My son Will and I were on the way back from the Friday night Wally world car show. He had just got out of TaeKwonDo so we went by the show and made to the a local drive up ATM at about 9:30. There was a red 55 Chevy 2 door post sitting nearby with two guys scratching their heads. They were dressed in that stereotypical biker garb with the bandanas and black leather vests and jeans with the chains on their wallets. I have never been one to care what a person looked like so I stopped to help. Will is 12 but is very strong for his age so he and I helped them push the 55 uphill to a safe parking lot. Then I gave them a ride to where they could get another car. I introduced myself and my and my son and they introduced themselves as brothers. Sunday's paper had one of them on the front page. It seems that a few hours after I helped him he decided to shoot his wife 3 times, killing her. Then he went out in the front yard and fired several shots at the neighbors. He missed them but made his getaway. He turned himself in Monday. I know that some of you live in places where this might be common. It ain't here. What I thoguth would be a good lesson to my son on looking past the cover of the book to what is inside ended up being a lesson for both of us. From now on he and I have decided t be a little more cautious. Gater
Gater ; You did the right thing there ~ no way to know what he'd do later on , you didn't mention them being hostile etc. so helping out was the right thing to do . Sadly he's now learned the hard way that life isn't fair .
I would guess his day went down hill in a hurry with the loss of his 55~ Tried to bum another ride, was reminded about how much he'd sunk into "that old car"... Who knows. All I know for sure is, you did the right thing Gater. Your son should be/is proud of you for that. You can't control what other people do, just what you do. You did your part~ You tried to help your fellow man. God had a reason for you to stop then.
Holy CRAP, gater. You guys are so lucky. Hope you went to church to say "thanks" and bought a lottery ticket too. Happy you both are okay. Andy
Thanks, guys. The guy is charged with first degree. He has not confessed but the evidence is overwhelming with folks all around the house. I made several mistakes. I tell my kids not to put themselves in a vulnerable situation but here are some dumb things I did that, in retrospect could have been disasterous. I left my car sitting there running while I helped the guy. I turned my back on the brother that ended up killing his wife while I was talking to the other brother. Even though I was armed, I would not have been able to get my revolver out and use it before he could get the upper hand cause he was in the back seat and my revolver was in my holster on my right hip. My son had better instincts. Since he has been working on his second degree black belt he has been taught weapon defenses and, without me even noticing he had removed a bic pen from the glove box and removed the cap. He would have used it as a weapon if needed. He was ready because he said the guys looked too scary for his tastes. I guess, in today's environment, you have to walk a thin line between being prepared and being paranoid. As a result of this encounter I will be better prepared. And yes, Andy, I did thank the Lord for protection for my son and for me. Gater
I'm sure the guy had no reason to feel any animosity toward you and your son. None of us could have known his situation at home. A guy I worked with was one of the friendliest people you'd ever want to meet. He and his wife were having marital problems and he ended up shooting her 3 times. Luckily she survived:he's doing 24 years in prison.
