and made no move towards me. When I got back to my uncle's place I inquired about the dogs by the dump. He said that there were no homesteads near the dump enough to have dogs in that area. Those dogs were the ones chasing the wildlike population around and I should have "dumped" as many of them as I could (yeah right with a muzzleloader). Since then I carry one of my pistols no matter what the season. You never know what you may run into especially since the game dept. wants to reintroduce black bears to East Texas .

kjeff50cal

[chris in va]

Wow Sir William, that's scary stuff. If your dog hadn't alerted things might've gone differently...

I'm self employed and see quite a few dogs in residences. One of the most harrowing things ever to happen to me while working was at a rich lady's house with a white and normal GSD. I asked if she would put them in the basement or something, "oh they're fine".

While upstairs the white one came around the corner at the end of a long hallway and stared at me, head low. Suddenly it charged snarling it's head off at me, but before I could react the normal GSD came from an adjacent room and grabbed the white's throat, cutting off the attack. By then I had slammed a bedroom door closed, yelling at her to get her effing dogs.

Neither dog liked me, but there's really something psycho about the white ones. And I've had a GSD before.

[PythonGuy]

You turn a corner, you hear what you say is 22 rimfire, you don't know who fired the shots, or if they were indeed shots. You don't even know if you were the target and you already decided to execute two people and remove what you feel are their bad genes? How do you, in those few seconds they pass by you, not even speaking with them, know they were bad, or in need of being killed? What makes you think you can determine the gene pool? I'm just asking these questions because I find your logic, and story, suspect in the least. Please explain how you knew these people should have been killed? Not flaming either, maybe there is more to the story you didn't explain.

[Lion In Winter]

Let's see; dog doesn't like unidentified couple.(In common use, "couple" indicates man and woman.) Sir Wm turns corner and hears three sharp sounds which to his ears, remind him of "22RF. I take this as him saying the firing of a .22 Long rifle cartridge.

Based on this he throws himself on the ground behind cover while drawing and readying his handgun for immediate fire.. He also says he still had a visual on the couple but does not indicate seeing a gun They ran in an opposite direction. He calls 911 ?

I would be interested in knowing much more about Sir Wm's neighborhood as it appears to be a very exiting place to live!

[Sir William]

I just live in a small midwestern town. The neighbourhood has one BAD house with bad people, bad dogs and a bad reputation. The couple I saw was the daughter of the people who HUD gave the loan to purchase the house to. The couple who have the house are both mentally retarded. The female is a product of incest. The male is terminally ill with cancer. The children of this couple are all dangerous idiots. Convicted of everything from theft, arson, B&E, vandalism and endangerment of minors. The daughter has a boyfriend who thinks he is Black Jack. Really. He has a BIG nose, a thick mustache, dresses in black western clothing and packs a 22 revolver but, the PD has not been able to catch him carrying. The PD supervisor I spoke with called him an idiot. Their cursing was directed at me and I understood the shots came from the couple in their verbal and non-verbal communication. The PD supervisor believed that they were trying to shoot out street lamps or just scare someone. The house of the girls' parents was where the PD located the couple 2 blocks away. The PD found no gun, they dropped it and wrote a report. No further action taken. I was not pleased but, this is what I am stuck with. I intend to add a Walther PP in 32 ACP to my nightly walks. I can gain access to it faster and operate it sooner. I am going to kick up my situational awareness while walking also. I will be more aware of cover and concealment as well. The dog? I am going to place more trust in his instincts.

[BreacherUp!]

I just live in a small midwestern town. The neighbourhood has one BAD house with bad people, bad dogs and a bad reputation. The couple I saw was the daughter of the people who HUD gave the loan to purchase the house to. The couple who have the house are both mentally retarded. The female is a product of incest. The male is terminally ill with cancer. The children of this couple are all dangerous idiots.

Jesus, man. That's quite a town. I can hear the dueling banjos now.

[Sir William]

I am glad that the shooter didn't tell me I had a "purdy mouth". LOL The father of this girl once ran a drive-up drug window. He closed in a garage and put in a sliding window. People drove up, hopped out and paid and he gave them their fix. It worked well enough to pay off their Oldsmobile, their GMC, their Chevrolet, a Camaro for their daughter and restitution/damages for their son. They did get busted in a Oxycontin sweep. Upstanding citizens.

[sterno]

Ahhh...so that makes alittle more sense now. But do you think they were shooting at you or just waiting for you to turn the corner so they could shoot at whatever they wanted to shoot at? How do they know he carries a .22 revolver if they've never caught him with it?

Maybe you should get one of those hands free earbuds for your cell phone so you can dial your phone then put it on your belt or shirt pocket and have a hand free for your gun.

[PythonGuy]

One bad, and in this case it seems exceptionally bad, neighbor living near you can just ruin your day. The law is extremely limited in what it can do to control people that don't know how to respect others, I hope you find some peace from these people.

[Dan*Smith]

That's pretty crazy, i'm glad you're okay. I always kind of dreamed of having some real excitement, but maybe it's not as romantic as I thought. I'm just kidding.

[stratus]

I'm too tired to really type much but I came across this post and I am compelled to say... Well done!