# I called 911: Man wielding a machete



## Playboy Penguin (Jul 17, 2008)

I am posting this here because I am sure everyone would love to pick apart my experience and let me know how many tacticla violations I made in the heat of the moment. I posted it on the other boards and I have gotten mixed responses. 

If anyone in Portland saw the story on the news this morning about the guy with the machete in the 3rd and Stark area of downtown PDX last night (in front of Cameron's Books) I was the one that kind of caused the scene.

Last night was "Thirst Thursday" at a local club. It is the one night a week we actually go out. We like to go out and contribute the the college fund of some drag queens and fine young people dancing on tables. :supergrin:

As we where leaving last night I noticed a small but kind of rowdy crowd of homeless kids on the corner. I told my partner to get on the other side of me and then proceeded to cross the street before reaching the corner. I like to avoid potential bad situations.

Once we were to the other side of the street I noticed a couple of people leaving a club next door running across the street quite frantically and noticed the crowd on the corner getting much louder and backing away. At that point I noticed a rather insane looking guy wielding one of those curved machetes. He was screaming at everyone and displaying the knife. I asked one of the guys that was running away what was happening and he said the guy had asked for money and then threatened them with a knife when they said "no" and is now threatening the kids.

I pulled out my phone, dialed 911, and then walked into the intersection and yelled at the guy and told him I was calling 911 so he better beat it. At this point he turned away from the crowd and faced me. I had sent my parnter to the other side of the street to our car. He did not approach me and just stood there yelling obscenities and waving the knife.

At that point 911 answered. I told them what was happening and they told me they were sending units immediately and asked if I could stay on the line and keep the guy in my sight. I said I could do that. The dispatcher said "if you start to fear for your safety leave the scene but it would help if you could point him out when officers arrive." I then told him I was not afraid and that I was "capable of defending myself if he presented an immediate danger to me or my partner." The dispatcher then said "Good, keep alert and keep an eye on him. Officers should be arriving. Try to keep him focused on you and from harming anyone" He then asked me if the guy seemed mentally ill or did he seem intoxicated. I kind of let my smart ass side slip a bit and said "Why, does one make the knife less deadly than the other?" The dispatcher said "Good point. I should say is he acting aggressive or just erratic?" I said a lot of both.

At this point patrol cars started coming into view. In fact like seven or eight of them came from every direction. At this time the man had placed his knife inside a guitar case he was carrying and was attempting to leave the scene. I walked over behind him and followed him. I then gave a description of myself to the dispatcher and he relayed it to the patrol cars. We got about half a block away and I was able to waive down the approaching officers. I told the guy on the phone they were here and they see him and I was hanging up now. He thanked me and said he would call me back in 5 minutes.

Then all hell broke loose. About 20 officers stormed the scene with tasers and bean bag guns drawn...and a few Glocks too. I had both hands in the air pointing to the guy (thought it better to be as visible as possible than to keep my hand on my weapon in my pocket) and started backing away and crossing the street.

Then the people that he had threatened earlier came running across a parking lot and were screaming to police that this was the guy that threatened them.

I walked past one of the officers and said "You guys have my number. I am getting out of the way." He said "Cool, dude." Yes, he actually said "dude" :supergrin: I then went and got in my car and worked my way out of the area. As I was leaving I could see them searching his duffle and guitar case.

As we were driving across the I-205 bridge I got a call back from the police saying that they got the guy and that there were witnesses on scene filling out reports so they would probably not need me. 

All in all it was another exciting evening in the big city...even though the whole thing lasted less than five minutes. It was a warm night so I was lightly dressed (jeans, birkenstocks, t-shirt and a light nylon type athletic jacket) and did not have a large gun on me but I was very glad that I had my Rohrbaugh on my belt. Which I had removed from it's holster and kept in my hand inside my front jacket pocket during the entire event. if I had thought I should have taken the mace from the car but I was pretty much decided that I was not going to mess with mace if he had tried to injure me or someone else with the machete. I left the mace and the S&W m637 in the car with my partner at the car.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

Looks to me like you did all right! You could have walked away as it was somebody elses problem but I think you did a good and right thing. You got a wacko off the street for a day or two and nobody got hurt.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

Not picking, but asking a question... Does "thirsty Thursday" involve any drinking as the name might imply? If so, most states have a law regarding firearms and drinking establishments. Good thing you didn't have to draw and fire, regardless of if you were partaking in any drinking. 

I'm a huge advocate of the armed citizen (the good ones anyways hehe), but when I go to the bar with my wife, I have my pocket knife, pepper spray, and 120lumen flashlight in my jacket. You'd be surprised how much control you have over a situation with just a flashlight. I leave the gun locked in the car when we are out at the bar so I don't end up having to explain why I violated the law by carrying into a bar. Food for thought.

Also, the protection of your vehicle might have made a better "lookout post" than waking behind him... a little MORE conspicuous, but much better protection.


(again, I'm making some assumptions, so please don't be upset if I assumed incorrectly.)

Zhur


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

By any chance was this the perpetrator?


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## undrgrnd (Jul 10, 2008)

unpecador said:


> By any chance was this the perpetrator?


:lol:

by the way the car might have been the safer view point but with the adrenaline flowing shit happens


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## USAFgsm (Dec 18, 2006)

Maybe he couldn't keep the guy in sight from his car as he tried to flee the scene. 


Sounds to me like you could not have handled the situation any better. You got the guy arrested and might have prevented him from hurting some people. I say well done :smt023


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## Playboy Penguin (Jul 17, 2008)

> Not picking, but asking a question... Does "thirsty Thursday" involve any drinking as the name might imply? If so, most states have a law regarding firearms and drinking establishments. Good thing you didn't have to draw and fire, regardless of if you were partaking in any drinking.


Carry is legal in bars and clubs in oregon as long as you do not drink while carrying. I personally never carry when drinking because I never drink alcohol. Not once in the last 16 years. 


> Also, the protection of your vehicle might have made a better "lookout post" than waking behind him... a little less conspicuous, but much better protection.


I could not keep him in sight from my car because of some bushed on the curb. I did not walk behind him until he had already put away his knife and was walking away as the cops pulled up. I did not want him blending in and getting away or the cops taking down the wrong person. At all other times I kept five lanes of road, two sidewalks, and part of a parking lot between us. I am not one to put myself at risk.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

@ Penguin

Glad to hear that it doesn't violate any laws to carry in clubs and bars. Out here, they'd put you away for a while.

Yeah, I figured it'd be hard to keep an eye on the guy while getting to your car. That's why I mentioned that I was making some assumptions. 

Please understand that I wasn't picking, just trying to offer a different view point. It's always a good idea to get another set of eyes on the situation and I commend you for putting it out there, even if you did get some "mixed results" on other forums.

Zhur


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## Playboy Penguin (Jul 17, 2008)

> Please understand that I wasn't picking, just trying to offer a different view point. It's always a good idea to get another set of eyes on the situation and I commend you for putting it out there, even if you did get some "mixed results" on other forums.


I do not think you are picking. In fact I was expecting to get slammed a whole lot more than I have been when I first posted this. I was expecting people to crawl all over me for not really doing anything. Pretty much all I did was call the police and then retreat to a safe distance until they arrived and then point them in the right direction.

I was certain I would be lambasted for my lack of manly action. I mean heck, I did not even have the decency to try and shoot the knife out of his hand. How can I call myself an internet commando now? :mrgreen:


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

We've gone 'round and 'round on intervention here a few times. Most of us are of the opinion that intervention is an absolute last resort. I think you did a great job.


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

Playboy Penguin said:


> Pretty much all I did was call the police and then retreat to a safe distance until they arrived and then point them in the right direction.


And it worked. No one was hurt. The BG was caught. All's well.



Playboy Penguin said:


> I was certain I would be lambasted for my lack of manly action. I mean heck, I did not even have the decency to try and shoot the knife out of his hand. How can I call myself an internet commando now? :mrgreen:


Most people here are of the opinion that you carry for your protection and not for the protection for the general public and if something bad happens, you make sure you and the people you are with are safe first, then call 911 and be a good witness. This forum isn't manly enough for all the mall ninjas who would shoot the knife out of the BG's hand, from 100 yards, in the dark, offhand (just for a challenge). :smt033


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## Playboy Penguin (Jul 17, 2008)

> Most people here are of the opinion that you carry for your protection and not for the protection for the general public and if something bad happens, you make sure you and the people you are with are safe first, then call 911 and be a good witness. This forum isn't manly enough for all the mall ninjas who would shoot the knife out of the BG's hand, from 100 yards, in the dark, offhand (just for a challenge).


Then what good are we? :smt082

You should see the difference between the responses here and the e-mails I got when I posted it over at a popular Glock forum. I have gotten everything from "leave the gun at home if you are too big a p**** to use it" to lessons on how I could have properly incapacitated and subdued him using my flashlight and zip strips. I also received a couple messages questioning if I was a real person and quite a few that bordered on challenging me to a fight. :mrgreen:


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

Playboy Penguin said:


> Then what good are we? :smt082
> 
> You should see the difference between the responses here and the e-mails I got when I posted it over at a popular Glock forum. I have gotten everything from "leave the gun at home if you are too big a p**** to use it" to lessons on how I could have properly incapacitated and subdued him using my flashlight and zip strips. I also received a couple messages questioning if I was a real person and quite a few that bordered on challenging me to a fight. :mrgreen:


Sounds like a great forum. :smt104


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## tekhead1219 (May 16, 2008)

Playboy Penguin said:


> Then what good are we? :smt082
> 
> You should see the difference between the responses here and the e-mails I got when I posted it over at a popular Glock forum. I have gotten everything from "leave the gun at home if you are too big a p**** to use it" to lessons on how I could have properly incapacitated and subdued him using my flashlight and zip strips. I also received a couple messages questioning if I was a real person and quite a few that bordered on challenging me to a fight. :mrgreen:


Now you know why I picked this forum to participate.:anim_lol:


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Playboy Penguin said:


> You should see the difference between the responses here and the e-mails I got when I posted it over at a popular Glock forum. I have gotten everything from "leave the gun at home if you are too big a p**** to use it" to lessons on how I could have properly incapacitated and subdued him using my flashlight and zip strips. I also received a couple messages questioning if I was a real person and quite a few that bordered on challenging me to a fight. :mrgreen:


We strive to be reasonable, realistic people here at HGF. We succeed...most of the time. :mrgreen:


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## SiggySig (Aug 4, 2008)

First of all, good job. Second, you didn't cause the scene that developed, the maniac with the machete caused all of the comotion. I think you showed great restraint and did what anyone of us would have done. Those of us who have a CCW have to remember that it gives us the right to carry, not to shoot people. We can always argue that we need to protect ourself, but in most instances the situation can be solved without deadly force and using 911 as it was intended. If you ever visit S. Florida, the iced tea is on me.


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

SiggySig said:


> First of all, good job. Second, you didn't cause the scene that developed, the maniac with the machete caused all of the comotion. I think you showed great restraint and did what anyone of us would have done. Those of us who have a CCW have to remember that it gives us the right to carry, not to shoot people. We can always argue that we need to protect ourself, but in most instances the situation can be solved without deadly force and using 911 as it was intended. If you ever visit S. Florida, the iced tea is on me.


Mr Ziggy has you covered in South Florida and I got you covered in C. Florida for that ice tea. Hope you like it sweet. You done a fine job and used your head in a bad deal. :smt023


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## JagFarlane (Jul 23, 2008)

tekhead1219 said:


> Now you know why I picked this forum to participate.:anim_lol:


Ditto


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