I had a very scary incident last night. I was stopped at an intersection (26th and Penn in N. Minneapolis). There was a group of about 9 people sitting out on the front porch. A car slowly drove by and was about to cross my path (I still had the red light). One of the guys sitting on the porch stood up and fired about 7 rounds at the car driving by AS HE WAS CROSSING MY PATH. I was in the crossfire, actually heard the bullets hit the sidewalk next to my car. The driver of the car fired back 2 or three rounds. I had my loaded Taurus next to me on the passenger seat. I put my head down and took a right to get out of the crossfire, then after driving two blocks, I called 911 and gave as good of description of both shooters as I could.

Technically, my life was in danger, and legally, I could've returned fire. I did have an escape route, but I didn't know if the crossfire would've hit my car or me in the escape route.

Needless to say, I was pretty shook up.

I'd be interested to see what some of you more experienced CCW holders would've done. I've only had mine since January of this year.

Sounds like a genuinely scary situation.

Drive away as fast as possible, I think as soon as I saw the guns I would have gone red light or not. I cannot think of a cop in the world who would give you a ticket for going through the light if you were in a cross fire.

As for using my weapon, no chance I bet at least some if not all the rest of those people had a weapon of some type, sounds like a serious gun battle, not where I want to be under gunned with no support.

You did the right thing. Sometimes it is better to run away and fight another day.

Glad you are OK, any ricochet damage to your car?

Scary. I think you did the right thing. Entering the battle yourself would have made your situation worse--would have drawn their fire to you. While you weren't in a good spot, at least they weren't shooting at you. Had you shot back, they would have. My .02.

No ricochet damage that I can see. I'm really surprised too. I bet they missed my car by inches.

What time of day was it?

8pm

Just curious. Of course, at no time of day is that acceptable. But it seems like such things that used to happen more often after midnight are happening more frequently during daylight. I understand that N. Minneapolis is a different animal, but it still seems scary that it's happening at 8pm. Maybe it's just me.

Yeah, don't even get me started on Rybak's new "gang initiative". These were obviously gang bangers taking shots at each other.

After I made the call, there was surprisingly a good response. I live about 10 blocks away on 26th, and I counted 7 squad cars driving by my house with their lights on. Typical MPD, reactive, not proactive.

And that, according Doug Grow, is Pawlenty's fault (http://www.startribune.com/465/story/627822.html)...

What would “proactive” really mean here? Aren’t the LEOs’ hands pretty well tied, due to the CJ system’s lack of fortitude? Where does the buck really stop? With the legislature?

Am not posing rhetorical questions here. I don’t think that “the system” has the cajones to get to the heart of the matter.

What are the real answers?

Living in the 'Burbs as I do, it seems hard to believe this kind of thing is going on just a few miles away from me. It seems to get worse every year too. To read the paper or watch the news it sometimes looks like we live in the middle east. The paper and local TV don't report it all either. I find out about a lot of incidents by reading this forum.

Hard to understand why some in the metro area still think there is no need for law abiding citizens to carry a weapon. Sometimes it takes an event happening to them or one of their family members to open their eyes.

Sheep... you gotta love em!

That would be my response--the revolving door system is a big contributor to the problem.

Let’s see here, from what I remember of Joel’s book, there is a four link chain that has to remain intact to keep you out of Gaol.

Reluctant Participant……..Check
Immediate fear of death or great bodily harm………Check
No lesser force will do………Check
Retreat not practical or available........Nope,

You chose wisely.

Not to mention all kinds of other bad things that could have happened, including both groups choosing you as their target, possible mental problems from taking a life, and the financial burden of the investigation.

My .02 is you did the right thing.

I’m glad to hear you’re OK and that there’s no damage to the car.

FWIW, I'm also convinced you made the right decision...

Glad you're okay!!!

I am glad you did the right thing - it would be easy to gt sucked into making a bad situation worse by becoming an actor in the event rathre than an observer..

Rest assured you did the right thing.