I got a call today from Sabrina, one of the people who attended the Central Illinois Prep Expo at the DeWitt County Sportsman’s Club. She said she attended, along with her father, the presentation on Personal Defense for Women and Children that I volunteered to give after another instructor was called out of town.
Without a lot of prep time, I mentally sketched out a plan to hit some highlights from our Personal Protection for Teens class along with some of the material from our Critical Threat Management Class.
Sabrina said the lecture stuck with her, especially the parts about situational awareness and listening to your subconscious. Something happened today that she wanted to share with me.
Sabrina described how she was working in the Ag tent/building at the Illinois State Fair when she noticed an agitated man.
“I would never have paid any attention to him before your lecture,” she said.
Anyway, she went over to check him out a little more. As she approached, he was cussing under his breath. When she asked if she could help him, he groused how he hated farmers. His neighbor is a farmer and the man said that he was so fed up with the neighbor that he planned to shoot the farmer’s tractor (and kill it dead I suppose) and then shoot and kill the farmer.
Sabrina obviously became concerned about the guy and tried to calm him down, telling him that she didn’t want him to shoot anyone because he would get in trouble and go to prison.
The guy (not pictured) replied that he didn’t care. He told her he was 62-years-old and didn’t have anything to live for and repeated the threat to kill his neighbor, Mr. Farmer.
Sabrina sensed this guy was trouble and broke off the conversation, sensing this problem was more than she had any business handling.
“It was almost like I was arguing with myself. One one hand, my old self kept saying, ‘Oh, it’s nothing’ and my new self kept saying, ‘Listen to your instincts. This guy is trouble!'”
I smiled to myself. “Yeah, that’s Normalcy Bias. Your mind tends to dismiss those red flags as false alarms,” I told her.
The man left her tent and went outside and sat in the front row of seats set up in front of where some politicians expected soon.
Anyway, the “new” Sabrina won out and she sought out security. With none to be found in their building, she noticed Governor Bruce Rauner show up and Mr. Tractor Killer was sitting mere feet away from the Governor.
Sabrina found one of the Governor’s plainclothes security detail and told him what had just transpired. She told the State Trooper of her concerns that the man might possibly be armed and he was certainly a potential threat. The protective detail member talked into his microphone, thanked her for the information and disappeared.
A minute later, the man abruptly stood up and she said, “Bam! Two Troopers were right there, each grabbing one of the guy’s arms and they escorted him out. I never saw him again.”
She thanked me for enlightening her. “I feel like a new person,” she said. “I notice a lot more now and can’t thank you enough.”
Not bad for a 45-minute lecture that merely touched upon the things we tackle in depth in our Critical Threat Management class. I could only imagine the person she would become if she took a two-day Critical Threat Management course.
Frankly, her call made my day. Another success.
I hope the guy gets help.
And his neighbor is careful.
Good call on Sabrina’s part.
Sometimes that gut feeling just screams at you and won’t let you mingle with the sheep. Sabrina did the right thing and maybe saved a life or two. Imagine if he went beserk in that crowd and how she might have felt if she stayed quiet.
Any updates or news on this fellow?
Did our new governor just sign a bill that if you get a restraining order against you the sheriff will come and take all your guns? ls he pro gun? what other gun rights will he take away?