Nightmare scenario Part 1. What would you do?

[VUPDblue]

You are driving home after meeting some friends and it is about 12:00am. It's a nice spring night and the sky is clear as glass with a crescent moon. You live in a rural area, just on the outskirts of suburbia and your drive takes you through about 2 miles of nothing but freshly planted fields once you pass the last stoplight in town. You are about a mile and a half from home when you notice red and blue lights up ahead on your side of the road. The speed limit is 35 MPH and as you approach, you slow down so as to obey Indiana law. As you get closer, you recognize the police car as one of the unmarked units that your local PD uses for traffic enforcement. As you approach to within a few car lengths, you hear gunfire and you observe a man in jeans and a flannel shirt exiting the pickup truck while shooting toward a man in a dark suit who is running toward the rear of the police car for cover. What do you do now?

 

[Security122]

I hit the high beams to blind the shooter and hope the man in the "dark suit" makes it to cover. I also hope the dark suit is the LEO. That's all I got...

 

[Tryin']

That's pretty vague. . . I'm gonna be calling the I-KNOW-they-are-the-authorities and assessing the situation. If I determine one to be the "right" party, I would engage the other, if prudent and possible.

Maybe the dude in the dark suit WAS in the pickup and is running away. . .

In any case, SOMEBODY is getting marked with radioactive 'Dew. . .

 

[IndianaResident]

Like Tryin' said, assuming I can identify the authority...the car is a weapon. The officer doesn't need rounding coming from another direction to confuse the issue.

 

[Eddie]

Hit the guy who is exiting the pickup truck with my car.

 

[Disposable Heart]

I think the best thing, without thinking too hard on it to give a more real answer, would be high beams (as stated), slam it into reverse, floor it. Give myself some distance. Slam brakes. Get into trunk of car, get .270. Sit and wait. If things go south for the police, 110gr soft points...

Rule #1 of the Civilian Handbook: Get home alive at the end of the shift.

Rule #39: Help a brother out!

 

[Arm America]

As mentioned, Hit the brights while dropping passenger window and suggest to the officer to dive in for cover, cause I'm backing up in about a milli-second!

If the officer declines, well,
I'm no hero but I ain't going to leave him in a gunfight.

 

[grimor]

high beams and nail the guy in the truck with the car. Hope I'm in my towncar or truck instead of my cavalier...

 

[theweakerbrother]

Plow through and hope I hit both of them because I recognize the guy in the suit as the jerk who had 13 items before me in the 12 items or less line at the grocery store and the other as the officer who forcefully disarmed me at gunpoint while legally OC'ing.

What would I really do in the scenario? It is hard to say. The guy running from the truck isn't guaranteed to be the "BG" as he could be the officer. It could be an innocent bystander. It could be a second tango. People driving undercover vehicles could presumably be wearing anything. I would like to think that I would stop and help but the undercover might fire and kill me for trying to assist him.

Sounds like a no-win for everyone.

 

[jclark]

What would I really do in the scenario? It is hard to say. The guy running from the truck isn't guaranteed to be the "BG" as he could be the officer. It could be an innocent bystander. It could be a second tango. People driving undercover vehicles could presumably be wearing anything. I would like to think that I would stop and help but the undercover might fire and kill me for trying to assist him.

Sounds like a no-win for everyone.

+1

 

[brotherbill3]

You are driving home ... so as to obey Indiana law. As you get closer, you recognize the police car as one of the unmarked units that your local PD uses for traffic enforcement. As you approach to within a few car lengths, you hear gunfire and you observe a man in jeans and a flannel shirt exiting the pickup truck while shooting toward a man in a dark suit who is running toward the rear of the police car for cover. What do you do now?

Wait to see what happens after the commercial break ;evil;

On my phone ... so hard to type/edit.
Actually. ... call 911 ... [and note if the suit is NOT a uniform .... then either the officer is not doing traffic stop "on duty" ... it could be a sting or some other activity] ... while backing up and adding lights. As others have said, if I can determine who is the officer / proper party then offer assistance / backup to them. Hopefully just have to observe and report.

Or like I said, see what happens after they return from commercial.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Guess I'm not much of the Hero type....as I would:

1. Get the heck out of dodge to avoid being collateral damage.
2. Call 911 and provide the facts that I've observed.
3. Continue to observe from a distance and provide details to the 911 dispatch.
4. If the pick-up pulls away, or it is abundantly clear the gunfight is over, return and render any assisstance I can until proper emergency reponders are on scene.

The only way I stay and fight is if the man in the dark suit somehow identifies himself as LEO, and asks for my help as he's running for cover, or if my vehicle has been hit and is disabled.

I wish I could say that I'd throw my truck in park, jump out with my side arm and join the fight, but in reality I don't have the proper training and in this scenario don't have any way to clearly identify friend or foe.

 

[gohard43]

I would for sure throw it in reverse, get to a reasonable safe distance, the rest would depend on if the bad guy advances on me or if LEO is wounded

 

[AXE835]

As said before brights on, if "dark suit" is like the ones I have in my closet. Stop id myself help put hot lead on target. In scenario it was stated that you reconized the slick as a traffic car so my guess you should reconize the LEO,(I went to school with or personaly know most of our LEOs around here,Dad is retired, guess that helps). So yes Iwould stop.

 

[.40caltrucker]

I have thought about this scenario over and over and over again. If I know for sure the one running behind squad car for cover is LEO and I'm alone in the car then I use it as a weapon if possible. All other scenarios depend on knowing who the LEO is and if he needs help and also whether or not I could get the advantage.

In the scenario you said a few car lengths. By the time anyone could get their car stopped at 35 you would be right next to the squad car. Backing up would be slow and dangerous. It's easy to lose control going backwards fast. Not to mention if someone else was coming up behind you. It would be best, faster, and more controlled to step on the gas and go forward. You would be a harder target faster by doing this, and you could swerve making yourself an even harder target.

 

[remymartin]

KEEP ON TRUCKIN'.. I don't know the situation. I don't know who the bad guy is.

 

[jbombelli]

I gun the throttle and run down the guy coming out of the truck, with my own truck.

I'm pretty confident in assuming the guy ducking behind the police car is a cop. Here's why: the car is unmarked, and the other guy is wearing flannel. You have to be either 1) in a marked car or 2) in uniform, to initiate a traffic stop in Indiana. So I have to assume the guy wearing the flannel wasn't driving the police car and initiating traffic stops.

 

[sparky241]

In any case, SOMEBODY is getting marked with radioactive 'Dew. . .

what?can you explain what this means?

 

[Slow Hand]

As has been said, even at say 25, it's going to take some distance to stop your vehicle. My truck is no 'Vette, so I'd gun it and get some distance between me and the gunfire. Pull off the road and lose some elevation, if possible. Grab the cell and call 911 giving them the best description possible. AS soon as possible, I'd be reaching for my Kel Tec SUB2K and getting it unfolded and ready to return fire. If time permitted, I"d get in the back seat and grab my little chest rig that's set up with six 15 round .40 cal mags. Depending on the situation and available cover, I'd try and eek closer to observe/help out. I carry a small pair of binocs in my truck for looking at wild game, but they might come in handy for a situation like this.

I'd like to say I'd stomp the gas and ram the guy in the flannel. But at midnight at 25mph, how can you really be sure, dead sure, who's the bad guy and who's the good guy. yes, most of us want to do the right thing and be a hero, but what if there's some odd situation and it's an off duty cop pulling someone over for reasons we don't know. If you can positively ID who's who, it's a different story. Either way, I doubt your insurance will pay for you totalling your car by using it as a weapon and if you think a podunk town has money to buy you a new truck because you were a good samaritan, well, I bet you're wrong!

Doug K

 

[03mustgt]

My 3500lb car is going to turn into a weapon, assuming I can clearly ID who the LEO is. If I cannot I am going to block the roadway with my vehicle, putting distance between me and the LEO vehicle. Take cover announce myself as off duty police. Await for a response, and then engage if necessary. IMO there is no time to call 911 this situation requires an immediate action. The phone cannot help you or the person being shot at.

Personally I would have a hard time just driving by or throwing it in reverse especially if the LEO was injured or killed. That would be something I would not want to have on my conscience.

Having stated that, If my family was with me then things would be different. Their safety would be priority #1.