Re: My crazy weekend! Testimonial, more than self defense.

[Dallas Williams]

Glad everybody including you is ok Archie and because of your actions a child’s life was saved and what could’ve been a bad and possibly deadly situation at that gas station was averted and the bad guy was taken into custody. We need more people, more civilians, like you that will step up and act when it is needed and more tragedies that we hear about on the news every day where people get hurt or killed could be stopped or at least the damage and loss of life minimized. Common sense would dictate that one run away from danger such as an armed robbery or rape or murder in progress and call the police and let them handle things, no offense to you James as a police officer but police, firefighters, and paramedics, can only do so much and a certain amount of time will pass under the best of circumstances before they are able to arrive on scene and this is even more of a problem in rural areas. When emergencies occur many times the lives of those in danger very well depend on the action of bystanders and their choice of whether or not to step in and take action.
For instance, Archie if you didn’t act in the situation with the thug in the gas station if he had of had a real gun while he was holding the clerk up by the time police arrived he could have already shot and killed him and robbed the cash and been long gone and innocent blood would have been shed and we could still have a criminal out there on the streets just waiting his next opportunity to strike and this time possibly have and use a real weapon or take hard working people’s hard earned money that he has no right to. Or if he was still on scene when they arrived it could’ve turned into an ugly long and drawn out hostage situation or shootout with police with police officers lives being endangered and the clerk still possibly loosing his life in the process. But a seemingly innocent bystander walking in just to purchases a drink and pay for it seems a lot more benign and not nearly as threatening to a robber as he thinks the person has no idea what is even happening and even if he does thinks he will have the upper hand since he has a weapon, and makes things a lot easier for a well trained and prepared citizen such as Archie to take action and take the thug out before he even knows what hit him. The point is police and other first responders are there to serve, help, and protect us but they can only do so much and respond do so once they’ve arrived on scene, the rest is up to civilians who are willing to take action when needed to help our fellow man and save lives.