Dead Samaritan

A 72 year old man (Why is his age important?) was shot and killed around 11pm June 30on Indianapolis' West side. His name was Mario Gonzalez-Tello. He was trying to stop the armed robbery of a woman.

He was a regular customer at Mr. Gyros which had just closed. Apparently the woman was a waitress at the restaurant. Someone was waiting for the 'right' moment to strike.

From here, the accounts vary, though there is the 'official' story. I first heard Mr. Tello had reached for his pistol and was shot by a 16 year old (Again the age. Hmm, are we to feel sorry for him since he's so young?) who has since been apprehended and identified. The official version says Mr. Tello had his gun withdrawn. It is uncertain whether he had it pointed in the suspect's direction. The suspect apparently saw Mr. Tello out of the corner of his eye and proceeded to shoot Mr. Tello four times, killing him. He then ran away, shooting through the window of a nearby business.

I'm sorry Mr. Tello died. It's too bad he didn't nail the perp. What follows is supposition and can be a lesson for all of us.

No doubt Mr. Tello's intentions were good. He even knew the victim from the restaurant. It's not clear, but it could well be that he thought if he indicated he had a gun the perp would simply flee. It's common enough to believe that. Big mistake. One should follow through and stop the threat, whatever it takes. It could be he didn't clear in time. Perhaps he miscalculated or as suggested hoped the perp would give up. Hind sight is 20-20.

Never ever think a perp will fold. Be ready to stop the threat aka using deadly force if necessary. The kid followed through and killed Mr. Tello. The reverse of what should have happened perversely. It's not unusual for criminals to train with their guns. Be ready.

Sometimes the bad guys do run. But life is too precious to hope for that. Be prepared to fight. With the right to carry comes responsibility, to oneself and all others potentially. Be in condition 'yellow', ready to fight and aware of your surroundings. Then, follow through with condition orange and red each with increased awareness, follow through and results. I'm referring to Col. Jeff Cooper's combat mindset color code. Never be in condition white aka unaware. Follow this practice to get over that resistance or reluctance to shoot someine in self defense.

The more training the better. It should never be legislated. To me that's infringement. It should be stressed in the firesrms community that the more practice the better.

Seek out a good trainer or program. Examples: F.R.&I. has good training. Gunsite, Col. Cooper's original place is still recommended. Scott Reitz in California also has worthwhile instruction. Find someone who at least gives basic technique at first. I suggest continuing. As a friend says. "More tools for the toolbox".

The other thing re this situation. The cops of course do NOT sanction resisting robbers. They said in the original newsclip to 'give up what the perp wants and then be a good witness'. I guarantee that will most likely get you killed rather than resisting. But resist by learning how. Practice, practice, practice. (I suspect that the intention is as David Codrea at waronguns.blogspot.com says, cops think they are the 'only ones' trained to respond etc.)

Not so. We must take care of ourselves. No one else can. As they say at F.R.&I., 'I'm NOT going to @#@#ing die!!!'