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Pokemon GO player shoots armed robber attempting to rob him

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Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Everyone lost given the result of this was a FUCKING SHOOTOUT
 
I feel bad for that guy, I do.
But I don't think it changes the fact that a scumbag criminal got what he deserved while preying on innocent people.

Or can feel-good stories not have anything bad in them?

The Shawshank Redemption isn't a feel-good story in the end when Andy Dufresne escapes prison after being wrongly convicted (ostensibly)? Was that not feel-good when he's finally free after all those years in jail and the evil warden gets what's coming to him after all the crime he committed?

Were not other people hurt along the way? Innocent people?

But Shawshank Redemption is still a feel-good story isn't it?

You're not going to convince anyone that someone getting shot in the stomach for playing Pokemon is something we should feel good about.

If a rape victim manages to kill her attacker after he rapes her, is that a feel good story too? I mean, she didn't die and he got what he deserved, right? Is that how it works?

I'm not trying to make a direct comparison between this and the story in the OP, just curious as to where you draw the Feel Good line.
 
#NephtesFeelGoodStories

Kitten manages to kill captor and escape to freedom, only half of its brother and sisters were drowned prior to this.
 

Ray Wonder

Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
I feel like I usually respect your points but this is some hot nonsense. If someone is mugging you there is generally no indication they plan on killing you. If someone runs up to me with a gun and says I'm going to kill you and your friends and I had a gun for some reason I would use it. If someone runs up to me and says hand over your stuff I wouldn't break out a weapon.

I feel like I'm being misunderstood, or I'm not communicating clearly enough. I'm not advocating gun battles when people try to rob you. I'm disputing the point people are making that if these specific people, in this specific scenario, gave their belongings to the thief, they would have been better off. That's not a given. I would choose the outcome that actually occurred instead of going back and redoing it, without a gun, and giving the thief their belongings. Because as slim a chance as it may or may not be, it's possible that they could've ended up worse, or possibly less alive, than they are right now.
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
I feel like I'm being misunderstood, or I'm not communicating clearly enough. I'm not advocating gun battles when people try to rob you. I'm disputing the point people are making that if these specific people, in this specific scenario, gave their belongings to the thief, they would have been better off. That's not a given. I would choose the outcome that actually occurred instead of going back and redoing it, without a gun, and giving the thief their belongings. Because as slim a chance as it may or may not be, it's possible that they could've ended up worse, or possibly less alive, than they are right now.
It's also possible that the butterfly effect would have caused lightning to strike the robber if they complied.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
No its not. The referenced studies indicate resistance leads to lower injury rates.

Just handing over your wallet/phone is not the safest option.

0H74AsW.png


http://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Resisting-Crime.pdf


I assume I stand corrected but it is so obtuse I can't parse why.
 
Folks are delusional if they think a robbery is a simple song and dance..."Gimme your stuff!" "Ok, here", and that's that. Of course that happens, but I'd wager that an unsettling number of them result in (or even begin with) the victim getting shot, stabbed, slashed, sucker punched, etc.

But we all agree that the world shouldn't be that way, of course. Right?
 

Nephtes

Member
Folks are delusional if they think a robbery is a simple song and dance..."Gimme your stuff!" "Ok, here", and that's that. Of course that happens, but I'd wager that an unsettling number of them result in (or even begin with) the victim getting shot, stabbed, slashed, sucker punched, etc.

But we all agree that the world shouldn't be that way, of course. Right?

Completely agree.

Also... completely off topic: I love your icon.
 

stuminus3

Member
I would rather just hand over my phone than have the guy next to me start a deadly shootout. My life > my phone.

You're nuts, America. Completely out of your skull mental.
 

ItIsOkBro

Member
Someone's pointing a gun at you, I think one of the stupidest things you can do is try and go for your concealed a weapon. Like, this ain't quick draw.
 

Keasar

Member
There's a lot life gambling assumptions in here. The fact is that they lived. After you know that they lived, it's dumb to put that scenario to the test again, assuming that handing the phone over leads to a better outcome, when the worst one is death.

....Okay.

I could put up a firing range on a busy city street and fire a shot at a target through a moving crowd and hit it. I would get yelled at by the police, but I didn't hit anyone so it would be alright. Since nobody got killed and everyone is alive, it would be dumb to ask me the question what if I had hit anyone.

This guy instead of complying decided to risk the life of himself and everyone around him trying to go Chuck Norris. No, I would not wanna be around a person with a concealed gun permit to protect me against robbers unless they're fucking Simo Häyhä incarnated.
 
The hard thing is to know is what is going through the head of the victims. Your not going to think rationally during a fight or flight situation. It also depends how long the situation was played out,where everyone is standing and if both sides shot at each other. The article is vary vague on details how the shootout played out.
 

theJohann

Member
Did not the robber already place all their lives in danger over replaceable goods?
Could not he have purchased his own cellphone for the purposes of capturing pokemon instead of buying a gun to threaten people with?
It isn't a question of right and wrong, who are the "bad guys" and the "good guys". It's a question of prioritising your safety over your (oftentimes vengeful) sense of justice.
 

TheRed

Member
I feel good about it.
A story showing guns can be properly used for defense, not just murdering people (the narrative I tend to hear the most).
I still feel bad that everyone can run around with guns, like we all get a free pass until AFTER someone's life gets taken, so people can playout their gun fantasies. Just great, but I guess my opinion doesn't hold a lot of power in this country.
 
This guy instead of complying decided to risk the life of himself and everyone around him trying to go Chuck Norris. No, I would not wanna be around a person with a concealed gun permit to protect me against robbers unless they're fucking Simo Häyhä incarnated.

You want to talk about people at risk? You know what's risky? Being out at 4 AM, for starters...especially in Las Vegas. People need to think about a little bit of personal accountability on all parts, here, if we're going to blame people for situations. Honestly, if you're going out to a park at 4 AM, you better be ready to face some sort of trouble. Obviously one of them predicted trouble and they were right.
 
No its not. The referenced studies indicate resistance leads to lower injury rates.

Just handing over your wallet/phone is not the safest option.

0H74AsW.png


http://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Resisting-Crime.pdf
Did you read the paper? Kleck's own Table 5 and Table 7 both showed that threatening your attacker with a "non-gun weapon" led to lower injury coefficients than using a gun. Moreover, no single "resistance" action was more effective in preventing injury than simply "ran away, hid" which was one of the answerable choices.

Please explain to me why Kleck shows in his own research that resisting with a "non-gun weapon" was more effective in preventing injury during self protection than using a gun.

Oh, and defending yourself by actually firing your gun, like the person in the OP did, was not found to be statistically significant in Table 7.

Edit: I guess you can make the argument from this paper you posted that having a gun on you is effective for self-protection if you don't have functional legs. That's what Table 5 showed.
 

Two Words

Member
Folks are delusional if they think a robbery is a simple song and dance..."Gimme your stuff!" "Ok, here", and that's that. Of course that happens, but I'd wager that an unsettling number of them result in (or even begin with) the victim getting shot, stabbed, slashed, sucker punched, etc.

But we all agree that the world shouldn't be that way, of course. Right?
Most robberies are non-violent. If you are being robbed by an armed criminal, you can either comply or fights. The probability that you will lose the fight and be harmed/killed is much higher than the probability that the criminal will harm you after you comply.
 
Most robberies are non-violent. If you are being robbed by an armed criminal, you can either comply or fights. The probability that you will lose the fight and be harmed/killed is much higher than the probability that the criminal will harm you after you comply.

Right, but honor is more valuable than your life. We can't let nobody mess with us because we got the biggest dicks and won't allow anyone to punk us.
 

Mr_Moogle

Member
Isn't the right to protect yourself one of the major arguments for having legalised guns in the first place? What is the point of having a concealed weapon if you you're unwilling to shoot somebody whose trying to rob you?
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
Isn't the right to protect yourself one of the major arguments for having legalised guns in the first place? What is the point of having a concealed weapon if you you're unwilling to shoot somebody whose trying to rob you?

What about the others?
 

Zukuu

Banned
Escalating things, which could easily lead to multiple deaths and injuries of those involved AND innocent bystanders over petty possessions? What a hero.
 
Isn't the right to protect yourself one of the major arguments for having legalised guns in the first place? What is the point of having a concealed weapon if you you're unwilling to shoot somebody whose trying to rob you?

I would argue that you shouldn't have the right to shoot someone for trying to steal your phone and that you're statistically more likely to get away unharmed by not escalating the situation. I also think that in this particular situation, escalating it and involving other innocent people in a shootout is unbelievably reckless and selfish.
 
Isn't the right to protect yourself one of the major arguments for having legalised guns in the first place? What is the point of having a concealed weapon if you you're unwilling to shoot somebody whose trying to rob you?

I agree with concealed carry in certain situations, because if some deranged terrorist was running around intent on killing people I'd rather have a gun and defend myself if I ran into them rather than having no gun and meekly getting killed. If I was walking around alone at night, yeah, having a gun would give me peace of mind. If someone tried anything I would rather have the means to protect myself if I had to.
 
"Someone got shot in the stomach because of a shootout but hey, at least no one lost their phone and up to five people could keep on playing! What a feel good story."
 

Pikma

Banned
What you've neglected to put in the OP is that one of the non-aggressors was struck in the stomach by a bullet.

Idiot gun owner put everyone in danger.
Instead of losing a $300 phone, now has ~10k hospital bill.
He's still a hero to me dammit
 

Harmen

Member
There's a lot life gambling assumptions in here. The fact is that they lived. After you know that they lived, it's dumb to put that scenario to the test again, assuming that handing the phone over leads to a better outcome, when the worst one is death.

Are you saying we shouldn't reflect upon these situations?

You can disagree with the notion that just handing over the phone is safer than a shootout, sure, but that doesn't mean we can't reflect upon the situation and try to learn from it.

Another fact is that an innocent person is in the hospital with a medical bill that is bound to dwarf the value of the phone (though I assume the gunman has to account for that), let alone all the physical (and potentially mental) misery that comes from being shot.
 

nomster

Member
This is a terrible story. If I'm one of those six I want everyone to cooperate and be done with it, not start a shootout where I might get shot.
 

Nephtes

Member
Pathetic agenda-push by O.P.

The worst.

I hear the OP actually instigated the entire incident, by calling all the Pokemon GO players to be there at 4am and then tipping off the robber of an easy score in the park... All so he could make a news story post about it in the morning on a videogame forum's off topic board to further his crazy, neo-shooty-mcbangbang agenda and extol his love for The Shawshank Redemption.

OP is a jerk.
 

Fred-87

Member
http://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-robbery-ends-with-two-men-shot-1784299062

I didn't see this topic posted yet, so lock if old.

Felt it was worthy of discussion since all the shooting stories recently have been very depressing.
No one died here and the "bad guys" lost. So, feel good story right?
I'm about to be told I'm very wrong.

i hope you dont really mean that this is a 'feel good story'. I guess your joking. It is pretty obvious MANY things could have gone wrong. If i was in that crowd being robbed i would after the robbers leaved smacked the face of that guy who shooted them away... i could have been shot by either of them.
 

Fred-87

Member
If I had to defend myself then I don't give a fuck about the opponent's safety, to be honest. And given the situation in Europe right now you bet your ass I'd feel a lot safer with a gun. I expect support for gun ownership will rise amongst Europeans now.

How about bystanders? do you care about them?
And i dont think europians want guns now. Most people say... well if it happens it happens. Do you really think you can stop a bomb with your gun? or a Machine gun with your gun? Best is to run.

And if a robber threatens you.. give him your damn phone. The chance is higher you get shot if you draw your weapon then just giving your phone.
 
If I had to defend myself then I don't give a fuck about the opponent's safety, to be honest. And given the situation in Europe right now you bet your ass I'd feel a lot safer with a gun. I expect support for gun ownership will rise amongst Europeans now.
Given that America has so many gun murders I'd say we're okay, thanks. Not to mention the fact it makes your police trigger happy because they some of them piss their pants every time a black man runs away from them; or lays down; or reaches for their wallet; or drives; or exists because he may have a gun. Appreciate the concern though, mate but we'd rather not.
 

Acerac

Banned
This is a terrible story. If I'm one of those six I want everyone to cooperate and be done with it, not start a shootout where I might get shot.

One of them did get shot, after all.

I can't imagine the medical bills for getting shot are cheap.
 
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