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Left a sushi bar last night on westheimer with relatives, estimate the time was 10pm or so. Walking to our vehicle, I immediately see a lone Mexican male walking towards my vehicle at a decent pace, thru the parking lot not along the sidewalk. At first sighting he was about 50 yards from the vehicle, his walking path would've put him at my drivers side or rear drivers side door. This immediately made me suspicious, so i look in his direction a couple times to let him know that I knew he was there. Whole time I had my hand on my carry knife. Relatives getting in the car felt like a really long time. Around 15 yards or so everyone was in the car and I had the vehicle started, reverse gear, ready to gun the gas in case he tried anything. When he got around 10 yards of my vehicle he changed his walking path to the sidewalk. I spoke to my cousins this morning telling them about the whole thing and they noticed him too. What do y'all think?

I am new to this forum with just a couple posts. Just been lurking around while waiting for my CHL. Since Castle Doctrine law has changed I think I need to start carrying in my XD9 SC in my vehicle. Couldve been bad last night. Stay sharp

I don't understand, Westhiemer is a busy street in Houston, a guy 50 yards away walking in the general direction of your parked car doesn't sound to suspicious to me. Even 15 yrds away doesn't sound suspicious. I don't think most criminals would be looking for better targets.. Not as many, older, or maybe a single female. It sounds like there were 3 of you. and you had good visability.

It's good that you were alert, but from the way I understand the scenario, you were more on edge than I would be.

I'm not familiar with that area, but I agree, it sounds like you might've been a little on edge, however it IS better safe than sorry, and it is very good you were aware of your surroundings and keeping an eye on things.

On a side note, I began carrying my gun in the car with me a few months ago, as soon as I convinced myself it was now legal to do so via the Castle Doctrine. (I'm still waiting on my CHL) It is nice to have it in the vehicle with me, just in case. Obviously, as soon as the plastic arrives, it will never leave my side, but I will do what I can for now...

he was walking at a good pace, powerwalking pace. I found it suspicious cuz he wasnt on the sidewalk and his walking vector was directly at my drivers door and he was wearing typical "hood clothes" No other pedestrians around beside my group and him, no other activity in the parking lot. Was probably nothing but had a taste of what couldve been something nasty

I think you did good by being alert to your surroundings. We will not know what the threat will look like, therefore, situational awareness becomes very important. Be aware of where everyone is at, what they are doing, and where their hands are.

By the way, welcome to the forum. You came to the right place for information and help. There are a lot of good folks on here with a lot of knowledge and experience and are willing to share with us.

It is better to be safe than sorry...stay alert!

-geo

Where on Westheimer? Westheimer is a long street that goes through many varying parts of town.

i was at miyakos sushi bar, not sure of the cross street. Its still west of the galleria area. The cousins that were with me, who arent anywhere near SD savvy even thought it was weird for this guy to approach like this. Adding to suspicion was the fact my car was parked away from other cars so it wasnt like a busy parking lot or anything but he was coming straight to the vehicle when other vehicles are further away

Did his facial expression seem to register that you had visually picked him up? How would you describe his facial expression? (That is, if you could discern it in the distance and darkness/artificial light.)

Possibly (remote as it may be) it was an intented gang initiation hit, and the guy got cold feet when you visually picked him up, had your fingers in your clothing, and had entered a motor vehicle. Or I may be completely wrong here, and he was just absent-minded, deep thinking in public, or under the influence of something with no ill intent to anyone.

As long as everyone made it home safely and the sushi digested properly, it sounds like a successful visit to Miyako.

It is good you are talking about this with your cousins; maybe they will think about acquiring CHLs too.

Folder or fixed blade?

folded blade. I first noticed him at 50 yards so was a bit far to judge a facial expression and it was 10pm too. When I first noticed him he was already walking, not like he saw us and then started walking. I was trying to watch his hands but nothing about his hands raised suspicion. Brother was one of the ones with me who has passed the CHL class and is awaiting his plastic as well. Just a good lesson for me and others for alertness, not going to lose sleep over it.

ForTehNguyen wrote: Walking to our vehicle, I immediately see a lone Mexican male walking towards my vehicle at a decent pace, thru the parking lot not along the sidewalk.

Dont make yourself look...well...less than educated. Say "hispanic", i know its difficult, but some brown skinned males may actually be from Argentina, Colombia, San Salvador, etc. etc. :)

Its kinda like someone saying "I saw a lone Chinese guy...", when they may in fact be Vietnamese, Korean, etc :)

PS-Welcome to the Forums

Score one FTW. Errr, FTN.

dihappy. Thanks for making that comment. Exactly what i was thinking. You say he was mexican because he was wearing a flag across his chest? Please next time say a "suspicious person" was walking.

Good job on your alertness.

Anyone walking "with purpose" and intersecting your line of travel gets some extra attention from me.

ForTehNguyen wrote:Left a sushi bar last night on westheimer with relatives, estimate the time was 10pm or so. Walking to our vehicle, I immediately see a lone Mexican male walking towards my vehicle at a decent pace, thru the parking lot not along the sidewalk. At first sighting he was about 50 yards from the vehicle, his walking path would've put him at my drivers side or rear drivers side door. This immediately made me suspicious, so i look in his direction a couple times to let him know that I knew he was there. Whole time I had my hand on my carry knife. Relatives getting in the car felt like a really long time. Around 15 yards or so everyone was in the car and I had the vehicle started, reverse gear, ready to gun the gas in case he tried anything. When he got around 10 yards of my vehicle he changed his walking path to the sidewalk. I spoke to my cousins this morning telling them about the whole thing and they noticed him too. What do y'all think?

I am new to this forum with just a couple posts. Just been lurking around while waiting for my CHL. Since Castle Doctrine law has changed I think I need to start carrying in my XD9 SC in my vehicle. Couldve been bad last night. Stay sharp

PLEASE, do not ask someone that WASN'T there to assess your Situational Awareness. It's your responcibility to observe, assess, and act on your own gut feeling. Absolutely NO ONE else can make that determination. This is the most critical part of your CHL class. You, and only you can assess a situation and take what action (if any) is necessary.

This is serious business, and human lives could be at stake here. Go back to your Texas Consealed Handgun Laws and selected Statutes, PC CH.9. Apply your assessed situation here and see how it fits. Only you can decide, and the law takes it from there...

Mark F wrote:
PLEASE, do not ask someone that WASN'T there to assess your Situational Awareness. It's your responcibility to observe, assess, and act on your own gut feeling. Absolutely NO ONE else can make that determination. This is the most critical part of your CHL class. You, and only you can assess a situation and take what action (if any) is necessary.

This is serious business, and human lives could be at stake here. Go back to your Texas Consealed Handgun Laws and selected Statutes, PC CH.9. Apply your assessed situation here and see how it fits. Only you can decide, and the law takes it from there...

You are correct in that the person in the situation is responsible for making an assessment and a decision on what action to take in real time as the situation unfolds.

However, I respectfully beg to differ that there is no validity to sharing the facts with others later and asking for their input. One of the most valuable aspects of this forum is that it allows members to share situations they've faced with others and learn from their perspectives and experience through the same type of after action review process that is used with great success in the military and in business. The purpose of doing this is to refine one's thought processes and improve the quality of assessments and decisions in the future, as well as to allow others who have not faced the same situation to go through the thought processes and improve their future performance even though they weren't at the scene of the original incident.

I personally find this very valuable, and I suspect that other members do as well.