Rock Hill SC Assassination Attempt
You don’t have to be President Trump to be ‘Targeted for Termination.’ Bad Decisions lead to Negative Outcomes; one Justifiable Killing and one 10 year prison sentence.
“This was basically an assassination attempt,” Judge Bill McKinnon said. “It’s pre-planned. I mean, they intercepted him in traffic to block his car in and then tried to kill him.”
Many thanks to Good Guy With A Gun for reporting on this case.
Executive Summary of the Crime
- Woman (aka WBM ‘would-be murderer’) gets into argument with a male co-worker (MCW).
- Texts girlfriend (GF) to bring her a ‘tool’ (aka pistol) and sends picture of the male’s car.
- GF picks up WBM and they follow MCW in car when he leaves work.
- MCW tries multiple times to escape the confrontation.
- GF and WBM finally box MCW in at a stoplight.
- WBM exits GF’s car with pistol concealed in a grocery bag and confronts MCW.
- MCW retrieves his own pistol from his vehicle and then shoots and kills WBM.
- GF gets out of her car and punches MCW in the face.
- MCW indicates to GF with pistol to back off.
- GF is arrested by POlice.
- GF charged with Assault and Battery and Felony Murder because of WBM’s death.
- POlice say MCW acted in self-defense https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article289406968.html and no charges are filed against him.
- GF pleads Guilty to Aggravated Assault and Battery.
- Judge is unsympathetic to her plea for leniency due to pregnancy and sentences GF to 10 years imprisonment.
- Prosecutors drop Felony Murder and other charges after 10 year sentence for A & B.
There is no shortage of wackadoos who will try to kill you for nonsensical reasons.
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Surviving Edged Weapons
There is plenty of commentary, both informed and uninformed, available about the legalities and moralities of Austin Metcalfe’s murder, so I’m not going to go into those aspects of the incident. What has been focused on less is the actual mechanics of the incident. What’s most important for us and our loved ones to know is how to avoid becoming a casualty or fatality in such an incident.
“Yes, Karmelo put his hand in the bag and said five times, ‘touch me and see what happens,’ the witness testified.”
Note that the weapon used was a camping multitool available at WalMart. It has a knife blade, which is 3.5 inches long. This was more than sufficient to pierce Austin Metcalfe’s heart and kill him. Since Anthony had his hand in the bag long enough to repeat his threat five times, the knife was probably already open when it came out. Being within arm’s length in that situation is very dangerous.
Contrary to the pronouncements of some foolish common taters, knives are definitely deadly weapons. While many edged weapon attacks involve multiple slashes or stabs, just one can be sufficient to cause death. Austin Metcalfe’s demise is a sad example of how quickly that can happen.
The video Surviving Edged Weapons is available on YouTube. Made in 1988, it’s still well worth watching, either for the first time or as a review. It contains multiple actual incidents and re-enactments of edged weapon attacks and their aftermaths.
As noted in one comment to the video, the example at 7:15 of an officer being stabbed with a sword through the opening of a door recently occurred IRL in Boston. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-police-northeastern-university-sword-stabbing/
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Tactical Conference 2026 – I
The 2026 Rangemaster Tactical Conference, aka TacCon https://taccon.info/, wrapped up last Sunday evening. It was three full days of training focused on personal development for self-defense and personal protection. A wide variety of subjects were presented in a buffet format. The classes ranged from live fire with pistols and shotguns to hands-on encounters without firearms to theoretical and philosophical seminars. Friday’s schedule gives a glimpse of the classes that are available.
I gave my presentation A Deep Dive into Boyd’s Process aka the O-O-D-A Loop twice. It seemed to be fairly well received. My object was to dispel some myths and give a more detailed analysis of what Colonel John Boyd actually said.
In Memory of Chuck Norris concluded my presentation.
Good Guys Wear Black Airport fight
Although I spent much of the Conference in discussions with my colleagues, I attended two classes; Concealment Workshop by Jon and Sarah Hauptman and Target, Bullets, and Body Parts by Chuck Haggard. With a lineup of dozens of classes, it’s not possible to take them all in. I also observed or sat in for a bit on several others. What You Should Know About Defensive Shooting by John Farnam, Hardest State Carry Quals by Karl Rehn, Low Round Count Evaluations by Lee Weems, and Defensive Knife for Concealed Carriers by Greg Ellifritz were worthwhile additions to my schedule.
An important part of the Conference to me is the Pistol Match because it is a rare opportunity to shoot at turning targets. Visual cues are rather different than an audio cue such as a shot timer. The staff graciously consented to allow me to shoot it twice, once for record with my Glock 19 and a second time the next day with my LCP II .380 for comparison. The results will be in my next post.
Parking Lot Tactics
Greg Ellifritz recently wrote an excellent article about mitigating the risks we encounter every time we go into a parking lot. https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/five-parking-lot-precautions It’s great advice; much like my own protocols that I developed after LCDR Schaufelberger was assassinated in his car in El Salvador. https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2018/05/25/in-memoriam-albert-schaufelberger/
Two points in particular resonated with me. First,
Walk against traffic going to and from your car. … You may also be able to detect the driver distracted by texting or scrolling the internet on his phone before he runs you down as well.
Every time you go into a parking lot, you will see people who simply cannot put their cell phones down for ONE Minute between their cars and the store. As soon as they get out of the car, they start texting or talking, completely obvious to the two ton homicide machines moving all around them. When they leave the store, they continue blabbing even while they’re backing out of their parking space and driving down the lane.
The title of Colonel Rex Applegate’s most famous book Kill Or Be Killed comes to mind. Such people are ready and willing to kill you as they distractedly put their manslaughter machines in motion or they’re ready to be killed while yapping about something of no importance.
By walking against the traffic, you’ll have more chance to see the distracted driver before they run you down and then say “I’m so sorry” while you’re leaking and being loaded in the ambulance aka ‘amber lamps.’ https://youtu.be/53Bx5PLrOIk?si=zCk8BcJyDLOVFUS0&t=173 Note: in the first part of the video there “may be strong language used by those shown in the video. Viewer discretion is advised, especially for young children and sensitive viewers.”
The second point that resonated with me was:
If I do carry a shopping bag, I always carry it in my non-dominant hand. I like to keep my gun hand free for a faster draw should I decide I want to respond with my weapon.
I disagree with Greg about this. My comment on his Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/posts/five-parking-lot-138083166 was:
One point of difference. I carry the bag in my Primary Hand. During 10 years (around 400 iterations) as a role player in Force on Force scenarios, we never saw any clients drop something in their Support Hand when they were forced by the scenario into shooting. Even Rogers Advanced Level shooters would shoot Primary Hand Only. Same thing for less skilled shooters. That observation changed my mind about how to set myself up for success.
Parking lots are spaces in-between other places of relatively greater safety. Ramp up your level of awareness for two minutes when you drive into the parking lot and when you leave the store to exit the parking lot.
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Fraternity Picnic Shooting
A précis of the incident:
- Fraternity holds picnic at an Atlanta park
- Uninvited intruder wearing ski mask crashes picnic and starts a confrontation
- Fraternity members try to de-escalate the situation
- Masked intruder pulls out a gun and starts shooting
- A fraternity Brother is shot in the head and dies on scene
- Other fraternity Brothers, who have Weapons Carry Licenses, are armed
- They draw their guns and shoot the masked intruder
- Intruder is neutralized with bullets and later expires in hospital
Sad that carrying a pistol has become a necessity even at a pleasant fellowship event but I’m glad the Brothers had theirs. It could have been much worse. There are a lot of emboldened wackos wandering around. The report indicated that the intruder had been walking down the sidewalk next to the park and just decided to make trouble for an unknown reason.
RIP Mr. Pearson.
Situational Awareness and Positioning (part VI)
Greg Ellifritz included an article I wrote ten years ago in this week’s edition of his Weekend Knowledge Dump. https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-november-15-2024 This afternoon, the concept was revisited for me as I went to lunch.
I walked to the neighborhood Burger King to use a coupon I had for lunch. As I rounded the corner of the building, a somewhat disreputable looking individual came into view. First red flag: he had one pants leg pulled up and tucked in a sock, which I always assume means some kind of affiliation, although now it may merely be stylistic. The more important red flag was that he was wearing a backpack that had a large black rod sticking out straight up behind his head. It looked very much like a weapon to me. I did a quick mental rehearsal and headed toward the door.
There was a bicycle and cup of ice cream by the door, which I assumed were his. He was standing off to the side, so I went in. After receiving my food, I sat where I could keep an eye on him. Shortly after I sat down, he had drawn the rod and was flipping it in the air. It appeared to be a piece of one inch electrical conduit about the size of a Baltimore POlice espantoon https://baltimorepolicemuseum.com/en/what-makes-an-espantoon-an-espantoon, i.e., 22 and 25 inches in length. One end was wrapped with what appeared to be electrical tape. That’s the end I had seen sticking up above his backpack.
Since he had his impact tool in hand, I decided I was not going to leave the place until he was gone. Fortunately, he shortly afterward got on his bicycle and took off. Since I was planning to take a walk after lunch, I went in the opposite direction when I left.
It was an interesting reminder of the concept of synchronicity. https://iaap.org/jung-analytical-psychology/short-articles-on-analytical-psychology/synchronicity-an-acausal-connecting-principle/
For those who would interested in the series about Awareness and Positioning, these are the links.
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/06/25/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-i/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/16/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iii/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2014/10/18/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-iv/
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2015/04/01/situational-awareness-and-positioning-part-v/
In a related post, https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2016/08/05/practicing-awareness-part-iii/ I wrote:
“I don’t mind walking past low-lifes but it’s important to be mentally prepared to deal with them and fail the interview. Someone once said that I give my students permission to be rude; that’s totally true. There’s a difference between rude and mean, though. In my vernacular, being rude relates to enforcing my boundaries. Being mean is encroaching on someone else’s boundaries. That can set you up for trouble.”
Be aware but don’t be a jerk.
Evolution Security Podcast 169
We had a very interesting conversation this week on the Evolution Security Podcast https://evosec.libsyn.com/ep-169-claude-werner-the-tactical-professor .
Things we talked about.
- Negative Outcomes
- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
- The Cost of Killing https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2016/07/24/the-cost-of-killing/
- Social Space Gunfighting Class
- Dr. William Aprill and psychology
- ‘shooting better’ rather than ‘slowing down’
- Practicing with Black Rifles https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2019/07/31/shooting-your-black-rifle-the-book/
- And more.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – July 2024
No incidents from Chicargo in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly this month. There is one in The Armed Citizen column though, a bicycle robbery.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/good-bad-and-109150993
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – July 2024
The Good
Prosecutor says deadly shooting in downtown Anderson appears to be self-defense
Many, perhaps most, shootings take place in Social Space. This appears to be one of them.
The Bad
[Unintentional] shooting at Kentucky gun store under investigation
Another story emphasizing the importance of safe gunhandling by observing Fundamental Rules at all times. A combination of Rule Two (Point in a safe direction) and Rule Three (Keep finger outside trigger guard) violations caused the death of an innocent bystander. Rule One (All guns are always loaded) applies no matter where you are, even when examining a gun taken out of a display case.
The Ugly
Two women involved in custody battle shot dead
People sometimes get insane over child custody. Every unpleasant custody battle story I read makes me glad my parents weren’t like that.
“A 65-year-old retired probation officer from Chicago fatally shot her grandchild’s mother on an Upper East Side street Friday just yards from Gracie Mansion, then turned the gun on herself, NYPD detectives said.”
Enjoy!
If you like my work, join me on Patreon where I post more in-depth articles about shooting, marksmanship, and incident analysis.
https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor
The GBU isn’t drawn from The Armed Citizen column of the official NRA Journals but the July edition of The Armed Citizen is attached. Rather than an obsessive interest in ‘the worst case scenario,’ it shows what the vast majority of Defensive Gun Uses really look like.
Surveillance Detection – It’s a Real Thing
Surveillance Detection is a lifestyle not something you pull out of your pocket on occasion. It’s better to avoid trouble than to get out of trouble.
“[A couple] had just returned home from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with $3,300 in winnings when they were ambushed[, shot, and robbed]. Now two men are facing charges in the attack.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/08/16/hard-rock-casino-robbery/74830644007/
Doorbell video on NY Post
More Doorbell video
Robbers – Tristin Wright, 36, and Marcus Jenkins, 34
“Sheriff Judd said Jenkins has 53 previous felony charges and 18 previous misdemeanor charges and has been to state prison five times.”
There are a lot of low lifes out there and they won’t cut you one bit of slack. Notice that this attack escalated to ‘gun violence’ almost immediately.
Riverview couple urges vigilance after being ambushed
“Delacruz owns his own security company and says situational awareness is always top of mind, but he got lost in the moment enjoying a great date night.”
Here is a previous post about the principles of Surveillance Detection.
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2024/01/03/surveillance-detection-principles/
Tactical Tip of the Day
If you go into a Wings takeout joint and a guy has a gun with an extendo tucked in his belt, leave immediately.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Disturbing surveillance video shows the moments two men started shooting at each other at a DeKalb County wings restaurant, all over a few dollars.
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