They Picked the Wrong Guy to Mess With This Time

[Sailboat]

Boy howdy.
This story was picked up by the AP:

Thomas Autry defends himself against four armed robbers.

I know not all the details are in…and there’s likely to be some complaint that he killed a 17-year-old-girl.

But according to the story, he went to some lengths to avoid fighting:

Thomas Autry, who authorities said will not be charged, had been walking home from his job waiting tables Monday night when four people got out of a car and chased him, Atlanta police detective Danny Stephens said.

One of the attackers had a shotgun and another had a pistol, Stephens said.

The suspects caught up with Autry, who yelled for help and pulled a knife out of his backpack. He kicked the shotgun out of one of the attacker’s hands and stabbed both a 17-year-old girl who jumped on him and a man who also attacked him.

They jumped him four-to-one. They were younger than him. He fled and only fought when caught – after yelling for help. They had two guns and (according to one version of the story I saw elsewhere) a set of brass knuckles. All he had was a knife (“pocketknife” in some versions of the story). At least two of them physically assaulted him in the commission of armed robbery.

And then he demolished them, killing one and sending another to intensive care.

Unless some dark detail, as yet unreported, emerges, looks like textbook self-defense. And it seems they picked the wrong guy to rob.

My hat is off to Mr. Autry.

Sailboat

[Dunderman]

@Sailboat

My hat is off to Mr. Autry.

I really have to start wearing a hat so I can take it off at times like this.

[silenus]

I saw this story on CNN this morning. Boy howdy! Let that be a lesson to miscreants everywhere.

Semper Fi, Mr. Autry!

[The_Chao_Goes_Mu]

If you don’t want to be killed or maimed in the comission of a crime, then don’t commit one. I also tip my hat to Mr. Autry.

[Inigo_Montoya]

So muh for “never bring a knife to a gunfight.”

[Scumpup]

Too bad he didn’t kill all of them.

[The_Chao_Goes_Mu]

@Inigo Montoya

So muh for “never bring a knife to a gunfight.”

Damn you! Chicken Caesar Hoagie all over the place now.

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

I’m adding my name to the list of the hat tippers.
He’s up there with the elderly African man that kille the crocodile with his bare hands.

[muldoonthief]

@Inigo Montoya

So muh for “never bring a knife to a gunfight.”

A local radio host remarked that the new proverb “Never bring a mugger to a Marine fight” trumps the gunfight law.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

I doubt he feels too happy about it, though.

[elfbabe]

From here:

“I’m sorry this whole thing happened. I hate this world has gotten to the point where it is predatory,” said a shaken Autry, speaking briefly to reporters from behind the screen door of his Atlanta apartment.

“My first instinct was to run,” said Autry. “Those kids were younger than me. They caught me and cornered me. It was about life preservation.”

As he ran, Autry repeatedly yelled “Fire,” which Stephens said attracted the attention of nearby residents, who called 911.

Autry sighed with relief after learning the teenager was not pregnant. “That really makes me feel a whole lot better that she wasn’t with child,” he said. “I’m sorry to her family. I just feel real bad at the situation.”

“The heroes are those guys out there fighting for us every day and not getting respect,” he said, referring to military personnel fighting in Iraq and elsewhere. “That [killing the attacker] wasn’t admirable, it was fight or flight — and I tried the flight.”

Huh. Decent human being gets in news. Whodathunkit?

[lieu]

@elfbabe

Quote:
As he ran, Autry repeatedly yelled “Fire,” which Stephens said attracted the attention of nearby residents, who called 911.

Operator: 911
Caller: Yes, I’d like to report a man on fire.
Operator: Is he by himself?
Caller: No, he’s being chased by four robbers trying to shoot it out.

[MaxTheVool]

And here the NRA has been telling us that we need guns to defend ourselves…

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

I give it about 15 minutes until the first knife for self-defense ban bill is introduced.

[Duke_of_Rat]

@MaxTheVool

And here the NRA has been telling us that we need guns to defend ourselves…

Yeah, if everybody joined the Marines and got the training Mr. Autry got, we could all go at it with just knives.

[Arnold_Winkelried]

@Airman Doors

I give it about 15 minutes until the first knife for self-defense ban bill is introduced.

It’s been 15 minutes now. Who introduced the bill?

[Ghanima]

I feel sorry for the guy. He did what he had to do to stay alive. It was unpleasant. And now the media is all over him. Sucks.

[The_Scrivener]

Yes, but how much do you want to bet that the reporters will keep a respectful distance while they go about hounding him?

I hope the surviving robbers reform their ways, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

[Hung_Mung]

@The Scrivener

I hope the surviving robbers reform their ways, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

There’s a sickening thought. D’you reckon that guy should leave town from the possibility of retribution?

[dnooman]

Good for Mr. Autry. The 17 year old girl’s parents should feel bad for the way they raised their kid, not for the way their daughter was “caught up” with some bad people.

On a lighter note, have any of you seen the pimp getting knocked out when confronting a karate master?