10 Tips Before & After a Self-Defense Shooting

1)Make sure you survive. Make sure the bad guy is no longer a threat and be ready to face his friends if there are any. The home invader is down, he’s not moving and you carefully kicked the gun/knife away from him, but is he alone, or is there someone in the next room just waiting to shoot you? Is there an accomplice outside?

2)Stay put, don’t leave the scene of the shooting since this could be consider fleeing. The only case in which you should leave and its acceptable to do so is when staying there puts your life at risk.

3)Call 911 and report the incident, keep it simple. “Someone broke into my home” “Someone attacked me”. Don’t give any details. Don’t worry, the dispatcher will ask plenty of questions. Your answers should be short and to the point, as short as possible with no further details. You will be nervous, so do your best to control yourself and keep your mouth shut. Make sure you request an ambulance, no matter if he’s dead still ask for an ambulance. No, unless you’re a doctor do not touch or provide medical assistance to your attacker. Simply call 911, ask for an ambulance and let experts handle it. Call your lawyer as soon as possible after that.

4)Don’t touch or move anything. It will be considered tampering with evidence. No, you wont “trick” any forensic experts by moving dead bodies or tampering with the scene. You’ll only land yourself in jail.

5)Take photos of the attack, any weapon he may have used, take more photos further away of the general scene. Use the camera to film everything and everyone around you , 360 degrees. Make sure you have a cell phone with a good camera for this purpose. Don’t talk to witnesses about what happened but do ask them for their name and phone number so as to have witnesses. 

6)When the cops arrive, make sure you have no weapon at hand. Holstering your firearm is just fine. Don’t make any sudden movements and do ot draw it if the cops ask if you are armed. Simply say yes, and explain that your gun is holstered without moving your hands or touching anything. If it’s a long arm or you simple don’t have a holster, just leave it on the floor and step away.

7)”What happened here? well officer,  I double tapped this scumbag in the chest and landed a nice shot in his forehead as he was going down. Those JHPs sure did their job! I “looked for his friends” as I had trained and when I found none I did a tactical reload. They say killing someone is a big deal but being honest I don’t regret it one bit. Heck, between you and me, it feels nice cleaning the streets some, I’ll sleep better tonight knowing this guy is well ventilated”. No, no, no. Don’t talk with the police. Anything you say can and will be used against you, nothing you say can help you. Just tell the officer that you want to talk with your lawyer. Massad Ayoob, recurrent expert witness, says you should say you will sign a complaint and you’ll fully cooperate after talking with you lawyer. Nothing else, the less you talk, the better. 

Before the shooting:

1)Be normal, don’t be the neighborhood’s nutjob. Get training, so as to know how to use your firearm properly and get information on your local laws regarding shootings and self-defense.

2)Shoot to stop, never to wound. A person fearing for his life tries to stop his attacker, not just wound him, torture him or cause him pain. No jury will see it as humane, instead it will be seen as proof of you not fearing for your life and misusing a lethal weapon. Intentionally “wounding” someone with a firearm means you’ll spend most of your natural life paying for the injuries, disability and grief you caused. Your “wounded” home invader can now spend his life watching TV while you support him.

3)Avoid problems to begin with. Don’t be friends with stupid people, frequent dangerous places and avoid bad habits such as excessive drinking and drug abuse. That way you avoid this huge mess in the first place.

FerFAL