Random Violence: Attack at the County Fair!

There is a lot of talk these days, including blogs and info on the web, about training and techniques for self-defense, concealed carry, prepping, and survival yet I still meet a lot of folks who figure they're basically safe and nothing will happen to them because they don't go anywhere dangerous.  True safety and security can only be achieved by what you do, not by what someone else doesn't do... and even then bad things can happen to good folks.

Less than two weeks ago Greg Ellifritz, President of Active Response Training, wrote a terrific post about Random Violence.  Unfortunately, we had a young gal experience an act of random violence at our county fair this past Friday morning.  Truthfully, most prepared adults that I know couldn't have done any more to protect themselves than this young lady did... which was basically nothing.

Imagine... you're at the county fair... it's six-thirty in the morning... it's cool outside, the air is crisp... you're sitting outside your camper in the campground at the county fair... your sitting with three or four friends... less than ten feet from your folks in the camper... you're surrounded by other campers full of folks you know, you've been hanging out with them all week long, you're neighbors and fellow 4H'ers.

You see a younger man walking... he approaches and stops... he's ten to fifteen feet away... he looks at you... he asks, "Do you feel safe?"... you start to say, "What?"... but before you can even reply he's sprinted the distance between you and him... he knocks you out of your chair to the ground with a crushing punch from his fist to your face... he's on top of you... what do you do?

Fortunately, you're sitting with a friend... a teenager... a young man who will instantly prove himself in an adverse circumstance... a young man who leaps from his chair... tackles your assailant knocking him off you...  the attacker swings a wild punch at this young man... it goes wide and misses... then the attacker runs off.

Everything that has just occurred took place, not in minutes, but seconds.  From the initial observation of the man... to his strange question... to the attack... and finally to the assailant running off took a total of maybe less than ten, not more than fifteen seconds.  The sheriff's department was called... the young gal... all of sixteen... was taken to the hospital for treatment... and the assailant was caught... found lying on the ground under another camper not far away... apparently under the influence of drugs.

This is not an effort to find fault in the defensive or security practices, preparations, or abilities with anyone involved... I doubt that most folks I know could have done anything to prevent or avert this attack due to the rapid, explosive nature of it.  The primary lessons that can be taken away from this unfortunate incident is that you can't prepare for everything, you're not necessarily safe in numbers, and as a teenager, you're not necessarily safe when you're only ten feet from your parents.

Most folks have never suffered a devastating, dizzying blow to the face or head.  Most think they know what they'd do if attacked, but reality is different.  One thing is for sure... mindset matters and in a case like this... if there are not any friends to help after the attack... your mindset and training will matter... you'll need the will-power and ability to fight back.

This is what A Girl and her Gun has been talking about as she relates her story and training experiences.  If you haven't read her blog... go over and take a look.  Her reality is like that of these young folks at a county fair... forever altered by real, adverse circumstances.

While preparations likely would not have prevented the initial attack in this case... what about after the first hit?  Parents, are you preparing yourselves for self-defense and a mindset for survival?  Are you preparing your children?

Let's face it... you never know... you too could experience an act of... Random Violence: Attack at the County Fair!

Online version of newspaper article about the incident.