You are on your way to your car from the grocery store and as you round to your car a guy is standing by the car next to yours. He asks you a question and you politely reply that you have no idea then he sprays you with bear spray?
What would you do?
You have all the information that there is. You do not know this guy and you have no idea what his intention is.
Since I always have my truck key in my hand walking to my truck I would set off the alarm. My Spyderco and pistol will be useless in that scenario IMHO
Iām not sure what the goal of a surprise bear spray attack would be? Your victim and their vehicle would likely be in a noxious cloud so closing to rob or attack might be risky.
I think I would need a little more information;)
Was he standing next to his car on the side away from my car or the side that would also put him adjacent to my car? If the later, was he adjacent to my passenger side or driver side doors? Was he just standing there watching me as I approached or was he doing something else like loading groceries into his car?
Having been the near victim of a grocery store parking lot car jacking/robbery I am even more alert than I used to be in those situations. Iām looking for any suspicious people or vehicles within several rows of myself and my vehicle. Anyone within 30 or so yards of my vehicle would be very well scrutinized before I got near them.
Any signs of fishiness would have me heading back into the store. Even if their actions seemed 100% none threatening I would at the very least be keeping my vehicle between us and my attention on them. That should give me a chance to duck, run and/or draw if they made any sudden moves.
If all that vigilance failed and I got a face full of bear spray I suspect I would be rolling on the ground or bumping off vehicles in agony. I like @Karacal ās idea of triggering the car alarm. Hopefully my training would kick in and I could land some blind strikes if the guy closed to attack. I would likely just comply with any commands they gave if I felt they would leave after getting what they want.
With my vehicle between us there also might be a chance I could get in lock the doors and lay on the horn before he got to me.
Where did the bear spray come from? Those canisters arenāt easy to hide.
I back up, peel my eye open with my off hand if needed (hopefully not needed, depends if it got direct in my eye a lot or not), and decide what to do based on what he is doing.
If that is all the information, the scenario ends with him just standing there as I retreat. I continue to retreat away and call 911 and tell them I was attacked by [insert brief description of man], request medical attention for the spray, and I will cooperate 100% but first I need to talk to my attorney
I have to say, if thereās anyone standing anywhere close to my vehicle, I wait till they have entered their vehicle and pulled away! I donāt respond to anyone on the street! Call me paranoid. If there is someone inside their vehicle next to mine, or within 10 cars of my line of sight I make sure they know Iām inspecting the situation! If something seems off, my gut will inform meā, Iāll keep walking or return to the store!
I do carry on my keys a SureFire E2D LED flashlight with a crenellated bezel. That bezel is sure to leave a dent! I carry it in an attacking manner. Itās not just dangling! Itās in my fist prepared to crack a skull!
However, at my age, if Iām sprayed, number one, I obviously was not paying attention. Two, I wear glasses and a ball cap! Three, if itās an attack, itās a fight to the death. NEVER go to a secondary location!
I live in condition orange, Iām prepared to kill anything that wants to kill me!
It is either a gang initiation or Tik Tok challenge. The perp very well may be female.
Iām backtracking to this moment then ask myself,
What would I do?
Knowing Iām armed, I try to avoid any and all confrontation so I would pass my car and pretend Iām parked somewhere else.
You can ask several questions here. When in this scenario do you have critical decision points, i.e. there is a drastic change in outcome?
What do you do to mitigate bad outcome at each decisiin point?
To start with, identifying a suspect next to your car, and still going to the car is a mistake. Best thing to do is pass now, come back later.
Next point is engaging in conversation and not being ready to protect self.
Next point is taking a hit with OC.
Just think about how much information you would have in this situation. You have only what you have visualized and had already gathered so, your actions are from the raw facts you have gathered.
You will be going to your driver side of your vehicle to where there is a truck with a camper on it next to you.
You will never know why you were shot with bear spray.
Okay, you have just been bear sprayed out of the blue, is your life threatened?
You have been bear sprayed, what would you do?
In the first situation, if my creep alarm goes off Im not going to my car.
If I get hit with bear spray, fight through it best I can to get away. Hopefully to where more ppl are.
If I am armed (usually am) my life has been put in danger by an attacker who has incapacitated me. I must defend my weapon and my life.
Unequivocally, YES, my life is absolutely threatened. Iāve been blinded and gagged.
Why donāt we ask a bear! Letās see how the bear reacts!
I suppose Iāll act in the very same manner!
I would not be there for that to happen. I am quite aware of people in the parking lot anywhere near me, and especially by my car. I would not approach if anything were amiss. Even when there isnāt, I will wait for the person to do whatever it is he/she is doing (meaning leave or get into their vehicle), before approaching. I donāt want to get in their way, either.
I believe in most places being bear sprayed by surprise while not doing anything to deserve it would be considered assault. I would certainly consider myself to be under attack and actively threatened with serious bodily harm.
[quote=āTodd30, post:11, topic:93354ā]
You have been bear sprayed, what would you do?
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Assuming someone caught me completely by surprise and I was unable to respond before or while being sprayed I canāt say how I would respond having never been sprayed before. I would hopefully fight or flee to the best of my ability.
Your eyes are burning and swollen shut, sinuses are running hard, face is burning, and it is hard to breathe. Anytime you try to open your eyes the fresh air feels like sharp chards of ice being scraped across your eyes.
This I think would be the tricky part. With likely severely compromised vision and assuming the attacker follows up the spray with a physical attack or even just remains close enough to do so, drawing a weapon could provide the attacker a chance to grab it before I could safely engage the target. So I might or might not draw depending on all the variables involved. The need to quickly stop the threat would have to be balanced with my likely compromised ability to retain control of the firearm.
In this situation the guy that bear sprayed the person did it because he wanted to just bear spray someone for his own kicks. He got a new toy and wanted to play with it. He also went to a convenient store and was stealing a case of beer when the store clerk went to stop him and got sprayed.
I was watching on the news a new story where a guy was robbing a laundromat prying the quarter machines open and stealing the quarters when he got confronted by a clerk and the clerk got bear sprayed and the perp left and has not been caught yet!
I have experience with gas from the Marine Corps and other training with law enforcement and I know the sting and pain that comes with it. It is not fun.
