Close Call

Last night at midnight my wife awakened me when she came home from bingo, something she never does, so it immediately got my attention. She told me there had been a shooting and that "Sparky and his Dad were dead". I was 100% awake at this news. She has gone there for her bingo fix for 20 years and we know Sparky and his Dad.
She was playing bingo when she saw Sparky run down from the callers stand toward the office. Then she heard Bang......bang bang bang bang bang bang. She grabbed her purse and ran out the door to behind her car and stayed there until police arrived, which was in less than 3 minutes. Many police. They had her go back inside where she saw medics working on Sparky who died as she watched. His Dad had already passed.
She learned from others that a black guy with a bandana rushed in the door on the opposite side from her, straight to the office and reached over the counter for the money. Sparky ran over and drew his pistol which wouldn't fire, and the robber opened up on Sparky and his Dad. He ran out, after being tackled and getting away, with no money and minus one shoe. People had run out the same door at the same time as the robber. Chaos reigned king as people freaked out and didn't have a clue what to do. My wife's friend ran out when my wife did and kept running while trying to flag down cars. She left her car there and it's still there, she won't go back to get it. One lady just stood in the middle of the hall screaming.
The take away: My wife did exactly what we have always discussed to do in such a situation, get safe. She grabbed her purse (with firearm inside) and got to a place where she could assess what was happening, and waited until it was safe to act further. She is a basket case otherwise, but I am proud of her for acting as she did at the time. The whole mess could have turned out even worse had the robber started shooting into the crowd of around 200.

Link to the story:

www.wpde.com/news/local/police-responding-to-active-shooting-near-belle-terre-blvd-in-myrtle-beach


That's my Wifes jeep facing the camera in the photo.

 

Yup, can happen any time any place.

 

Good that she got out of there intact...am wondering about Sparky's gun malfunction, and the wisdom of heroics in that situation....I wonder if the robber hadn't been confronted, whether the perp would have simply taken the money and ran...and Sparky and his dad would have lived to play bingo another day. The perp blazing away randomly at humans would of course be different story. Either way, two members of the community are gone, and will be mourned.

 

@Tempstar I am really happy to hear she is okay and that she managed to function during the crisis. I cannot imagine there was enough money there to risk a gunfight which is exactly what happened with horrid results. Anyway, it is over and done and let's hope they catch the slime ball...

 

Unreal. RIP Sparky and Pop. Glad Mrs is ok.

 

definitely not worthwhile starting a firefight over just some bingo cash - wayyyyyyyyyyy tooooo many innocent people around for that kind of action ...

 

Fate and you can't change it

 

Cash is not worth risking your life over, but when someone draws a gun they need to be stopped. As in "shot dead on the spot " stopped.

When a perp draws a gun he has just announced that he's willing to use it. Worse yet, he may be foaming-at-the-mouth eager to use it.

I watched a video of a convenience store robbery, a long time ago. Two black males with handguns.
They got the money (instantly and unopposed) and as they ran out the front door, the last one in line paused long enough to shoot a female bystander (white) in the face and kill her.

She did nothing. She gave him no cause at all.

Racist attack? Probably. Racist attack? Doesn't matter in the slightest. The perp did it for the pure pleasure of taking another person's life. Because he could. For some people, that's the ultimate nut-rush.

Cooperation does not guarantee survival.

It's tragic that Sparky died because his handgun failed to fire. It should have been the perp lying dead on the floor.

But this illustrates one thing I have harped on endlessly. Every weapon you carry/own needs to be in "Condition Zero" a all times. That is: ready to fire, point & pull. (Single action revolvers need not apply.)

Every weapon in your home should be ready to fire, at all times. (Oh. wait! I already said that. Oh, well. Won't be the first time.)

Worried about the little kiddies shooting each other? Teach them gun safety. End of problem. Worried about the neighbors little kiddies shooting someone? Keep them out of your house.

If somebody doesn't like that, tough. Gun controlistas don't get to say whether you (or I) get to live or die.

The 1/2 of 1/10th of 1/20th of a second lost FOR ANY REASON in making your hand cannon go boom may kill you, and let your enemy live.

And trust me on this: once they learn the Joy of Killing, they never stop.

The one you kill today saves a lot of people that would have died later.

(Officer: And after you shot your attacker and he fell to the ground, why did you shoot him fourteen more times?
Victim: He was breathing aggressively.)

Sic semper tacendi.

 

Edit: A LEO buddy just told me the magazine was not seated in Sparky's S&W 9mm, and it was kinda stuck in the gun. Carelessness of carrying every day and not practicing. Stupid, stupid thing. May not have changed the outcome, but still/
Also, no leads on the robber. He has vanished, so unless someone drops a dime on him, he may get away with it.

 

They got a shoe so they should get DNA
Sorry about the wife being scared to death over this...Hopefully she will recover and get other ladies involved in training

 

I am really glad to hear your wife is ok , practice , and common sense will save lives . Sometimes your own . So sorry to hear about Sparky and his Dad . My take on the situation is , Sparky may just carry his weapon , but not actually check his weapon , release the clip , jack the slide , insert clip , jack the slide , if possible , fire a round . Should be a daily routine . Really sad news , but glad your wife is fine .
One thing that I have noticed throughout the post here is Chell's post . He seemed to blame the lawful gun owner for their own deaths . He seemed to insinuate , that if the general public shouldn't be allowed to carry a weapon , if this were the case , everyone would still be alive . Possibly so , but that's the attitude of the gun grabbers . It's as tho he's releasing any liability from the crook himself . Sorry , but I do not understand that mindset .

 

My condolences to Sparky and his Dad.

I'm happy to hear that your wife knew what to do to get herself to safety.

Could've been anywhere. Evil will always be with us. I hope your wife and the rest of the community will recover from the shock and go on to live happy lives.

Hopefully the killer hits Bingo with number 44 on South Carolina's death row.

 

My take is one of experience with life in big cities and laws which control Bingo Halls in another State.

1. The Bingo Hall is not allowed to lock the doors during business hours. Just like so called Safety Laws brought about by poorly thought out Safety Codes. Some laws are placebos that seek to put the public in a Nanny State mind which set that them up to die which did happen in this case.

Chell? Well I have no reason to read his post.

Locked doors in some business locations controlled from inside have been a way of life in big cities for scores of years. In some grocery stores in NYC you must be buzzed in and out and go through limiting cage like turnstiles. Such a Herd Control is what the Nanny State wants since they have no way to stop the thugs and no repercussions for the thugs as a way to control their punishment. As usual only the honest pay the price with their lives.

So there you have it, live behind bars or carry.

 

One thing that I have noticed throughout the post here is Chell's post . He seemed to blame the lawful gun owner for their own deaths . He seemed to insinuate , that if the general public shouldn't be allowed to carry a weapon , if this were the case , everyone would still be alive . Possibly so , but that's the attitude of the gun grabbers . It's as tho he's releasing any liability from the crook himself . Sorry , but I do not understand that mindset .[/QUOTE

Americans are fast becoming subjects like the people of Australia are now,no rights.
We have got to turn America around and stop this crap.

 

not intending to offend here...

but I was taught that your weapon remained on safe (provided it has one) until AFTER you have drawn it and just as you come on target...

you then disengage the saftey just a split second before your finger contacts the trigger...

the purpose was to avoid an accidental discharge into yourself or some possible innocent bystander...

doing otherwise can possibly create an unsafe mindset of leaving the safety off all the time...

some firearms can have a relatively light trigger when the shooter is under stress... adrenaline kinda thing perhaps ???

or forgetting to disengage it in an emergency...

would be ugly and perhaps fatal to draw your weapon and get on target and pull the trigger... and no bang?

train as you carry was what I was told... so... if it has a safety ALWAYS include using it correctly in your drill...

YMMV...

 

Ol' chelly is a sort of enigma. You can't often tell what side of any question he is on, or what side of a debate he'll take. One thing you CAN count on, he'll take a contrary side of the main thinking regardless of his personal opinion. But I have to agree, reading him can be more than a little tedious.

 

My Beretta performs DA on first round then the hammer remains back after each consecutive round. The safety is pulling through the initial shot DA . I practice with it that way and never have close calls because the hammer is back.
Secondly if the hammer is stored back, debris can get between and cause a problem.