Surviving Violence - Rule Number 4

This is the final article in our series on the four rules for maximizing your chances of surviving a violent encounter. We have already learned that the first rule is to react immediately, the second rule is to resist and the third rule is to make sure you don‘t go to Crime Scene Number Two. The final rule is:

Rule # 4

Never, Never Give Up

This is the most simple of the rules and the one rule which can save your life if you’ve forgotten the other three. Regardless of what has happened to you during a violent counter and no matter how hurt you think you are, you should never give up. There are numerous cases of people who survived violent crimes in spite of their injuries because they chose not to give up.

I’m going to give you one example of an incident where three gang members tried to kill two Los Angeles deputy sheriffs. Since this particular incident, the California Law Enforcement Survival Training class has included this story as an example of the concept of never giving up.

December 23, 1976 – Two deputies saw three suspected gang members walking late at night and called for them to stop. By the time the deputies got out of the car, two gang members were on the passenger-side deputy and the third gang member was firing shots at the other deputy. The first shot hit the deputy in the eye socket. The deputy fell into the street, banging his head into the pavement and causing further injury. The shooter continue shooting until the gun was empty. He then jumped on the deputy and started beating him in the back of the head, causing an additional injury that required twenty stitches to close up. The officer felt himself giving up until he remembered the concept of never giving up.

He snapped back. He felt the rage coming over him. He would recall thinking that he was definitely dead. It was almost Christmas and his daughter was about to lose her father. He got so mad that he decided that he was going to die, but he was going to take his killer with him. He pushed himself up and back-handed his attacker in the head, knocking him off balance. He pulled himself up to his knees, drew his own gun and fired a round into his attacker’s side. He fired several more times at his attacker, but mostly missed because everything was a blur from the blood and the seriousness of his injuries. He pulled himself together one more time and aimed directly at the center of his attacker’s chest and fired again. This time he hit him in the center of the chest, killing him almost instantly. He rolled around to the other side of the car where the gang members were beating his partner. He aimed at one of them and shot him between the eyes, killing him also. He was then out of ammunition, but his partner was then able to draw his weapon and end the attack. They were able to radio for help at that point and both of them recovered from their injuries and returned to duty. Both of these officers survived because they fell back on their training and they never gave up.

This concept will also work for you. No matter how bad things are, you can survive if you refuse to give up. It also helps to allow yourself to feel the rage if that causes you to explode with violent force against your attacker.

"If things look bad, and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you've gotta get mean, I mean plum mad dog mean, 'cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is." - from the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales

Donnie Chaffin,
3rd Dan