I originally posted this so others could learn from my mistakes, not to get beat up for not being written to perfection, and accurately say what I meant to say. It all happened so fast is all I'm gonna say.
Will re-edit my post later after my nerves calm down, too many people nitpicking what I wrote so to be more clear I will edit my rant and repost making sure all the grammatical errors, are up to the standards of the grammar police.
Edited Version
Very stressful and frightening drive to work this morning going through the 9th ward at 4:15 am.
1. Always make sure a round is in the chamber before you leave home, 2. Mounted light/laser is a must, 3. Slide mounted optic would have been an asset.
I will preface this by admitting mistakes were made, but things escalated quickly, unexpectedly, and whoever questions my actions wasn’t in my shoes at the time so take this as a learning tool and not an opportunity to point out my grammar, punctuation, or writing skills. I know the law when it comes to justifiable shootings, I was LEO over 35 years ago and had a CC permit since its inception.
Story starts here, there was an accident and the cops had the Judge Seeber Bridge blocked, so I had to go down Poland to St. Claude Ave. I’m behind a black SUV, he slows and stops 3 car lengths from the light, the guy then gets in the right hand lane and puts his window down like he needed directions, I thought he was lost so I put my window down to see if he needed help. All of a sudden he yells at me and claims I was running up on him ( which I wasn’t) and threatens to get out of his vehicle and beat my ass, not wanting a confrontation, I ignored him while waiting for the light to turn green, then he yells *MF I’ll shoot your F’n ass, I grab my gun, go to rack a round in the chamber and the bullet nose dives on the ramp and jams, he’s still threatening to get out his vehicle, I have no choice but to run the light and turn left (should have made a U-turn and gone back to where the cop was), the guy starts chasing me down St. Claude. I am trying to clear the jam before he catches up. My phone had slid to the passenger floorboard and couldn’t reach it to call 911.
I had gotten up to 90 mph at one point, and realize this dude is nuts and won’t back off. I slowed down but never let him get even with me, while I proceeded though a couple of red lights as I saw no traffic coming. Then at the 4th red light I had to stop because 3 cars were stopped at the light and I have no way to evade this dude. I should have gotten in the right lane, had better options. Suddenly I’m thinking about the shooting on the west bank a few months ago where McKnight got shot, thinking I wouldn’t want that ordeal, but I’d have no choice should he show a weapon, when he pulls up alongside again, I’d have no choice but to shoot him in the head, about then the light turns green and we start moving again, by this time it was obvious this crazy dude wasn’t going to stop being the aggressor and I’m not about to let him take a shot at me.
Even though I didn’t see a gun yet, he’s getting more aggressive and I wasn’t waiting for him to take a shot at me when we got to the next light. I brought my gun up expecting to exchange shots. He sees it, hits his brakes and takes a left at an intersection and hauls his ass. There are usually a couple of NOPD cars at Gerald’s Donuts and decided I would stop and report him, but no one was there this morning. So continue on to work with my heart beating out my chest and reflecting on what just transpired and what I should have done. I thought about mistakes/decisions I made and what I will do different if it ever happens again.
After I filed a report with the 5th district, I find out from a coworker the he had a run in with the same dude in the same area twice last month, he also filed a police report at that time.
I’m posting this so others can learn from the mistakes I made and be better prepared. I’m not looking for critiques from armchair quarterbacks, I’m not looking to argue laws or tactics or how you would have handled it. I know I made some wrong decisions and hopefully learn some valuable lessons.
Will re-edit my post later after my nerves calm down, too many people nitpicking what I wrote so to be more clear I will edit my rant and repost making sure all the grammatical errors, are up to the standards of the grammar police.
Edited Version
Very stressful and frightening drive to work this morning going through the 9th ward at 4:15 am.
1. Always make sure a round is in the chamber before you leave home, 2. Mounted light/laser is a must, 3. Slide mounted optic would have been an asset.
I will preface this by admitting mistakes were made, but things escalated quickly, unexpectedly, and whoever questions my actions wasn’t in my shoes at the time so take this as a learning tool and not an opportunity to point out my grammar, punctuation, or writing skills. I know the law when it comes to justifiable shootings, I was LEO over 35 years ago and had a CC permit since its inception.
Story starts here, there was an accident and the cops had the Judge Seeber Bridge blocked, so I had to go down Poland to St. Claude Ave. I’m behind a black SUV, he slows and stops 3 car lengths from the light, the guy then gets in the right hand lane and puts his window down like he needed directions, I thought he was lost so I put my window down to see if he needed help. All of a sudden he yells at me and claims I was running up on him ( which I wasn’t) and threatens to get out of his vehicle and beat my ass, not wanting a confrontation, I ignored him while waiting for the light to turn green, then he yells *MF I’ll shoot your F’n ass, I grab my gun, go to rack a round in the chamber and the bullet nose dives on the ramp and jams, he’s still threatening to get out his vehicle, I have no choice but to run the light and turn left (should have made a U-turn and gone back to where the cop was), the guy starts chasing me down St. Claude. I am trying to clear the jam before he catches up. My phone had slid to the passenger floorboard and couldn’t reach it to call 911.
I had gotten up to 90 mph at one point, and realize this dude is nuts and won’t back off. I slowed down but never let him get even with me, while I proceeded though a couple of red lights as I saw no traffic coming. Then at the 4th red light I had to stop because 3 cars were stopped at the light and I have no way to evade this dude. I should have gotten in the right lane, had better options. Suddenly I’m thinking about the shooting on the west bank a few months ago where McKnight got shot, thinking I wouldn’t want that ordeal, but I’d have no choice should he show a weapon, when he pulls up alongside again, I’d have no choice but to shoot him in the head, about then the light turns green and we start moving again, by this time it was obvious this crazy dude wasn’t going to stop being the aggressor and I’m not about to let him take a shot at me.
Even though I didn’t see a gun yet, he’s getting more aggressive and I wasn’t waiting for him to take a shot at me when we got to the next light. I brought my gun up expecting to exchange shots. He sees it, hits his brakes and takes a left at an intersection and hauls his ass. There are usually a couple of NOPD cars at Gerald’s Donuts and decided I would stop and report him, but no one was there this morning. So continue on to work with my heart beating out my chest and reflecting on what just transpired and what I should have done. I thought about mistakes/decisions I made and what I will do different if it ever happens again.
After I filed a report with the 5th district, I find out from a coworker the he had a run in with the same dude in the same area twice last month, he also filed a police report at that time.
I’m posting this so others can learn from the mistakes I made and be better prepared. I’m not looking for critiques from armchair quarterbacks, I’m not looking to argue laws or tactics or how you would have handled it. I know I made some wrong decisions and hopefully learn some valuable lessons.
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