A man was standing in line at a donut shop on the morning of February 17, 2023, in Decatur, GA, when a 17-year-old snatched his handgun from his “back waistband”. The man chased the robber out of the store and a fight ensued. The robber shot the man that he had robbed and fled the scene.
Police responding to the incident arrived to find the man who had been robbed dead.
The robber was tracked to a local motel where he was arrested. He was charged with felony murder and “robbery by sudden snatching”.
This incident is still under investigation.
It is not clear how the victim, in this case, was carrying his firearm, but police said that the firearm was taken from the man’s “back waistband”. Perhaps he was carrying in the small-of-the-back position or maybe at 4 o’clock on his hip. These are carry positions that can be harder to defend against gun grab attempts than appendix and three o’clock positions, as they require a defender to reach behind their back to try and retain the firearm. This can put a defender into a more precarious and harder-to-defend position.
It is also possible that the victim was carrying openly. While it would certainly be within his rights to do so (assuming he was not barred from owning/carrying a firearm), it is not possible for a criminal to snatch what they don’t know is there. It doesn’t make a lot of difference “how big-a-fella” you are, a criminal can use distraction and possibly accomplices to separate you from a firearm they know you have. Additionally, anyone “casing the joint” for a mass shooting event or robbery, might identify any armed individuals and shoot them first
Carrying your firearm well-concealed, but easily accessible gives you an added element of surprise against an aggressor.
Stay safe out there!
The criminal had to know he had a pistol, so he was either carrying openly or flashed the pistol somehow. This is why I’m not a big fan of open carry.