I’ve watched the knife scenarios from July, 2019, and am curious why no one pulled their weapon and ordered the knife-wielding bad guy to drop his knife with the threat of deadly force. Instead, they just started shooting.
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If someone is coming at you with a knife the extra time to issue those commands could and most likely will be the difference in a successful self defense and you bleeding to death.
Nobody is going to charge you from a large distance with their knife out. They will wait until they are close to you. Simply put, your life is in danger and you have to respond quickly.
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Hi @Andy, welcome to the group! It’s an excellent question.
I think @Spence is right… a bad guy can close 20+ ft in under 2 seconds so if he’s got his knife out and he’s coming you really don’t have time to brandish, yell at him, get him to respond and still have time to shoot if he doesn’t. He’s going to be on you.
Did you see this thread? The video is worth watching. The officers keep backing up from the knife-guy, keep trying to get him to drop the knife, but he just keeps coming. When he makes a run at the officer the first time, look how far apart they are and how much ground he covers before getting shot. Then he gets back up, shot and all, and closes on the officer, attacks him, gets around behind and goes for the officer’s gun before they get another shot on him.
That last part happens FAST. A bad guy who is menacing someone is likely to be that close or closer. There is NO time in there for discussion and persuasion.
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Spence and Zee, thanks for the prompt and helpful replies. The video is very graphic and revealing, and this is information that’ll help me in a situation I hope never materializes.
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