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uudfourty wrote:That scenario has been pretty well worked-out.
Here's another real-world one. I've often thought about how I would handle this.
Like in the original example, prevention and situational awareness are key here.

This happened to a friend of mine about a year ago in a Wal-Mart parking lot at around 2:00AM.

He parked his car.
As soon as his car door closed, unseen BG told him to freeze or he'd blow him away.
My friend froze, of course.
BG was behind him. He never saw him.
BG told him to lay down on the ground beside his car and spread his arms and legs.
Friend complied.

BG closed the distance to very, very close behind him and gave him orders.
"Take your right hand and slowly pull everything out of your front right pocket.... now the back pocket.... Now take your left hand and take everything out of your front left.... now the back pocket...."

BG took what he wanted and told my friend, "Count to 100. Don't get up, don't move, don't yell. My friends are watching you, and if you don't wait for the full 100, we have your driver's license; we will find you and kill you."

My friend complied.

So far as I can tell, there is absolutely zero way out of this situation. Preventing it is the only way to win this one.

Now, for all we know, BG had a snickers bar instead of a Glock. And there were no other friends. Nothing was certain.

My guess is that BG was alone and unarmed.
But is that a theory worth testing?

Solution - don't go to Wal-Mart at 2am. If you simply must do that, you have to take extra precautions. Cruise the lot a take note of individuals sitting in cars. Avoid parking near other cars - the parking lot is probably pretty empty at 2am, so you can park your car in such a way as to not afford a hiding place for the "unseen" bad guy. When exiting the store, scan. Did someone park in unreasonably close proximity to your car? Are people present that appear to be "hanging out". If you're concerned, stay in the store for a few extra minutes, and give the environment some time to reveal itself. Again, going to Wal-Mart (or anywhere else for that matter) at 2am is not advised. The dark is where the bad guys live.

ClarkLZeuss wrote:Thanks for all the insight so far. Keep it coming!

To answer some questions, my friend was unarmed due to his personal philosophy, but more importantly his ineligibility (immigration status). The robbery happened in Houston near Reliant Stadium at night.

I keep thinking about the tactic of throwing the wallet on the ground as a diversionary tactic (cause that was one of my first ideas). The Achilles Heel of that strategy, however, would be if the robber then said, "Pick it up," instead of getting it himself.

If he's the only one showing a piece, you can probably assume he's the only one that's got one (teams of muggers like to show off, and if they aren't, they're probably unarmed, or think you're an easy mark).

First you should toss it in front of you a couple of feet, and about a foot towards your strong side. When/if he tells you to pick it up, he'll probably concentrating on the hand you're using to pick up the wallet. So, use your weak side hand to pick it up, and while bending over, draw from your strong side and fire. Two rounds center of mass in quick succession, and then take out as many of the others as you can. Don't forget to kick the dropped pistol out of the dead guy's reach (in case he ain't dead - yet).

On the other hand, he could tell one of his cohorts to retrieve it. Chances are pretty good that he's also going to glance down to observe the retrieval process. Again, that's an opportunity to draw/shoot.

Oh yeah, even if you wait until they're retreating, it's legal in Texas to use deadly force to recover stolen property. Personally, if they drew a gun/knife/weapon on me while they demanded my property, that would obviate the need to use deadly force to recover said property. Some of you have stated that personal property isn't worth killing someone for. I put it to you this way - the criminal already decided decided that the personal property was worth dying for (when he pulled a weapon), so if I can, I'll oblige him.