The Aftermath: Ambushing the Pizza Delivery Guy

Welcome to Aftermath, a portion of our First Line email newsletter where Attorney Anthony L. DeWitt walks you through a real-life self-defense incident and shares his key takeaways.

ROBBERS ORDER PIZZA, DRIVER DELIVERS LEAD

According to WFAA, just after 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, two Dallas teens decided to mimic a pair of local thugs who days earlier had shot a pizza delivery driver five times while robbing him. The pair ordered a pizza for delivery and waited to ambush the Papa John’s delivery driver.
When the driver (unidentified by police) arrived, both teens brandished guns and demanded money. Instead, the driver drew his legally carried handgun and shot both. One died at the scene; the other was located nearby and transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver was interviewed by police and released.

If you were the delivery driver, would you have done anything differently?

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All these different stories always come to the same question for me. Generally, you shouldn’t draw on a drawn weapon. I believe thinking about that issue is why the guy from the church video drew the way he did. It worked for this guy.
Obviously there is no one that can answer this but me, but I still question it… do you draw when you’ve been beat and staring down a barrel?

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Before drawing on a pair with guns already deployed I would have tossed the pizza box at them using the distraction it caused to cover my draw.

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i would wear a pistol on my side and post it and hope they can read newspapers saying i will not standby helplessly while being robbed!

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after peeing in your pants!

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It’s hard to argue with what the driver did, especially given the limited information provided. Could he have retreated? Probably not, but we may never know all the facts. Bottom line: the driver survived a potentially deadly threat. He got to go home; the teenage punks were not so fortunate.

More than likely, the poor driver lost his job due to the ludicrous no-carry policies that most, if not all, of these types of companies enforce. That’s unfortunate, but the driver is alive…and there are other jobs of that sort out there. It’s always best to avoid conflict; sometimes, though, when it’s completely unavoidable, you simply have to make a choice. At face value from this story, I’m inclined to go with the driver’s response as being appropriate.

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No matter how you slice it, that was true JUSTICE. Good guy wins. As soon as the bad guy learns that good guys will shoot if necessary the quicker we will have safer communities.
The robbers should have posted signs, denoting that their home was a “gun free zone”! We know how that works!
Many kudos to the pizza guy, he deserves the keys to the city.

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At least that and maybe more.

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I’m calling your manager, asking about refunds for 2 badly mangled pizzas then :-p

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While it’s been a number of years since I did pizza delivery they are traditionally carried in an insulated pouch to keep them hot (warm?) and we don’t know if this might have been where he had his firearm stored. A revolver in there likely wouldn’t jam like a semi would so he may have possibly fired from in the bag or brought it out as the robbers were expecting it to be $$ or pizza.

A horrible place to keep your EDC as it’s hot and VERY humid inside that bag and easy to accidentally slide it out along with the pizza(s) during a normal delivery and risk dropping it (or ruining your tip when an anti-firearm customer sees it), BUT if something doesn’t feel “right” about the delivery I could see slipping your back up firearm in there just in case.

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First - great analysis. And yes, I would have used deadly force, provided I had a tactical advantage. The article doesn’t give enough information, other than outcome, if the delivery driver had an advantage. At first read, it appears the robbers had the advantage. So one can only guess the details of how this played-out.

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Not enough information for an intelligent reply. My first reaction would have been to throw the pizza at them and run like hell. But we don’t know if that was a viable option. While we preach about the fallacy of drawing on a drawn gun, it can be done if the reaction is thought through and timed accordingly. But you have to be a pretty cool character to pull it off. What he did worked for him. That’s all that matters.

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I personally wouldn’t have handled the situation any different given the circumstances I dont think he had any other choice its either them or me

I believe what rick said in the sense it is you or them perf. Uscca has been so great in helping me with everything from when, how and of course the after. That being said like uscca has helped with is cannot say what I would do cause do not know the exact situation and the whole story of how far away and so on. Everything changes when you can say what I would do in this situation, and actually being there, Like many articles here on USCCA in to the fray explains that in any situation, adrenaline, accuracy and being able to read what comes next. Everything become heightened and taking a couple of deep breaths does not hurt. Also seconds count in this situation like this and need to make sure of surroundings to make sure the shooters are the only ones being (killed) lol, and not innocent by standers. I am glad it worked out for delivery man. The only thing I would of done different is make sure none of the shooters come out, still Alive. lol. I love the fact that USCCA cannot stress enough that training and more training is critical and should be a life long job that never ends. Keep up the great work you guys and so glad joined the best outfit in America, not only how, when and where but the legalities. Jerome

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Yes. I would killed both of these scum slug bottom feeders .
Retired U.S. NAVY SEABEE, YES I CARRY A 9MM EVERY DAY. Thanks for sharing.

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If you read the story, he was going to get shot if he did nothing.

So I see no downside in drawing, especially if you have something like a pizza box to obscure the view of you drawing. The element of surprise is on your side.

I’m sorry but what I have learned these days. these criminals have no mercy and no regards for life. I will not hesitate to kill on the humbug… If it’s ever me against them Defense is a understatement

These events make for good discussion and training topics. And this perspective of an incident keeps you grounded in what one might do, rather than pick apart what someone else thought they had to do, IMHO.

its either myself or them i would have done the same thing

First off, I’ve done pizza delivery in the past as a 2nd job for extra income. In the lovely anti gun state of CA might I add. In my policies and procedures it specifically stated that even if I had a license to carry, I could not and it would be a immediate termination. For me, life is more precious than a job, and the whole point of concealing is, they don’t know you have it! I am a lucky one that does legally carry in CA. Hence, why I’m an elite member of USCCA.
Now, the story only says they brandished weapons, not that they drew on the driver. That could simply mean they pulled up shirts to flash weapons in an attempt to intimidate to rob, maybe hoping he’d just give up the pizza and the $15 in change that we carry!  Key point, only $15 is carried for change!! They weren’t gonna get rich, just being thuggish for the sake of being thugs! 
He saw the advantage, whatever it was, the story doesn’t allow us to armchair quarterback his decision. We simply don’t have all the facts, but the most important fact is all we need. He laid out their asses and saved his own!
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