Great Action of an old gent.

[Alpo]

Good for this man. He had courage to do what many of us would not.

Couple of things that caught my eye: I saw what I believe to be slot machines in the feed and the place is named “Palms”. If the slots are real this place may be considered a casino. In my state my CC permit is not valid in casinos.

Unless they've changed the law without telling me, casinos are not legal in Florida. Slot machines are not legal in Florida.

I checked FL law and do not see this limitation so he was within his right to carry here. FL does however prohibit CC in any place which serves alcohol - I doubt this "internet cafe" does. The only shot that gave me pause was the last one he sent out the door after they had exited and based on the tape it appears the threat had subsided. However, we cannot see what they are doing outside and since they both fled they certainly had not submitted at any point inside or out.

All that said, this man risked his life and safety to stop this threat against him and other citizens. I believe he acted responsibly within his right and should be commended. He is a hero who saved lives this day.

As for the alcohol, no. Florida law prohibits carrying in a "bar". I cannot go into "Joe's Bar" and order a pickled egg, while wearing my gun. I can, however, go into Red Lobster, and sitting in the dining room, get knee-walking commode-hugging drunk. Because I'm not in a "bar", I'm in a restaurant. I cannot, however, go into the area of Red Lobster that is designated as "the bar", even if I don't plan to drink, and that is the only place that has a table available.

 

[BE Mike]

I respect your opinion, but I am not going to jail for shooting a FLEEING thug who no longer poses an immediate threat. Such cases have been documented and jail terms issued for such actions. In addition, he was shooting "towards" glass doors. Where did those rounds end up? What if he shot an innocent passerby or a patron inside the cafe? He fired, the thugs dirtied their pants and they began to flee. I may have acted in the same way, but a jury may not share our thoughts on "neutralizing the threat."

Did we watch the same video? Mr. Williams fired assessed the situation and then fired and re-evaluated. He showed exceptional control for an armed citizen. When if ever did the perpetrator with the handgun relinquish it? By your standards, Mr. Williams should not have fired his handgun and put himself and the other patrons at the mercy of the perpetrators. I don't think that reasonable men and women on a jury would (thankfully) go along with your line of thinking.

 

[feralmerril]

I think we all like the mans action. In this case he is a lucky hero. There are many areas of the country that the same act under the same circumstances would get him charged and break him defending himself.
I hope he doesnt make the mistake that zimmerman just did by giveing a tv interview.

 

[Cooter Brown]

The man's got guts. As far as I'm concerned, second guessing of how he handled it is useless unless you can learn something from it. He handled himself fine in a very stressful situation the likes of which few of us will ever know--results are the test. He accomplished what he needed to and no innocents got hurt.

Feralmerril, you are absolutely right. So far the man has refused to be interviewed, and good for him.

I have no idea what Zimmerman's attorney is thinking letting him talk to the press. Z has already proven he's not real good at keeping the pedal extremity out of the oral cavity.

 

[airman]

I admire the oldster for charging into them but I have trouble with shooting at someone who is not a threat.... yet. All his shots were from behind. I think the DA is not going to like that.

I'd like to think I would wait until the gunman was swinging his gun toward me when I fired.

 

[Stevens]

He's a hero, he is getting some flack for the last couple of shots, but, I can't imagine any jury convicting him, more likely they'd give him a standing ovation. I sure would.
Steve W

 

[RightArm]

No doubt it's heroic. Am I wrong here or did he fire out the door after them? If he did, seems like an innocent coulda got hurt. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Cooter Brown]

From what I saw in the video he did not fire on the first guy until he turned around and pointed the gun at him. When he got out of his chair the guy was facing the other way, pointing the gun at other patrons. The bad guy turned back toward Williams and pointed the gun at him, and that's when Williams fired the first round.

Don't forget that the other guy was smashing up stuff with a ball bat. It was a dynamic situation that had already reached some degree of violence.

I think he might have fired a shot out the door, but you can't see what is going on outside. The bad guy might have turned back toward him. And from the accounts I saw he still had the gun when he was outside. At any rate the guy had not dropped the gun and called game over--I think the term they use now is "active shooter". A still moving bad guy who still has a gun is an active shooter. Whether he's pulling the trigger at the time or not, he's still a threat if he's armed, moving and threatening people. The act of pointing a gun at folks and making demands of them is certainly threatening people. Ask the people at the place when they stopped feeling threatened.

 

[Fishslayer]

Admittedly, I can't go two or three rounds with someone in their 20's or 30's...not anymore.

But..don't mess with us "old" guys. We didn't survive this long in our lives because we were stupid or didn't have better than average skills.

Old age & treachery will overcome youth and skill.


Wait! What? They still have internet cafes?

 

[M29since14]

Ask the people at the place when they stopped feeling threatened.

That would probably be when the cavalry arrived and took control of the scene, but - once again - the man voluntarily put himself at great risk and he was 100% effective in driving off the two hostiles without a single injury to the good guys. That IS heroic and it cannot be improved upon. I think he is just great and can't commend him enough. The odd little details shouldn't/don't matter.

Note to Fishslayer - I did not see any of the "youth" in that video displaying any particular "skill." They weren't even particularly adept at getting out of Dodge, once things started to sour on them.

 

[wyatt66]

Did we watch the same video? Mr. Williams fired assessed the situation and then fired and re-evaluated. He showed exceptional control for an armed citizen. When if ever did the perpetrator with the handgun relinquish it? By your standards, Mr. Williams should not have fired his handgun and put himself and the other patrons at the mercy of the perpetrators. I don't think that reasonable men and women on a jury would (thankfully) go along with your line of thinking.

Did we read the same post? I read my post and don't recall ever stating my "standards." I merely stated an observation taken from the video. I also NEVER stated that Mr. Williams should not have fired. Mr. Williams did a great job, under incredible stress. In addition, jury's are not always as reasonable as we would like to think.

Instead of criticizing one another's "take" on the situation, we should all learn from it and hopefully prepare ourselves, should we ever, God forbid, be in a similar situation.

 

[russp1]

How to Stop a Massacre

How to stop a massacre (PG-13 edition with improved sound effects) - YouTube

Not sure if anyone has posted this yet.

 

[Shielded]

I've seen the orig footage, but not this, it was great! That's why we should carry.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

I am an armed Grandpa. The only thing with which I could find fault is that the gentleman's pistol wasn't big enough.

ECS

 

[RSWMTB]

Also, in addition to an armed patron, I think the last thing the two losers expected was the gun owner to move TOWARD them...they ran like little girls.



.

 

[APS]

Good performance by a courageous person who appeared to not have any training at all. We should all be so lucky.

 

[poordevil]

Who Dares, Wins!

 

[APS]

Who Dares, Wins!

Yes! Initiative can make up for a lot of deficiencies. Particularly effective if the assailants are not dedicated.

 

[poordevil]

When I look at the video, I did not see the good guy rack the slide. I see him take the pistol out of his pocket with one hand, then take a 2 hand hold and fire.

As for the bad guys. I did not see them stop moving. One lost his footing and slid along the floor, but was up and going just as fast.

He gets my vote for a job well done.

 

[M29since14]

Also, in addition to an armed patron, I think the last thing the two losers expected was the gun owner to move TOWARD them...they ran like little girls.

They ran like rats!