When teens are stupid, it can potentially have deadly consequences. While an armed citizen wasn’t in the area at the time of this incident, I can only help but wonder what may have happened if that were different. Let’s share the details, and then gather some opinions based on this real-life scenario that played out just a few days ago:
Bralin Wright, 17, of Douglas Street Northwest was charged with misdemeanor aggravated menacing and released to his father Thursday evening after police said he pointed a BB gun at a man and his son in the drive-thru lane at the McDonald’s on South Street.
Three other males, all 17 or 18 years old and from Warren, were in the car with Wright, but all were released without being charged. Wright’s charges will be filed in juvenile court.
The victim in the incident, who is from Southington, told police the car containing the four teens was in front of him in the drive-thru, but it didn’t move forward, so the man used his horn.
The incident occurred at 4:59 p.m.
The man said he could see a male in the back seat “lift up a gun.” Then, “A second male on the driver’s side then stuck a gun out the window and pointed the gun back toward him.” The man told his son, 11, to “get down.”
The victim took down the license plate number of the vehicle and called police, who eventually found the teens and pulled them over.
From the source article, I couldn’t find any information as to what happened after the victim told his son to “get down”. Did the car ahead of them take off? Did the victim take off? I just don’t know.
What could have been the response of an armed citizen?
Well for starters, our main objective is to try and remove ourselves from the situation if we’re able to. This scenario, however, could prove to make this first response difficult. If you’re in a drive-thru and have a vehicle in front of you, it may be tricky to get away in a quick and effective manner. It’s one reason why I leave at least a car’s-lenth between my vehicle and the one in front of me. This holds true in a drive-thru, at a red light, you name it. It’s best to give yourself that extra space… just in case.
It’s tough to say, simply because I wasn’t there, but a firearm pointed in your direction is a credible threat. It doesn’t matter if it was a fake gun or a bb gun, because it likely still looked like a gun. The real question here is; why was this teenager so stupid?
The question remains: If you were in a similar situation and were unable to remove yourself from it quickly, what would be your next move after telling your child passenger to “get down”?
