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Tactical
Scenario: 05-2004
It is late afternoon as your wife hustles toward the
public parking garage to get to her Lexus RX 330 SUV parked on the 2nd
floor. She has been shopping at some of
the “up-scale” boutiques in this mid-sized city and is now in a hurry to get
home to her family. A large shopping
bag is in each hand and her purse is clutched between her upper ribcage and her
left arm. Since she works and shops in
the city, you have tried to encourage her to carry a defensive weapon due to
the high crime rate but to no avail.
Although comfortable around your firearms, she has indicated that she’s
not interested in carrying a handgun, knife, OC spray or anything else that
could be used defensively.
The closest entrance to the public garage is on the side
of the building where there is no vehicle exit. She remembers that the elevators are out of commission as she
contemplates climbing the concrete stairs with her heavy load. As she approaches the entry-way, she notes
that the side door is propped open and that there is an “urban youth” leaning
against the building about 20 feet from the entrance. He has a cell phone in his hand and is casually looking
around. Your wife notes that no-one
else is entering or exiting but decides to use the stairwell anyway in her hurry
to get to her car.
When your wife is about 15 feet from the entrance, the
“urban youth” suddenly starts talking into his cell phone. His words are mumbled but your wife thinks
she hears, “Do it now” as she enters the building and begins climbing the narrow
stairway. Just prior to reaching the
landing where the stairway turns 90 degrees to the right, she looks behind her
and notes that the “urban youth” is making his way up the stairs behind her. She increases her pace and upon turning the
corner, she notes that another “urban youth” is standing at the top of the
stairs looking intently at her. She
suddenly realizes that she is in a precarious position. Explain what you would tell her to do and
why!
I’ve discussed this actual scenario many times with my
wife but I can’t get her to carry any type of defensive items. She’s a pretty alert woman & believes
that she’ll detect a potential mugging or assault before it actually happens
& will be able deter it which I hope she’ll be able to do.
Anyway, if my wife was in a scenario such as described,
I’d tell her to turn around and drop her shopping bags & head back down the
stairs toward the “urban youth” on the bottom floor. She’d then have her hands free to strike or to defend herself as
necessary. Additionally, going down the
stairs give her more potential power to hit & move past an opponent than
trying to climb stairs & move past an opponent. Finally, she would probably encounter more law-abiding citizens
on the bottom level outside the building thus her screaming & yelling would
probably attract help. It can be
assumed that on the 2nd floor there would be fewer people to hear
her and come to her aid.
I’d tell her that if the “urban youth” at the bottom of
the stairs tried to grab her to try to stick her fingers in his eyes or strike
him with her palms over the ears and in the temple region of his head. She should also knee him violently in the
groin if he manages to grab her. Her
goal must be to win at any cost & get out of the building where others will
see and hear her.