A friend of mine relayed a story to me last night in which a legally armed citizen found himself in a quandary about whether or not to intervene in a situation he saw developing. Imagine for a moment that you've just left Wallyworld and are walking toward your vehicle when you hear a woman screaming "Stop, stop, stop!!!" at the top of her lungs.
You look to your left to see a woman looking toward a long-haired, unshaven man who is turning to run away from the woman as she continues to scream. Cars moving through the parking lot are blocking your view so you do not see a weapon and really can't see anything other than the man's head and shoulders which keep getting lower as if he's trying to run in a nearly crouched position and the two of you are basically on an intercept path as soon as the next vehicle passes between you.
The woman is visibly upset and still screaming "Stop!" in the man's direction as he runs away. Other people are now starting to shout and point in the man's direction as he's running. Given this information, if you saw the same thing happening, what would you think/do?
You look to your left to see a woman looking toward a long-haired, unshaven man who is turning to run away from the woman as she continues to scream. Cars moving through the parking lot are blocking your view so you do not see a weapon and really can't see anything other than the man's head and shoulders which keep getting lower as if he's trying to run in a nearly crouched position and the two of you are basically on an intercept path as soon as the next vehicle passes between you.
The woman is visibly upset and still screaming "Stop!" in the man's direction as he runs away. Other people are now starting to shout and point in the man's direction as he's running. Given this information, if you saw the same thing happening, what would you think/do?