Trouble avoided...

[XDAndMe]

Situational awareness saved my behind just a few hours ago...

I was up late on campus with a friend doing work. At around 3:30-4:00 AM we decided to go get something to eat because we had been up all night and we were getting hungry. There weren't many places open, so we decided to go the central train station in the city which is a close walk from campus. There are a couple places there that are open 24/7.

Well needless to say the train station was pretty empty save for all the crazies that hang out there to sleep or beg for money. On the walk back to campus, we picked up on the fact that someone was walking behind us by about 20 or 30 feet. At that time in the morning, when no one else is out, it was a little weird. We decided to illegally cross the street (jaywalk) to try and get out of his path.

That's when he followed.

He waited a couple seconds and then jaywalked too, and was right behind us again. He had a quick pace and started to close the gap. At this point we put 2 and 2 together and realized we were in trouble. We tried not to look at him and pretend we weren't on to him, but I couldn't help but keep my hand on my knife. I think he saw that. Fortunately, we were close to the only building on campus that we have access to at that time. There's a long side staircase that leads up to a door with a magnetic card reader. As soon as we crossed the staircase we made a beeline up to the entrance and let ourselves in with our student ID's. Looking behind us, we saw the guy look up at us but he kept walking down the street. At that point we called public safety to report the incident and they sent us an escort to take us to our cars.

If we hadn't been near that particular building and that staircase, we would have been mugged. We're damn sure of it. This guy had a presence about him and was going out of his way to follow us and close the gap. At the last few seconds before we made up the stairs, he was within 10 feet behind us. He was wearing a coat and had one hand in his pocket. It's all just too perfect to be coincidental. He was after something.

Anyway, thanks to our situational awareness, an incident was avoided. I just wanted to share because it was kind of intense knowing that we were being followed closely and there was no one else around. In retrospect, I shouldn't have had my hand on my knife because that probably tipped him off that we were on to him, had a weapon, and were preparing for a fight. Thankfully we kept our cool and made some good, quick decisions and avoided the confrontation.

[XD45X2]

Where was your gun?

[baerjn]

Good to hear nothing bad came of it. Awareness is the key and yours it seems, was up to snuff.

[griz]

Originally Posted by XD45X2

Where was your gun?

Isn't it obvious? They were on one those "safe" gun-free declared victim zones since they were on campus...

[XDAndMe]

Sadly, the gun was at home because I don't have a CCW. Even if I did, I'd be in violation of school policy and can't afford to be kicked out so close to graduation.

My friend and I are considering taking the CCW class, though. I've always wanted to, but I never wanted to take on the responsibility that comes with carrying. City officials here are also anti-gun, which doesn't help my fear of losing a criminal court hearing.

[XDAndMe]

Originally Posted by baerjn

Good to hear nothing bad came of it. Awareness is the key and yours it seems, was up to snuff.

Actually I'm glad my friend was with me because he is good at picking up on things, being an Eagle scout and always skeptical. He was the one that first noticed the guy walking behind us about a block before we decided to cross the street. Two heads worked much better than one in this case.

I think mistake #1 was going to the train station at that time in morning. Lesson learned. You get so used to feeling like you're not in danger, especially when a couple of guys are walking together. You'd never expect someone to want to take on two grown guys, but who knows what he had up his sleeve... or under his coat. We think that he knew we didn't have guns on us because we both had bookbags on walking toward campus. Likelihood that a student has a gun is pretty low.

Who the hell wears a coat in August, anyway?

[USMC-8154TL/DM]

Glad all worked out ok for you, but I would looked really hard into the CCW class. Follow the law but be smart about it. That is why I got mine because there are more crazy folks around now, or I seem to notice them more. I have always been aware of my surroundings. I have always sat with my back against the wall or in the corner so I know what is coming from that direction (Nothing).


Glad you keep your cool about it though.

[Tdah]

yup, glad nothing came of it. when i was in school, i also did a lot of late night walking, most often to my girlfriend's place across campus/town. i always carried my knife with me as well. i learned very early on to constantly be looking around me. i was always looking in all directions for anyone near me, and walked around objects that someone could hide behind to ambush me, like the end of a row of bushes.

honestly, if it were me, i probably would have turned to watch the guy to see what he'd do rather than keeping my back to him. true, if he had a gun, i'd have been up **** creek for confronting him, but i prefer to watch a threat head-on. at just 10 feet behind you, he could have easily sprung forward to catch the door you ducked into.

anywho, like i said, glad you got out of it with no trouble.

[Jmanwit]

That's pretty creepy, bro.

[gsh341]

Originally Posted by XDAndMe

Sadly, the gun was at home because I don't have a CCW. Even if I did, I'd be in violation of school policy and can't afford to be kicked out so close to graduation.

My friend and I are considering taking the CCW class, though. I've always wanted to, but I never wanted to take on the responsibility that comes with carrying. City officials here are also anti-gun, which doesn't help my fear of losing a criminal court hearing.

I can understand you don't want to mess up your graduation by violating school policy, but the individual following you could have ruined your graduation in a much worse way. I'm not saying you should violate school policy, I'm just making a point.

As far as CCW, get it. Nothing says you HAVE to carry if you have a CCW. But it gives you the option. And if you have your CCW and have to use your gun to defend yourself, even in your own home, it will be to your advantage because the course teaches when it is and isn't lawful to use deadly force or the threat of deadly force.

Good job in keeping your situational awareness up.