Circle K after-action report

Preparation, Preparedness & Prevention Disaster Preparation & Planning
1

At 11:15 a.m. today, I was talking on the cell phone, having parked right in front of the front door of Circle K, in Central Tucson. A man approached me with a half empty pint of liquor in one hand and began mumbling at me. I backed away, looked him in the eye, and told/motioned for him to wait, I’m on the phone. He moved closer, I backed another step, raised my voice, “Please don’t come closer.” This continued as I stepped back in circles, in front of Circle K’s front door, raising my voice louder each time, and holding my left hand up to indicate “stop.”

The phone was still connected, so my friend heard it all, as did a few bystanders. Finally he pressed into bad-breath distance and leaned right into my out-stretched left hand. At this point my mind reeled with all the options I may have had to have taken. I had positioned myself into my drivers side door and finally slid into the minivan, as he continued to close in, while escalating threats and cursing me. He had his hand on my drivers window as I slowly drove away. A block later I called 9-1-1, and said I did not want to return to make a report, but that they should proceed to the location, since I u-turned and drove by, and saw him talking to someone else in front of the store.

A peripheral thought that crossed my mind is a friend in law enforcement told me he did not even go into Central Tucson after dark, while off-duty! I have now asked my wife to think twice before stopping anywhere unnecessary in rough-looking Central Tucson during the day. A few months ago, a friend from work was threatened in a similar fashion, except without physical contact, at a near-by Circle K. Another peripheral thought is: I saw two separate accidents that had just happened, within 2 miles away, so who knows if the Circle K incident would be important enough for police to be able to respond.

So my point is, this scenario is NOT merely hypothetical: think it through ahead of time, and be ready to conduct the plans you have thought of beforehand, so you and yours don’t get caught off-guard. “We don’t rise to the occasion; we fall to the level of our training.” The strangest thing is, you don’t believe it’s happening, when it’s happening. It’s like a dream you find yourself in. I certainly did not do all I had hoped, nor did I perform optimally, so I thank God for my safety just a few hours ago.

2

This one reason I don’t talk on a cell when out and about. Your situational awareness diminishes greatly.

3

Thanks for sharing. Glad things did not go south for you

4

Good points…it could have gone worse then it did…much worse. Lessons learned. Thanks for sharing

5

Yes, my SA sucked at the onset; made a good lesson to stay in the car while taking a call. However I was also glad to have my buddy on the line, who heard everything I said until I hung up to call 9-1-1. I was ready to drop the phone before the BG approached closer than comfort.

6

Any action which you deem is a threat to your safety has to be addressed immediately with all other actions your engaged in terminated and 100% of your focus centered on any close threats around your person.

Not to second guess your response to the situation but once you decided this man was a threat to your person you did not give the situation 100% of your attention, second and one of the most deadly errors was you continually allowed the hostile person time after time to close the distance on you were a strike with the booze bottle or a unseen knife would be in effective range.

We all learn from are mistakes and I’M glad you were not hurt but I would suggest that you consider a class by a known instructor to bush up on situational awareness and CQC skills.

7

I’m way the hell up north from Florida here in Michigan, and the few Circle Ks that have popped up are like scumbag magnets for some reason. My brother worked at one for awhile (another business that employees can not carry while on shift) and he always had a story.

One of my biggest “almost” moments happened a couple years ago at a Circle K. I was on my way to a family members house after my cousin’s funeral when some events went down in the parking lot. I almost didn’t carry that day either, given I was going to a funeral. Really glad I did. I didn’t draw down on anyone, but was more comfortable knowing I was armed.

It’s too bad - Circle K seems like a pretty nice store for the most part. Definitely one of the nicer chain convenience stores around here.

8

Drop the phone and put that fucker on his ass with your hands. Call it good.

9

Glad to hear youre okay buddy an didnt have to explain yourself to the police in a different way.

Im from Fla, and dealt with drunken fucks like that on an almost weekly basis, usually they were harmless but a couple times it turned into a fight…right ON A1A.

Usually the drunk ones are just idiots, but like another post stated, “You were EASILY in knife distance”.

Be safe and keep your head on a swivel out there.

I hear parts of AZ are the wild west

10

Which intersection was this at?

11

Why were you you still talking on the phone? Hang up and deal with the guy and call your friend back. I’m sure he will understand.

12

We covered this in great deal in southnarc’s ECQC. It is a great course. I would recommend that you take it as soon as you can.

Read this: http://www.safeism.com/pdfs/SNContacts.pdf

13

I had an incident at a gas station in downtown Phoenix. A drunk Indian (feather, not dot) wanted money and was bugging all the customers. As he approached me, three times I firmly told him, “Stay back” and held out my arm, hand open and up in a “Stop” configuration. The Indian fellow seemed to silently debate his options and decided to rush me. As he made his rapid advance, I lifted my shirt and grabbed my J-frame at my hip. The Indian fellow decided he was needed elsewhere and departed. It turned out that I did not have to actually point the gun at him. As my shirt came up, he fully understood where things were going.

14

THIS!

15

could not agree more

16

Eh just a drunk. Push him kit of the way and go on about your day.

17

Not so easy as you suggest, I have seen more mean drunks and when one under estimates them thats when you get hurt.

18

I very much appreciate all of the above. It was at 1st and Ft Lowell. Definitely learned not to chat on the sidewalk, even right in front of an entrance. No more of that. I certainly felt the tunnel vision close in, as it was happening, so that will be a good cue, if it ever happens again.

It’ll be interested to debrief later with my buddy on the other end of the call. Thanks so much for the link to “managing” above. Great stuff which I will digest and spread. Besides the 2 phone mistakes (being on it and staying on it), I’m glad about the rest. Hopefully the guy got the help he needed, and I got to drive away.

19

You learned from a mistake without getting hurt thats the important part. Now you will be better prepared should a event like this ever repeat its self.

20

im glad you shared that with us, it never hurts to hear someone else’s learning experience. because now we have learned from it as well. its a good thing you didnt put hands on him. even if you were defending yourself, you never know what a judge will think when he is suing you for twisting his ankle. great country we live in