Two Men Attacked at Mpls Light Rail Station - Outcome Bad.

"Metro Transit police officers are still searching for the suspects."

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/metro/minneapolis/Two_Men_Attacked_at_Mpls_Light_Rail_Station_june_22_2009

Who are they trying to fool? They all look the same, wear all the same trash, and have the same mannerisms. They're gone --- Two elderly citizens are left scarred, beaten and bruised. All they wanted to do was save some gas money and see a ballgame.

Better outcome:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of-57Ivfwz8

The video of the story is now posted if anyone may have missed it. It was not originally.

Did anyone get a good look at the perps to make a workable description?

The report said they have security footage. The victims said they were not even sure if they were attacked by two or four, so I'm assuming, nothing much else besides that, but, I could be wrong.

This situation begs the question:

What would some of you have done if you were a bystander when this went on?

If we run on the short description of what happened, it seems GBH was quite possible no?

This is very real for me, when I lived in St. Paul I used to park and ride from this very station. Women were constantly "holla'd" at (just shy of comical and enraging to hear a 12 year old run his mouth like a perverted 30 year old at a lady going home from work). The "people with time on their hands" walk around in groups, and this something I was always concerned about while catching the train.

ETA: keep in mind you are posting in a somewhat public place, so for your own good in the future, no need to go into extreme detail.

But, you will be safe if you have your attack keys and go out in groups of two or more. You don't need situational awareness or the means to self defense.

Usually the folks that commit these crimes are incapable of talking quietly & dress in ways that immediately raise suspicion . . .. How do these louts sneak up on victims? Is it that the victims feel it would be politically incorrect to take evasive action? I know I am heavily invested in avoiding trouble while I am carrying, I'll come right out and say it - I am no Charlie Bronson & will do my best to get away from folks that look like trouble & to avoid putting me and mine in places where trouble has a probability of finding us. I read EJSG19's question And I have to think, like the Afro-American couple that got off the train in that little Bronson clip . . .. Most likely, I will have seen the trouble brewwing/coming and taken evasive action . . . I'd mean to NOT be a bystander.

We all play out scenarios in our heads of the "what if I can't take evasive action and have to act in self defense or defense of another" however, any self defense action can go badly . .. If I am injured or killed I can't take care of my family, if I engage the "enemy" with my family present they are in danger. Yeah, it be great to be all heroic and step in and somehow niether get physically damaged, not legally afterwards (paying some settlement to the creeps or the creeps family because a jury of sheeple felt he was "just about to turn his life around & I was acting as a vigilante", takes bread out of my children's mouths). . . however, first and foremost my duty is to my family. Filial loyalty and cowardice are VERY different, though the actions my be similar.

“They looked like pretty easy prey”. They must have been pretty engrossed in buying a transit ticket to not even know how many attackers there were.

Not to sound all Gecko45 or anything, but. . . .

So handing my wife my wallet and having her buy our tickets while I "look around" isn't just me not liking to fiddle with those things? Hmmmm.

does the wallet have a trauma plate? (Gecko reference )

Good thoughts, my question was more in line with the specific location of this one. Its an Overpass style station, with only two exit points. Easily blocked by an aggressor I would think. No back stops to speak of either.

Valley Fair was different, you could melt back into whatever part of the parking lot was handy.

Up on top of the train station seemed like a more likely place to intervene, than other places where you can get away much easier.

But, all hypothetical, and more of a drift than probably necessary. I need to stop thinking out loud sometimes.

Be a good witness and call 911 from cover / safety.

Realistically, if there had been a third person there, demonstrating any kind of situational awareness at all, the attack would not have taken place.

I fully agree, I carry for my family and my safety, I have nor feel any obligations to reach out to others that don't, short of making a call.

+1 My permit isn't a junior Gman badge.