rogue
03-04-2003, 06:35 PM
The origin of these two post from Darren can found here (http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=31)
A Deadly Lesson
As an LEO, I have both witnessed and been involved in many physical altercations in which people have been seriously hurt or even killed as a result of violence. Several years ago, I was involved in an incident, which to this day still effects the way that I train and puts into perspective the way of the street.
It was December, three weeks before Christmas when a gentleman by the name of Courtney WALLS was walking to a local Chapter’s Book Store to buy his wife a book as a stocking stuffer. Courtney was a 6’2” 220lbs highly regarded rugby player who was high on life and had a bright future ahead of him.
As Courtney proceeded to walk back to work, he walked by an intersection here in Victoria known as “cocaine corner” Although this area was well known as a place where one could by heroine, cocaine, and meth, it is also located in the very heart of our business community and as such, there were hundreds of people walking around doing their Christmas shopping.
As Courtney proceeded to walk through this area, he passed by a 15 year old sex trade worker and upon doing so, she yelled out; “he just pinched my ass.”, while pointing directly at Courtney. Upon hearing this, Courtney turned his head towards this young girl and noted that she was directing her comments towards him.
Courtney next proceeded to turn around and walked back to this young girl, who was with two other young prostitutes, and said; “excuse me what did you say?’. Again the young girl stated; “ you just pinched my ass and if you are going to touch me like that you will have to pay me for it.” Upon hearing this Courtney immediately went on the defensive advising this young girl that he did not touch her, and that it must have been someone else due to the fact that there were so many other people around. Upon hearing this, the young girl stated; “are you calling me a liar?” Again Courtney stated that he was not calling her anything and that she had made a mistake.
Both Courtney and this young girl continued an “escalating” dialogue back and forth with one another. It was at this point that the girl’s pimp saw this verbal interaction-taking place and decided to intervene. The pimp asked his young worker what was going on, to which she replied; “ he just pinched my ass, won’t pay me for it or apologize, and know he is calling me a liar.” Upon hearing this, the pimp pushed the girl to the side and now verbally confronted Courtney. Again, Courtney pleaded his innocence but as he was doing so a small group of street people were now watching this verbal altercation take place. Many were other drug dealers, users, and sex trade workers and because of this fact the pimp now had an audience.
Both Courtney and the pimp, who was about 5’7” 165lbs, began to verbally escalate back and forth with neither one willing to back down, especially the pimp, who had a group of his peers looking on and therefore needed to “save face” in front of his crew. Due to the fact that Courtney was not backing down, to save face amongst his peers, the pimp proceeded to physically attack Courtney. Courtney was able to successfully defend himself and upon doing so threw the pimp to the ground and stated; “you’ve had enough, I’m out of here.” Courtney had learned on the rugby field that when you got into a fight with another player, once someone went down, the fight was over. As we all know, it does not work that way on the street.
As Courtney walked away, the pimp’s crew began to laugh out load about how he had just gotten his clock cleaned, and that he was not the biggest and meanest guy on the street. Upon hearing this, the pimp who was loosing face, got back up on his feet and ran after Courtney at which time a second physical fight took place. Again Courtney defended himself and this time threw the pimp towards a business and stated,” you’ve had enough, I’m out of here, I don’t want to fight anymore.”, and again walked away.
The pimp’s crew again began to laugh and joke about what had just happened (loosing face) at which time the pimp, knowing that he could not handle Courtney one on one, stood up and grabbed a knife from one of his prostitutes, ran up behind Courtney and hit his twice with the blade. The first shot hit Courtney in his left kidney, the second shot hit Courtney between his left rib cage hitting the heart, and then like the coward he was, the pimp ran away from the scene but upon doing so ran directly by me due to the fact that I had just received a radio dispatch of a fight in progress.
As the pimp ran by me, so did three of his prostitutes all of whom were very well known to me. A witness then approached me and stated that the pimp had just stabbed someone down the street. Upon hearing this I was able to contact my mountain bike officers who were able to take the pimp and his flock into custody, while I ran to Courtney’s aid.
When I reach Courtney, I noted that he was seated in a semi-prone position on a chair holding his left side. I saw NO blood and Courtney’s breathing appeared to be labored as if he had just been involved in a fight. I asked Courtney if he was all right to which he replied that he had just been involved in a fight. I replied; “ I know that’s why I am hear, but someone also stated that you might have been stabbed.” It was at this time that Courtney’s respirations were becoming very labored and he was turning a very ashen gray color, and was becoming very incoherent. I was very bewildered about what I was seeing, so I proceeded to Courtney’s left side that he was holding with both hands, and upon doing so, large amounts of blood were pouring out of a chest wound. Immediately upon seeing this, I applied direct pressure and called for paramedics who attended very quickly, but were unable to save Courtney who died in my arms. The hardest thing we had to do as a department that day was to attend Courtney’s home to give a next of kin notification to his wife, who was several months pregnant with their first child, weeks before Christmas.
The lesson learned:
Courtney fell into the trap of what I call the “Bully Interview”. In this street set up, a person will say something to you like:
You F***ing ***ot
You F***ing Queer
You f***ing ****
You just pinched my ass
What the f**k are you looking at
Hoping that you will say or do something back. Your verbal or physical retaliation will then give the predator the excuse that he was looking for to now verbally, if not physically, confront you, especially if they have a peer group looking on. Although you feed your ego by verbally retaliating, it must be understood that it is tactical suicide on the street. But men are bad for this because we have this thing called an ego. These types of set ups are very common, and as a result, men get caught up in this; “my **** is bigger than your **** theory.” The end result could be, as in Courtney’s case, death over nothing more than words that were used to illicit a response from you.
Remember what our parents taught us when we were younger; “Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you.”, we forget this as we get older. This kind of set up or street interview is a fishing expedition in which the predator is hoping to catch something. If someone says something to you on the street that you do not like, make “BRIEF” eye contact with that person, keep walking, turn your awareness antenna up a little higher, and DO NOT respond back.
Yes, Courtney made several tactical mistakes, but he did not understand the way of the street and as a result, his daughter is without her father, and a wife is without her husband. Remember that knowledge and the understanding and application of that knowledge is power. Having someone die in your arms as a result of violence is a life changing experience, which I will never be able to forget. Courtney’s tragic death however, could have been avoided, and we as teachers, coaches, instructors, and students of combatives need to learn the lessons of Courtney’s death and share them with those who want to learn. Courtney’s wife knows that I use her husband’s death to teach others about what not to do to. Her words to me at the trail which I will never forget were; “ share the story with those who are willing to listen, I don’t want someone else’s husband, wife, son, or daughter to loose there life over something that they did not understand”
Strength and Honor
Darren Laur
A Deadly Lesson
As an LEO, I have both witnessed and been involved in many physical altercations in which people have been seriously hurt or even killed as a result of violence. Several years ago, I was involved in an incident, which to this day still effects the way that I train and puts into perspective the way of the street.
It was December, three weeks before Christmas when a gentleman by the name of Courtney WALLS was walking to a local Chapter’s Book Store to buy his wife a book as a stocking stuffer. Courtney was a 6’2” 220lbs highly regarded rugby player who was high on life and had a bright future ahead of him.
As Courtney proceeded to walk back to work, he walked by an intersection here in Victoria known as “cocaine corner” Although this area was well known as a place where one could by heroine, cocaine, and meth, it is also located in the very heart of our business community and as such, there were hundreds of people walking around doing their Christmas shopping.
As Courtney proceeded to walk through this area, he passed by a 15 year old sex trade worker and upon doing so, she yelled out; “he just pinched my ass.”, while pointing directly at Courtney. Upon hearing this, Courtney turned his head towards this young girl and noted that she was directing her comments towards him.
Courtney next proceeded to turn around and walked back to this young girl, who was with two other young prostitutes, and said; “excuse me what did you say?’. Again the young girl stated; “ you just pinched my ass and if you are going to touch me like that you will have to pay me for it.” Upon hearing this Courtney immediately went on the defensive advising this young girl that he did not touch her, and that it must have been someone else due to the fact that there were so many other people around. Upon hearing this, the young girl stated; “are you calling me a liar?” Again Courtney stated that he was not calling her anything and that she had made a mistake.
Both Courtney and this young girl continued an “escalating” dialogue back and forth with one another. It was at this point that the girl’s pimp saw this verbal interaction-taking place and decided to intervene. The pimp asked his young worker what was going on, to which she replied; “ he just pinched my ass, won’t pay me for it or apologize, and know he is calling me a liar.” Upon hearing this, the pimp pushed the girl to the side and now verbally confronted Courtney. Again, Courtney pleaded his innocence but as he was doing so a small group of street people were now watching this verbal altercation take place. Many were other drug dealers, users, and sex trade workers and because of this fact the pimp now had an audience.
Both Courtney and the pimp, who was about 5’7” 165lbs, began to verbally escalate back and forth with neither one willing to back down, especially the pimp, who had a group of his peers looking on and therefore needed to “save face” in front of his crew. Due to the fact that Courtney was not backing down, to save face amongst his peers, the pimp proceeded to physically attack Courtney. Courtney was able to successfully defend himself and upon doing so threw the pimp to the ground and stated; “you’ve had enough, I’m out of here.” Courtney had learned on the rugby field that when you got into a fight with another player, once someone went down, the fight was over. As we all know, it does not work that way on the street.
As Courtney walked away, the pimp’s crew began to laugh out load about how he had just gotten his clock cleaned, and that he was not the biggest and meanest guy on the street. Upon hearing this, the pimp who was loosing face, got back up on his feet and ran after Courtney at which time a second physical fight took place. Again Courtney defended himself and this time threw the pimp towards a business and stated,” you’ve had enough, I’m out of here, I don’t want to fight anymore.”, and again walked away.
The pimp’s crew again began to laugh and joke about what had just happened (loosing face) at which time the pimp, knowing that he could not handle Courtney one on one, stood up and grabbed a knife from one of his prostitutes, ran up behind Courtney and hit his twice with the blade. The first shot hit Courtney in his left kidney, the second shot hit Courtney between his left rib cage hitting the heart, and then like the coward he was, the pimp ran away from the scene but upon doing so ran directly by me due to the fact that I had just received a radio dispatch of a fight in progress.
As the pimp ran by me, so did three of his prostitutes all of whom were very well known to me. A witness then approached me and stated that the pimp had just stabbed someone down the street. Upon hearing this I was able to contact my mountain bike officers who were able to take the pimp and his flock into custody, while I ran to Courtney’s aid.
When I reach Courtney, I noted that he was seated in a semi-prone position on a chair holding his left side. I saw NO blood and Courtney’s breathing appeared to be labored as if he had just been involved in a fight. I asked Courtney if he was all right to which he replied that he had just been involved in a fight. I replied; “ I know that’s why I am hear, but someone also stated that you might have been stabbed.” It was at this time that Courtney’s respirations were becoming very labored and he was turning a very ashen gray color, and was becoming very incoherent. I was very bewildered about what I was seeing, so I proceeded to Courtney’s left side that he was holding with both hands, and upon doing so, large amounts of blood were pouring out of a chest wound. Immediately upon seeing this, I applied direct pressure and called for paramedics who attended very quickly, but were unable to save Courtney who died in my arms. The hardest thing we had to do as a department that day was to attend Courtney’s home to give a next of kin notification to his wife, who was several months pregnant with their first child, weeks before Christmas.
The lesson learned:
Courtney fell into the trap of what I call the “Bully Interview”. In this street set up, a person will say something to you like:
You F***ing ***ot
You F***ing Queer
You f***ing ****
You just pinched my ass
What the f**k are you looking at
Hoping that you will say or do something back. Your verbal or physical retaliation will then give the predator the excuse that he was looking for to now verbally, if not physically, confront you, especially if they have a peer group looking on. Although you feed your ego by verbally retaliating, it must be understood that it is tactical suicide on the street. But men are bad for this because we have this thing called an ego. These types of set ups are very common, and as a result, men get caught up in this; “my **** is bigger than your **** theory.” The end result could be, as in Courtney’s case, death over nothing more than words that were used to illicit a response from you.
Remember what our parents taught us when we were younger; “Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you.”, we forget this as we get older. This kind of set up or street interview is a fishing expedition in which the predator is hoping to catch something. If someone says something to you on the street that you do not like, make “BRIEF” eye contact with that person, keep walking, turn your awareness antenna up a little higher, and DO NOT respond back.
Yes, Courtney made several tactical mistakes, but he did not understand the way of the street and as a result, his daughter is without her father, and a wife is without her husband. Remember that knowledge and the understanding and application of that knowledge is power. Having someone die in your arms as a result of violence is a life changing experience, which I will never be able to forget. Courtney’s tragic death however, could have been avoided, and we as teachers, coaches, instructors, and students of combatives need to learn the lessons of Courtney’s death and share them with those who want to learn. Courtney’s wife knows that I use her husband’s death to teach others about what not to do to. Her words to me at the trail which I will never forget were; “ share the story with those who are willing to listen, I don’t want someone else’s husband, wife, son, or daughter to loose there life over something that they did not understand”
Strength and Honor
Darren Laur