Hey guys…An unfortunate run-in with a good outcome. I’ll try to keep this short. Flew to San Antonio for Thanksgiving weekend with my wife Deb and 85-year old neighbor Jeanne. Jeanne is family, i.e. think “Watson’s Mom”, as mine is long passed. Jeanne’s strong, but at 85 is “brittle”. When we’re out, I generally have an arm on her for safety. Had a great time. Last full day, Saturday, ladies wanted to go for a walk around downtown after a late breakfast. Lot’s of upbeat people, good police presence, as well as lot’s of young servicemen on leave. As the threat level was low, my SA was “mellow yellow”. Mostly concerned about Jeanne getting knocked down in the crowd, so I’ve got one lady on each arm. Both ladies are well dressed with expensive jewelry and purses. On the way back, noted the thing that’s “not quite right”. Street-worn 30-ish Caucasian male, about 5’10”/160lbs, leaning on the wall, watching. Specifically, looking at Jeanne’s purse like it's the proverbial hamburger. I catch his eye and he looks away. Condition very Yellow. As we continue on to the hotel, I note he’s off the wall and following at a distance. A block later, I pull the ladies aside to look at the menu of a restaurant that’s not yet open. Everyone else keeps walking, but he stops and avoids eye contact. Not good. Another block, I stop again at another not-yet-open restaurant. He’s still there, same program. Everyone’s moving, except him. Definitely following. I advise the girls and they’re awesome. They immediately shift purses to the “guard". Three blocks to the hotel, crowd is thinning. Previously visited Briscoe Western Art Museum is at the next corner, but on a diagonal to our corner. The Briscoe has guards, video cameras, a sophisticated security system, and witnesses. Known ground. I advise the girls we are diverting to the museum. They are awesome and take it in stride. We cross the first sidewalk at a right angle with the light. I think this will scrape him off. We jaywalk the second crosswalk, now close to the museum. I scan the immediate area. No obvious accomplice. He’s “grooming” and scanning for witnesses or police. He then takes up an intercept heading directly for us. Condition Orange. I send the girls on to the museum. As he closes the distance, I pivot and square up on his line of attack, immediately between he and the girls. Weight on balls of feet, palms forward and fingers spread. Looks passive, but a good balanced fighting stance. Empty hands for the cameras. All of this is automatic. Unfortunately, I’m unarmed due to the travel component. I stop him beyond two arm’s length away. Ask ‘Em - “Stay back. Stop following us.” A command, not a request. Hard eye contact. This is my first close assessment of the perp. His hands are up but empty. No belt, pants very low, 2 inches of underwear showing. Light jacket, no bulge or sag from weight. Appears unarmed, maybe a knife but not readily available. Eyes are not right, too thin, pick sores on the face. Looks like a tweeker, not yet living on the street but well on his way. The assessment takes less than two seconds. The Perp speaks. ”Hey man, what’s your problem?” Meth-mouth confirmed. Tell “Em - “I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM US. LEAVE NOW.” Command voice echoes of the adjacent parking structure. People in the distance look our way. I’m ready for the Make ‘Em if he attacks. As I’m unarmed, the plan is a right thrust kick to the chest, but he disengages with a smart-ass comment. I rejoin with the girls inside. They’re fine. An airline-style debrief follows: How’d it go? Good outcome. Girls safe, no one injured. Crime thwarted. What went right? Incident progressed as trained. SA was good, threat was picked up early. Confrontation was maneuvered to the place of my choosing. Perp thought he had the initiative, but he was wrong. Kind of fun to watch his confusion and frustration. I can’t understate the value of having trained and practiced these scenarios in real time during BRAVE. What could we have done better? My post-action description of the perp to the police sucked. A cell-phone photo would have been nice, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off him and a photo from my wife might have triggered an attack on her. Have to think about that. While shipping a pistol would have been impractical, I should have thrown a carry knife into my suitcase. In the future I’ll look at the local ordinances on edged weapons. Fortunately, the tweeker was unarmed. My blood was up. The adrenaline rush was ahead of the need. Still need to meter that back. What will we do next time? Carry whenever possible. Edged weapon if pistol is not an option. Continue Gracie Jiu Jitsu training. Stay even cooler. Closing thoughts… Before Gunsite training (20-years ago!), my SA wasn’t what it could be. If I had not picked up the threat, I believe it would have been a purse snatch. I think the perp planned on hitting us in the last block before the hotel, which was a concrete canyon. Very light pedestrian traffic and no open businesses. No witnesses, no police, no aid. Jeanne could have been seriously injured in a fall. Before BRAVE training, I would not have had the skill set to effectively manage this incident. I would have probably over-reacted. To the casual observer, I might have looked like the “big grouchy old man” harassing the poor homeless man. If it went physical, I could have been arrested. Who knows how witnesses would have perceived the confrontation? As it was, I applied what you taught me, to a very satisfactory result. Can’t thank you both enough! Looking forward to repeating BRAVE 2 next fall. All best,
Watson T., Ballistic Response Against Violent Encounters 2, August 19/2019, Gunsite, Paulden, AZ