.25 ACP versus Ninja Sword - harrowing tale of self defense

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

This is a riveting read from circa 2003. Be warned, if you start reading you won't stop until you finish.

 

Original link is here: http://armslocker.com/gun-rights/25966-sword-vs-handgun-real-life-mess.html

 

Hi Rich and Gang;

 

Rich thought this might make an interesting thread, as he knows me very well. We've been friends for a long time, and he knows the whole story, as well as some things I'll take to the grave. Anyway, the story,

 

I own a one man pawn and jewelry store in Crystal River, Florida. On September 26th, 2000, a South Korean came into my store to pick up a revolver he'd paid for the preceeding week. Due to my county's three day wait period, he had to wait until Tuesday to pick up the gun. He was waiting on the step when I arrived to open at eleven. ( yeah, I know banker's hours)

 

When I called the gun in, FDLE said it was a 'conditional refusal', and that allowed them three more days to make up their mind. Well, the customer wasn't too pleased about it, and said he wanted the gun NOW. "Nope, can't have it until FDLE clears you." That wasn't what he wanted to hear, so he sulked out the door. I got his phone number before he left, and assured him I'd call when the information was relayed to me. After the verbal exchange we had, I decided that there was NO WAY I was going to transfer a firearm to this guy , period !

 

A little while later, a good friend of mine came into the store to BS awhile, and said there was a guy "stalking around" in the bushes of the building next door. I went out the back of my store, and there was the customer "stalking around" in the bushes of my next door neighbor's resturant. huh? I asked him what he was doing, and he replied he'd lost something. Ok, I can somewhat understand that, as I've done the same thing. However, not in my neighbors bushes.

 

My friend left the store at approximately, 1:15pm, and before he drove away, he came in to tell me the guy was still on the other side of the building just looking around. At this, I decided to call the local police, and dialed their non emergency number.

 

Within a few seconds of my friend's car leaving the parking lot, in comes the guy, walking real fast down the main aisle of the store. I'm still waiting on the phone to ring, when he suddenly produces a 3 ft Ninja Sword from behind his back and states " This is a Ninja Sword", and sticks it into my right shoulder very deeply.

 

At the instant I 'sorta' realized what was happening, I pushed hard against my desk, as I was sitting down in a roller equipped chair. That propelled me backwards at a rapid rate, until the wheels reached the edge of the protective plastic cover over the carpet. When the wheels reached the carpet, the chair stopped, and my fat a** was launched backwards onto the floor. Instantly, I was upside down on my back, bleeding like a stuck pig, and wondering what in the hell was going on with this?

 

My Glock 19, that I carried religously, was lying on top of my file cabinet under my desk. I passed it by rather quickly when I was propelled backwards by arms and fear. I wasn't able to grab it, and never got back to it again.

 

Anyway, the jerk with the sword had run around my desk, and I was finding myself fending off repeated stabs to me by using my hands and arms as parrying instruments. Not recommended behavior. I'm starting to get a headache while writing this. It is not pleasant to recall.

 

When I had finally struggled to my feet, I'd been stabbed another couple of times, but nothing as serious as the first one. I was bleeding profusely by now from all of the minor and major cuts. The only thing I could think of at the time, was to distance myself from the blade, as my arms just weren't long enough to combat this threat.

 

I cutoff the battle, and made a dash to my office door, which was about five steps away. He was right there with me as I opened the door. I fought my way inside the door, and slammed it as hard as I could on him. The sword came all the way through the steel cased door, so I guess it was fairly sharp :-)

 

Next, I ran to my desk, as I knew there was a loaded 38 Chief's Special in the desk drawer. As I got to the desk, I tripped on some of my usual junk in the floor, and sprawled out on top of the desk, destroying my computer and everything on top of the desk. At that moment, I realized that the 38 was in the drawer, but hell, not only was it not loaded, it wasn't even in one piece. I'd taken it apart the other day or so to clean it, and it was still in pieces. haha, jokes on me :-)

 

Got up from the desk, and turned to face my attacker. Then, the jerk gave me the worst of it, as he stabbed me in my left abdomen, right above the belt line. It went all the way in , within a half inch of piercing my other side. Hurt like hell. But, I was pissed, so I kept on fighting anyway. By this time, I was starting to fade, as I'd lost a lot of blood, and my hits on him didn't seem to be having much of an effect. In actuality, I was going fast, and was pretty demoralized, as I realized that this was probably it for me, and this jerk was going to get the best of the situation.

 

We waltzed around my office for a minute or so, while I was trying to pull out the sword with my left hand, and he was using both of his hands to try to push it in deeper. I had bruised marks on my left joints of my fingers for a couple of months, where I had a death grip on the damn thing.

 

At the moment when we danced to the front of the office, I realized I had a way out. I finally remembered my little Beretta 950SB in my right pants pocket. Yep, a lowly 25ACP, with rounds in it, that I hadn't even bothered to purchase. A friend of mine gave me a box of 25 ammo ( cheap Winchester hardball stuff), and that is what was in it. NO ONE will EVER realize the way I felt when I realized that I was not going to go alone. People talk about an epiphany, but that doesn't even begin to describe the feeling when someone gives you the ability to fight back. I pulled it out very deliberately, and thumbed the hammer back. All the while, my attacker was still trying to stuff the sword in deeper, and I was doing my best to keep him from succeeding.

 

I knew using a sub caliber firearm center mass would be a joke, so I pulled it up in front of my right eye, while thumbing back the hammer. When he realized what was about to happen, his eyes became REAL large. That was what I aimed for, his left eye. I only thought I'd fired about two or three times, but in reality I fired five rounds. That was a surprise to me when they told me that.

 

I hit him four times in the left eye, and the other round was taken into one of his hands, and went through my front office door fifteen feet behind him. The door is a steel cased door, and the bullet penetrated all the way through, out into the parking lot.

 

Two of the four bullets that went into his head penetrated all the way through, and fell spent, on the ground ten feet behind him. The last two bounced around in his head, one lodging in the upper cervical region of his spine, and the other in his grey matter. He dropped like a brick, and made a lot of back and forth motions on the floor, like someone having a seizure. Yeah, I guess it 'was' a seizure.

 

I stumbled out to the show room, and bent over the desk holding my guts in while dialing 911. I stayed on the phone until some kids came into the store before the black and whites showed up. I told them they really ought to go, as this was not a good time to shop :-) The B&Ws grabbed them as they were getting ready to drive out of the parking lot, so I had to stumble out front to tell them the kids had nothing to do with this, and not to shoot them.

 

I was glad to see they did not get shot in the process. Sometimes kids will do strange, unexpected things, and I was concerned with all of the adrenalin flowing in the cops, they might get anxious with the kids. No sweat, as it worked out ok.

 

The meat wagon showed up in a few minutes, and I was finally allowed to lie down on the gurney. That alone, was worth the wait. It had been a long fifteen minutes since my friend had left.

 

They plugged the holes a little bit, and gave me oxygen. The local airport is about a half mile down the road, so I was taken there to be "slicked" away to St. Joseph's in Tampa Trauma Unit.

 

I stayed there for a total of ten days, with the first three in intensive care. For the first eight hours or so, they didn't know if I'd make it or not. Obviously, I did.

 

The perpetrator's plug was pulled the next morning, as he was brain dead. I talked to the para's a while later, and they stated he was only breathing about four times a minute when they pulled him from the floor. I still have a huge stain in the carpet to remind me.

 

Lessons learned:

 

1. ALWAYS have your choice of firearm on your person. An arms length away can be too far. Mine was.

 

2., ALWAYS have your firearm ready to go-- chamber loaded, safety on or off-- your choice. I kept my Beretta chamber loaded, and hammer down as it is a single action gun. All that was needed was to thumb the hammer back. My Glock is even better, as all that is needed is to pull the trigger. Nothing is faster to bring to bear to fire. NOTHING.

 

3. ALWAYS think of a way out, no matter where you are. My success in this incident was due to a lot of different things that came into play for me.

 

a. I was of a stronger will than my opponent. I had more reason to live , so I was motivated and pissed as well.

 

b. I was well versed in pistolcraft, and practice frequently with what I carry--- including my backup. I know full well the limitations of my backup, as well as my primary piece.

 

c. I was extremely lucky, as luck would have it. If the jerk had been a true 'messenger of death', then I'd have been stabbed in my left chest, and died at the desk. He wasn't, and I wasn't. Therefore, that opened up an opportunity for my self defense.

 

I fought fiercely and relentlessly. I offered no quarter and gave none. This was for my life, and I was not going to go peacefully.

I did not.

 

Aftermath and Current Status:

 

Well, things haven't gone all that well since , but I'm still walking upright, so I have no desire, or reason to complain. My digestive system is in shambles. I'm wearing out my butt , as I have to run to the bathroom a LOT of times during the day. That's ok, as I find I suffer from PTSD, and try to do something about it. Thanks to a couple of people I've met on the 'net', I've been diagnosed with acute PTSD, and my friends are trying to find a good counselor for me close to home. I've talked to a few people, and they have been alright, but I still haven't found that 'one' person that can help me the way I need. There are seventeen symptoms to PTSD, and I've been told I have all of them. After seeing the way the mind goes sometimes, I believe it. haha

 

My business has been closed within the past week, as I can no longer deal with the public. Again, PTSD kicking in, as I've been told. My beautiful wife, Jane , was diagnosed with breast cancer this year, so we've had to deal with that as well. Everything about my life has been really hard to deal with the past three years, but my wife has stuck by me all the time and I feel loved. I have great friends, that understand I'm 'not quite right', and are very supportive. This PTSD thing is new and strange to me, so I'm still not sure how to handle it all, but I keep on plugging away.

 

But, I do know, that if I were not a fighter, that I'd be pushing up flowers somewhere right now, and I'd have NO chance to get better from all of this. Becoming better, is something that I 'can' do. It is rather hard to get better from the grave.

 

Whatever you carry, carry every day as if your life meant it. One day it might. When it comes, it will come fast, ruthlessly, and from a determined opponent that wants something you have--- be it your life, your possessions, or your soul. NEVER give up. NEVER give in. Make them pay for everything they get. It really isn't all that important to win, though losing is not a good option. But the important thing is to give it everything you have to 'try' to win. That is all that is required, is to try. If one trys to the best of their ability, then it will be a memorable fight, even if one is lost.

 

If this helps someone, or gives us something to talk about , great. If not, sorry to take up so much band width. Thanks to Rich and Connie for helping me in the past three years. I don't think I could have made it without you two.

 

 

If you continue reading the thread at the link, the author discusses that the DA considered charging him (not his attacker!) with murder 1!

[RedBowTies88 41]

wow great and terrible story :/

[Krdshrk 3,877]

In FL and he was considering being charged with murder 1? WTF. Oh wait.. Zimmerman....

[deadeye74 5]

That is an incredible story!

[Anselmo 87]

The guy's wife died and then he died in 2007. Sad.

 

http://www.memorialsolutions.com/sitemaker/sites/Tobias1/obit.cgi?user=656_JPhillips1780

[silverado427 10,730]

The will to live is amazing

[Malsua 1,422]

True Story.

 

 

-------------

 

published September 27, 2000

[Times photo: Steve Hasel]

Crystal RIver police Detective Corey Sharpe holds the weapon Tuesday that police say was used by an assailant to stab Dave Phillips through the midsection in his shop, Crazy Dave's A-1 Pawn & Jewelry.

CRYSTAL RIVER -- When Kevin Fitzsimmons purchased a handgun at a pawnshop here Thursday, the store owner told him he'd have to wait a state-required three days to pick it up.

Police say Fitzsimmons, 25, arrived at Crazy Dave's A-1 Pawn & Jewelry on the scheduled pickup day Tuesday with a sword and stabbed store owner Dave Phillips through the midsection. Phillips retreated to a rear room of the pawnshop where he grabbed a pistol of his own and shot Fitzsimmons at least once in the head, said Crystal River police Chief Jim Farley.

Both men were flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa where they were listed in critical condition Tuesday evening.

"It could be a crazy person. Could be a robbery," Farley said.

Crystal River Sgt. Mike Klyap said both men suffered serious injuries.

Much of what police know about the attack comes from Phillips, 49, of Crystal River, who was conscious and talking when investigators arrived. He reportedly called in the attack to 911 shortly before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, applying pressure to his wounds as he waited for police to arrive.

He told detectives that Fitzsimmons had been in the store last week attempting to purchase a gun. Phillips reportedly told officers that he informed Fitzsimmons he would have to return in three working days under state law to pick up the handgun.

Investigators recovered a credit card receipt at the scene for the purchase on Thursday of a .357-Magnum handgun by Fitzsimmons.

Phillips told officers that Fitzsimmons showed up at the store at 1925 U.S. 19 Tuesday morning in a tan Chevrolet Astro van. He parked next door at Strickland Funeral Home & Crematory and reportedly waited in the vehicle.

Klyap said that Fitzsimmons walked into the store shortly after the lunch hour and confronted Phillips near the front counter holding a samurai-styled sword nearly 3 feet long.

"We believe he would have walked in with it (the sword)," Klyap said. No other swords like it were found by investigators inside the pawnshop, he said.

Phillips is thought to have retreated to a rear room at the south side of the building. There detectives found a puncture mark in a door leading to the room that they think was caused by the sword.

Farley said that Phillips located a .25-caliber handgun and fired an undetermined number of shots, striking Fitzsimmons at least once in the head. He then called 911.

The first police arriving at the scene encountered three young people at the door. Phillips came out of the store, leaving a trail of blood, and told the officers they weren't involved.

Prosecutors from the state attorney's office were summoned to consult in the investigation.

Investigators still were trying to confirm the residence of Fitzsimmons at press time Tuesday. They think he lives in Citrus County, possibly in Lecanto. He was arrested Aug. 7 for misdemeanor battery by Crystal River police, pleaded no contest and was found guilty later that month, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

Phillips is the husband of Jane Phillips, a supervisor in the Property Appraiser's Office in Crystal River.

[woodentoe 14]

"South Korean"? Fitzsimmons?

[Malsua 1,422]

"South Korean"? Fitzsimmons?

 

Yup

 

--------

http://www.sptimes.com/News/092800/news_pf/Citrus/Attacker_with_sword_d.shtml

Attacker with sword dies of gunshot

 

The man's family is at a loss to explain what happened to the quiet relative and why he would stab a shop owner with a sword. He was shot by the man he attacked.

By BILL VARIAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 2000

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Kevin Fitzsimmons, the man who was shot in the head Tuesday after he stabbed a pawnshop owner with a sword, died Wednesday at a Tampa hospital.

 

The shop owner, Dave Phillips, shot Fitzsimmons during the attack at Crazy Dave's A-1 Pawn & Jewelry on U.S. 19, police said.

 

Phillips, whom Fitzsimmons stabbed through the lower abdomen, was upgraded to fair condition Wednesday at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he was flown with Fitzsimmons after the attack.

 

Investigators released a few new details about the case Wednesday that help shed light on the moments immediately before the attack. The details came from a second interview with Phillips that was conducted late Tuesday at St. Joseph's.

Officers have said that Fitzsimmons purchased a .357-Magnum handgun at Crazy Dave's on Sept. 21 for about $350. They recovered a credit card receipt at the store. But Fitzsimmons was told he would have to return on Tuesday to pick the gun up because of a state-required, three-day waiting period.

 

Fitzsimmons arrived Tuesday shortly after the lunch hour, and Phillips became concerned with the young man's demeanor. He seemed tense, like something was bothering him, said Sgt. Mike Klyap.

 

Phillips initially expressed his reluctance to give Fitzsimmons the gun. Klyap said Fitzsimmons walked out of the story angry, returning a few moments later with a samurai-style sword. He unsheathed it.

"Fitzsimmons made the comment, "I'm a Ninja,' and that was it," Klyap said. "Then all hell broke loose."

 

Investigators believe Fitzsimmons attacked Phillips near the front counter, likely stabbing him there. Phillips retreated to a room at the south side of the pawnshop, shutting a door behind him. Fitzsimmons apparently broke through, stabbing through the door.

 

Phillips shot him at least once with a .25-caliber automatic handgun, striking him near the temple, police said. Fitzsimmons had struggled to adjust after his family moved from suburban New York City to rural Citrus County three years ago, according to his adoptive father, Jim Fitzsimmons, a retired New York City police officer.

 

Kevin Fitzsimmons was of Korean descent and often believed that people were staring at him. He was increasingly agitated. Still, his father said he was a good young man and could not offer an explanation for the bizarre altercation.

 

"He was painted as a monster in the paper," the elder Fitzsimmons said Wednesday when reached at his home in Lecanto. "He is not a monster. He was a good boy, very quiet."

 

Fitzsimmons' father said he did not know why his son was attempting to purchase the gun. He was not into hunting. He said his son also tended to back down from a fight rather than start one.

 

He also did not have a longstanding interest in martial arts, though he had become fascinated with it recently, Fitzsimmons said. He said he was a competitive tennis player.

 

But he also said his son, who worked off and on labor jobs and was one of two adopted children of Fitzsimmons and his wife, struggled with life in Citrus County. That was in part because of his appearance.

"He did have a problem here because he was Korean," Fitzsimmons said. "Some of it was real. Some of it was imagined. He would think people were looking at him."

 

Police were involved with the younger Fitzsimmons once before in Crystal River. He was charged with battery Aug. 7 after he reportedly started a fight with another man outside the Subway restaurant in Crystal River.

 

Mac Harris, spokesperson for Florida Power, was in the shop at the time and played a part in the incident. He said he was sitting with his wife, eating, when she indicated to him that someone was about to hit him. She said the man made what appeared to be a karate chop toward his neck, stopping short of hitting him.

 

Harris said he asked him if something was wrong and Fitzsimmons backed up into what looked like a fighting stance.

 

"It wasn't like anything I've ever seen anyone do," Harris said.

 

Another man intervened on Harris' behalf and a fight broke out. Fitzsimmons was charged and pleaded no contest later that month. He was ordered to pay a fine and serve a year of probation, though a newly hired attorney filed a motion earlier this month to have the plea deal reheard.