Austin son disarms AK-47 robber, goes to E.R.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Saturday, 6/6/09, 545 AM.
My son rings me up out of sound sleep with a shocking account.
He is 26, lives in a sketchy area of Austin: off Bolm Road, which
runs from Airport Blvd over to US 183. Just a block or so over from
the State of Texas garage which sells the surplus DPS Trooper cars
and pickups. For those of you familiar with the SE side of Austin.

About 430 this AM he was out talking with his neighbor on the neighbor's
lawn. The neighborhood is low income, with patches of woods behind the
houses.

From the back of the house a lone gunman approached my son and his
neighbor with an AK47. He was wearing a mask of some sort. He told
the 2 of them to raise their hands and he was going to rob them. Poor
choice - this is a low income area, so no one's got any money.

The gunman was kind of lazily waving the AK around, close to where my
son's upraised arms were. My son has big arms and shoulders. Since
the gun was so close he grabbed it behind the muzzle and started fighting
the BG.

My son is familiar with the 4 Rules of gun safety and was "muzzle aware".
The BG fired 2 shots into the ground, then removed the banana clip and started
beating my son with it. Biting was involved on both parties. Many head
punches were given by both of them to the other. My son finally got him
in a headlock. The final result was that my son gained control of the weapon,
but the BG was able to run away with just the magazine.

Austin PD responded in about a minute after the call was made. When told the
story, they told my son that he shouldn't have done what he did. "You should have
waited for us to take care of it."

My son went to Brackenridge (SP?) hospital for stitches, treatment for human
bite, and a broken nose. My son is probably not eligible for a CHL due to some
LEO encounters, so I hope the BG doesn't return to the area for payback.

Thank the Lord that this didn't turn out worse.

One of the reasons I got my CHL was because I don't like his neighborhood.
I dislike the idea that using my weapon is now more of a possibility when I
visit.

This kid's going to give me gray hair.
Oh, well, I'm in the right age to get some anyway.

[pedalman]

I'm glad he survived the encounter. He did what he had to do, despite the APD litany of, "Submit and you won't get hurt".

I question the wisdom of standing outside at 0430, but I respect your son's chutzpah in repelling the robber. He made a decision, and he saw that decision through.

I'm going to guess that your son felt something in his gut about this miscreant. That is probably what spurred him into action.

You, good sir, raised a man; not a sheep.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

pedalman:

The strange thing about this incident is that my son doesn't really
cotton to LEO's. Since he had the guy in such an overwhelming head
lock, it's very possible that he could have held the guy captive until
APD arrived.

But he felt that he had taken the time out of his day to administer a
serious beating, biting, and had taken the guy's AK, plus he was really
tuckered out from the long fight, so he let the guy go.

All in all - a good encounter. I was happy to see that my son's warrior
spirit carried the day.

[WEC]

I'm glad your son was able to repel the attack and come out of it relatively unscathed. My question is: what was the neighbor doing while the scuffle was going on?

[wheelgun1958]

"You should have waited for us to take care of it."

Take care of what? Let the guy rob and possibly shoot them and come along to clean up the mess? Sure. Dial 911 and die.



what was the neighbor doing while the scuffle was going on?

Wetting himself?

[mymojo]

Why'd he report it?.......






He coulda had a free AK.

[flb_78]

I was thinking the same thing!! Free Gun!!

but it'll probably come back as stolen and it wouldn't be a good idea to be in possession of a stolen firearm.

[Locksmith]

No longer valid

[Bob Landry]

How did the genius cop intend to "take cae of it"? They didn't even know about it until someone called in "shots fired'. Isn't that just a little late to count on the Mounties to show up? Wow.. Does Chief Acevedo have some serious problems or what....

[ELB]

"You should have waited for us to take care of it."

Take care of what? Let the guy rob and possibly shoot them and come along to clean up the mess? Sure. Dial 911 and die.

Exactly.


As for the neighbor? About what I'd expect from most people...

[Bunkins]

Waited for them to take care of it, gotta love that line right there.. " Hey Mr. BG, could you stick around just long enough for the cops to show up?"


If I was unarmed and saw a chance to disarm a BG I'd have to take my chances as well in a situation like that.. You dont know if the guy is going to shoot you if you submit, and I'd much rather go down fighting rather than pleading for my life... Dangerous? You bet it is, but so is some guy swinging a gun around trying to rob ya.

[roberts]

"You should have waited for us to take care of it."

Take care of what? Let the guy rob and possibly shoot them and come along to clean up the mess? Sure. Dial 911 and die.

If he wanted to take care of it he should have kept him locked up for previous crimes.

[Kevinf2349]

I was also going to respond about the "Wait for us to take care of it" line, but others here covered my thoughts pretty well.

I would have told the cop "Well go take care of it now then. Go find him."

....and here is a free clue....he is carrying a banana clip sans AK.

[bryang]

I admire you sons warrior spirit, with a plan and to execute that plan and to carry it out to the finish.

However, I'm sure he knows this, but he had better watch his back and be prepared for retaliation. Maybe this would be a great time to move.

Good Job!!

-geo