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Trust your instincts – A True Story

You Won’t Believe This…

Just heard a harrowing story from some close family members that I need to share. I’ve changed the names for the privacy of those involved in the incident. While enjoying a nice Easter Sunday barbecue with family, two relatives (we’ll call them Joe and Sarah) proceeded to tell me about a very scary encounter they had at a local shooting range a few days back.

This story gave me chills thinking about what might have happened if these two street savvy relatives hadn’t been there.

A Day At The Range

Their trip to the range started out normal. They showed up, picked an empty lane, put up a target—you know the drill. On this particular day, Sarah decided not to shoot (a life changing decision, although she didn’t know it yet). She normally enjoys shooting, but just wasn’t feeling too well and was just going to stand back and watch Joe shoot.

Being the observant and alert person she is, Sarah noticed something weird about the guy two lanes over. First off, after they’d been there 20 minutes (this other guys was there before them), he’d only fired 2 rounds. Very strange since he was standing right up at the bench and didn’t seam to be dealing with any sort of malfunction.

Sarah took notice of this and continued to watch Joe shoot, but her instincts told her to keep an eye on the other guy, something wasn’t quite right.

A few minutes later the guy picked his pistol up off the bench (this immediately grabbed Sarah’s attention). As he held the pistol he was visibly shaking. Sarah thought “Hmm… maybe he is disabled or something”. She certainly didn’t want to be rude or embarrass him by asking if everything was okay, but at this point she was on edge. She discretely brought it up to Joe and they both went to the range master.

After voicing their concern, the range master pointed out that he too had noticed the guy’s behavior as odd, but went on to say that “his shots are very on target” as if this somehow made up for all the odd behavior!!!

Shocked at this response, Joe and Sarah went back to their lane, still concerned, but wondering if they were just being paranoid. Paranoid or not, both Joe and Sarah kept a very close eye on the suspicious man 2 lanes down.

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The Disturbing Behavior Worsens

Minutes later, after having not fired a single additional round, the suspicious individual (gun in hand) turned his head around to look at Sarah.

It was the kind of look someone gives when they know they are being watched. As his face came into full view, Sarah described him as looking right through her with cold piercing eyes. It gave her chills. This was too much. She could no longer explain away this guy’s suspicious behavior. Way too many red flags at this point.

As the guy turned back around, Sarah grabbed Joe and signaled to him that they needed to talk to the staff again immediately.

Once again confronted with a reluctant and not very pro-active staff, they explained that the staff needed to intervene and talk to this man immediately. This time the staff could tell from their tone and sense of urgency that something was clearly going on.

Joe and Sarah decided to keep a safe distance while the staff casually but cautiously approached the man and engaged him in a distracting conversation to assess any issues.

A Frightening Discovery

At this point one staff member was able to see an odd looking hand-written note on the shooter’s bench, while another staff member was talking with the man.

After a closer look, the note revealed a list of emergency contacts and an ominous line that changed the whole situation. The line read, “I’ve left a note at home explaining why I did this.”

The range staff finally realized what Sarah and Joe had picked up on. This guy was going through a suicidal crisis and was an extreme danger to himself and everyone around him.

The Resolution

Joe and Sarah were happy to say that from this point on, the staff’s actions were professional. The authorities were called and the man did not put up a fight, but most importantly – the situation ended with nobody getting hurt.

An event that could have ended with a traumatic suicide (no doubt leaving everyone at the range and the man’s family with some serious sh*t to work through), or worse, an active shooter or murder suicide, was averted by the observations and actions of two regular people.

Joe and Sarah aren’t former special ops soldiers and they aren’t psychologists or mental health professionals either. They are regular folks who were simply smart enough to pay attention to their surroundings and who weren’t afraid to act preemptively when they noticed something suspicious. Sarah especially listened to her gut.

She saved that man’s life and potentially the lives of several others that day all because she had the courage to listen to her gut instincts, even when it went against what others thought.

What I found most shocking in this encounter was the range staff’s willingness to rationalize suspicious behavior (something that is all-too-common in the imagined cocoon of safety many people live in).

A range master’s job is to keep everyone on the firing line and any others in the area safe. To see something that looks suspicious and explain it away is gross negligence when it’s your job to keep people safe.

Trust Your Gut!

Gut instincts exist for a reason. Have you ever had a gut instinct about something like this and been wrong? I know I haven’t.

When something bad is about to happen you almost always get that uneasy feeling. There is a lot of communication that goes on between the lines (body language, eye movements, and other non-verbal cues) that our subconscious mind is extremely good at identifying as “DANGEROUS.”

In polite society and the comfort of a relatively safe first world country (depending on where you live in the US), there is a strong tendency to explain away strange behavior. We’ve been trained to suppress our instincts by rationalizing strange things we notice. Sometimes this is good, but often it can be really bad. For example, it’s politically incorrect to cross to the other side of the street when you see a guy walking toward you who “looks a bit off“.

But having that uneasy feeling about an individual is almost always based on the body’s intuitive ability to pick up on non-verbal communication, signals the worrisome individual probably doesn’t even know he or she is sending. You may not even be able to describe what was worrisome. You just know that you’ve got an uneasy feeling.

You Aren’t Always Just Being Paranoid

Listening to those feelings is not paranoia, it’s street smarts. Ignore these feelings at your own peril.

Talk to people who’ve been mugged, attacked, beaten, robbed, raped, or kidnapped and I bet 9 out of 10 (if they weren’t taken completely by surprise) had some uneasy feeling right before the SHTF. It’s universal. I’ve certainly had that feeling before every dangerous situation I’ve been in.

Paying attention to those primal instincts is something you can’t afford to learn the hard way. In fact, tapping into those instincts is something you should actively cultivate.

Final Thoughts

I hope this story can be a reminder that gut instincts are there for a reason, and maybe someone out there reading this can avoid a dangerous situation because of it.

And I hope it also serves as a reminder that even in places where there are designated safety personnel, you can’t afford to totally let your guard down or ignore a gut feeling because “nobody else seems worried.” Our safety and the safety of those around us is our responsibility.

Let me know your thoughts…

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327 thoughts on “Trust your instincts – A True Story”

  1. I was at a gun show 6 months ago, noticed a young man and woman at a table selling an electronic back muscle relaxant. I thought it was odd that they were there as this was an all American spirited event, color guard brought in the flag. We all repeated the pledge, a young woman sang the Star Spangled Banner. They were from the middle east, and didn’t know a lot of english, I know because I was asking questions about their product and he was saying “yes” to every question, including ones he should have said “no” to. He said it cost $500, but today $250. One odd thing that happened was while I was sitting trying it out, a couple walked by with a rather small dog on a leash, no taller than 10″. This guy nearly had a panic / heart attack. When I told him I wasn’t going to buy one…,he just looked at me, expressionless and yet internally I could hear him shouting how he hated this country and everyone in it. I couldn’t get myself unhooked fast enough and leave. Four tables away I glanced back in his direction and now anyone could see he was just glaring at me, pure hatred. First thought was they’re here to wage war with us in the future, and buying their stuff wasn’t helping matters. About me, I’m an empath, I pick up on others thoughts while in conversation. To know the hearts of men. Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition. lol

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  2. This is perhaps the most interesting & relevant article I have read in a long time. There are those who have made it their job to breed this kind of instinct out of us; to do so is to attract harm & blame it on our own misdeeds. The author is so right to observe that one must never ignore those “gut” feelings. It is those feelings that serve to keep us alive & minimize the threat that keeps us from living another day. Personally, I am & have always been very sensitive to the vibe emitted by others & their behavior. It has frequently served to keep me safe & free from harm when others with less perception have fallen.

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  3. Now, all your videos show how to deal with the average street thugs. My experience with fighting has always been, not knowing I’d get in a fight until after I’d already been struck from behind. Can you show some moves that you can use to regain control, after you’ve been taken by surprise? I realize that you are training to be aware of your surroundings, but, worst case scenario training should include how to recover from a surprise attack. Also, what if your attacker has better than average fighting skills?

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  4. I am glad someone paid attention to their surroundings, because it saved lives, especially at a gun range.
    In todays world to be complacent can cost you your life or the life of others.
    I used to clean parking lots and parking garages in Seattle and Tacoma and they were not in the best part
    of town so I had to trust my gut and street smarts.

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  5. The couple that followed up on their instincts should be given some form of a human / governmental award for saving the folks working at the shooting place from lawsuits, embarassment, etc. , not to mention the loss of the family of the potential suicider. If you know the couple personally, please pass my thanks for their courage.

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  6. An important truth expressed!
    One thing you should consider for yourself (T preacher in me is about to come through–but I’ll try to keep it short, and you can get back to me if you desire.)
    Regardless of one’s relationship with God, it is His love for us that gives us the warnings you identify as “gut instinct.” That’s one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit as He woos us to accept Christ as our personal Savior.
    Oops, I’m supposed to keep this short!
    Tom Millerr

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  7. THATS A LITTLE SCARY BUT I’M SURE ALOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WOULD HAVE REACTED IN A TOTALY DIFFERANT MATTER . DO TO THE FACT THAT MOST PEOPLE DON’T CARE UNLESS ITS SOMEONE THEY KNOW OR LOVE . MYSELF I DON’T TRUST PEOPLE AT ALL , BUT I DON’T IGNORE THE FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE NEED HELP JUST AS MUCH AS THE NEXT PERSON . THATS WHY I’LL HELP WHOEVER NEEDS IT IN MY EYES I DON’T IGNORE ANY SITUATION AROUND ME BUT TAKE IN MIND I STILL DON’T TRUST PEOPLE I ONLY HELP WHEN THEIR IN DESPREATE NEED . SO ALL IN ALL THANK GOD FOR SARAH & JOE . WE NEED MORE PEOPLE LIKE THAT

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  8. As a gunsmith and former law enforcement I spend some time at different ranges and this type of situation is always on my mind . I’m glad to hear no one was hurt, and way to go for being observant and not just leave because there was some one acting funny . Thank you for the story

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  9. Combat veterans, the ones that actually faced the the enemy, can relate many times “gut feelings” saved them and others. The most dangerous times for a combat solder in Vietnam were the first month and the last month in country. The first month while sharpening combat awareness, and being too careful the last month, ignoring what was learned during the first month. The veteran that survives a combat tour will retain improved “gut feelings” which always contribute to some degree of PTSD.

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  12. I know there are times when we see something not quite right and fail to move on it. Like you suspect child abuse and say nothing because you are not sure and have no evidence to back it up. Or you think you’ll get called on, when it may be politically incorrect. Well I’m no different and we are forced to think twice before acting which is really sad. We have the power to affect those around us and for the good. I think we need to start to learn to act again on our gut feelings if we get it wrong we can live with being wrong. But what if we’re right? What if we save someone’s life?
    Troy Lawson

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  15. This really hit close to home as there was a suicide at the range my daughter and I shoot. Although the person was in a class to have access to a firearm, and we were not in the same area. Thanks for posting this.

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  16. This is something all of us needs to take seriously. Conceal Carry has its own responsibility, which calls for additional training and more conscious re cognition of careful watching our surroundings.

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  17. At gunrange in lombard il ending was terribly different. Seems a24year old girl met a guy on the internet who mentioned he like to go shooting and asked to meet her at Artical 2 gun range in lombard il. The girl wanted to be a model but for reasons unknows she picked up the pistol and put a round through her own head?

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  18. Good article, it is very true. We need to follow our instincts and not worry about being so poltically correct. Keep up the good work

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  19. It is fact that paying attention to your surroundings is an acquired skill. We have been kept in cocoons for so much of our lives that the natural “fight or flight” has been bred out of us. The first thing that must happen is that one’s head must be on a swivel, especially when out in public. You NEVER know who is walking toward you or following you. Observation is the first part of the skill. Second, you need to recognize the signs of trouble. The Israelis have a ten-item list that is almost 100% perfect at identifying a person as a suicide bomber. This skill MUST be learned and rehearsed at all times. It’s a habit that we all need to re-develop.

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  21. Sadly our country is no longer running on common sense, but political correctness! Our politicians have created an environment that prohibits “calling it as you see it” or “telling it like it is”. There are now so many euphemisms to mask what it really is….illegal alien? No, no, no! It’s undocumented immigrant!…..now, doesn’t that sound so much better & safer?

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  25. I shared this because I’ve known several people that killed themselves & several that wanted to till several of us talked them out of it.

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  26. Shooting ranges are definitely high risk areas for all concerned. Remember Chris Kyle, our legendary Seal sniper who was gunned down by a vet he was trying to help on the range? Gun clubs do not do background checks, to my knowledge, and to someone severely depressed or psychotic, it’s like handing them a stage upon which to perform. Unfortunately, they not only have the opportunity to end their own life but other lives as well. As a mental health professional for 38 years, I personally think we need to take more aggressive steps than to trust that someone’s gut instincts will prevent a catasprophe. When individual rights to privacy put a community at risk, it is clearly wrong. I am in favor of background checks on gun club members.

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  28. As a former active duty Marine and 29 year law enforcement retiree, I can’t stress enough the importance and necessity of situational awareness. Learning to keep eyes and ears open with minimal talk is one of the most important skills one needs in order to stay safe and save lives. Communication is necessary but only AFTER accessing the situation.
    Great job Sarah.

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  30. Great that they paid attention to their surrounding area and the people in it.Good their are people that listen to their gut instincts. Great that you put this up, maybe it will ad insaving some other lifes in time.

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  31. It’s called common sense sadly in today’s world there is a lack of . Love your site love everything you and your crew does. Lots of RESPECT. GOD BLESS

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  32. Good article on “Gut Instinct”…WE should all pay attention to them, and P.C> be hanged! I’d rather be wrong, and get a little embarrassed, than not pay attention, and be dead!

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  35. Bob,
    This is a great blog!!! I have several incidents on various ranges around the world, though I will say, none that were sending signals to anyone who could intercept them. I will also say that I have never had a problem like you described with the range controller. They investigated quickly and thoroughly and solved the problems “mo ricky tick.”
    Each time I went to the range controller, my situational awareness level ticked up about 150%. I have had range buddies tell me that I am just “paranoid.” Paranoid or not, I agree with the young lady in your blog. No one is going to catch me flat footed and lolly-gagging when my life may just be on the line.
    Thanks for the great blog!!

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  36. Very good story I’m a firm believer in know your surroundings keel your head and eyes up meaning stop texting while walking around .Pay attention watch people lok for exits in buildings just in case . Anyway thank you for the story

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  37. As a former EMT, I applaud Sarah for her awareness. EMTs get some training in this regard, but the pay is meager for what they must do. (I was a volunteer and did not receive pay). We must all be aware when we deal with firearms. I am disturbed somewhat by the difficulty of grasping the changing concepts of firearm safety. To me the emphasis seems to be more on killing the bad guys than on not killing yourself or the bystanders. When I started shooting again fifty years after exiting the military I found that I did not even know how to hold a weapon and that the posted safety procedures did not help much. The old ways still worked well but did not satisfy anyone.

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  38. This is such a great article. one that everyone should read. whether it’s that gut feeling , that
    strange feeling or that still small voice. It should not be ignored.
    Thanks Bob for reminding us.

    Joe

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  39. I thought the article was great, I do wonder what makes a person go that far to commit murder. Suicide is murder. Gut instinct’s I call That Still Small voice, it is there if we listen, Semper Fi, Earl

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  40. Thumbs up! My “antennae” would get tweaked every time I was in a bad situation., growing up and in the military. This is something that all good soldiers develop, the thing that keeps them alive.

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  41. Great message. The point is clear. If it seems wrong, it probably is. It is better to apologize when the ending is good rather when the ending is bad.

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  42. Very excellently and truthfully spoken! In the Army, I was in such situations endlessly, and I learned by practicing to stay sharp concerning my surroundings to help my team and I stay out of Life-threatening trouble. There is absolutely NO room for fear in Life-threatening situations, because fear stops positive action that must be taken in such situations. I have learned that survival is not about looking around for help, it is about taking the necessary steps, which will come to you as you have Peace within, to extract yourself, and quite possibly others, from a Life-threatening situation or condition. Thank you!

    I AM faithfully David Henry Coffey, “beloved” “head, leader” “of the victorious ones”.

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  43. Omg! This hot especially close to home for me. Ya see i lost my job around Thanksgiving of 2015. I thought i had another one the same day… yay me(not so fast). The company i was going to work for called me later that day and cussed me and said i was useless. Later that evening it got me really down and depressed. I started texting my oldest daughter telling her i was worthless and useless. Then i proceeded to tell her i was going to end it all for me. My daughter did what any loving child should have. She called the local 5-0. Long story made short: i was put under observation for 3 days. That isn’t what changed me. It was my wife (not my daughters mom) who constantly called to check on me. What really jerked a knot in my ass was my wife telling me she loved me unconditionally no matter what. I NEVER HAD ANYONE TELL ME THAT. NOT EVEN MY PARENTS! So thanks to my daughter and especially my wife I am alive and well today and look forward to many more years to come. These 2 are like Sarah and Joe aware of what’s going on to save a life.

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  44. A story that show why it is a good idea to always pay attention to things and people around you. In that situation I would have left the range, or at least the shooting area of the range. When the range safety personal does virtually nothing when something like that is brought to their attention, it is time to remove yourself from a very potentially dangerous area. I enjoyed reading the blog and hope that others that read it learned just how important it is to be aware of your surroundings

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  45. I was eigteen years old (more than thirty years ago) and I lived with my parents in a city flat. My biggest posession was a black scooter with a white fairing decorated with three thin black stripes.

    One morning I found that the fairing had been stolen by somebody and I was upset with that. But as the neighborhood was not exactly first class this was not exactly an odd circunstance.

    In the evening I was leaning 2 meters away from my scooter thinking what to do… The options were: Buying a new or second hand fairing or leaving my scooter in its current disarray (going to the police station an filing a denounce was seen quite useless at the moment)

    At that moment a kid appeared in the street riding slowly a small moped equipped with MY fairing.

    Without thinking I jumped in front of him and stopped him.

    I started demanding him to give me back my fairing that he stole and he started denying that and said that he bought the piece from somebody else. I then grabbed him and the fairing that was precariously mounted in the moped and fell on my hand and pushed him saying:
    Ok then we’ll go to the police station right now!

    He started saying “No, No,.. Keep that fairing… Even when I didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t want problems!”

    So I left him go and went home triumphally with my recovered fairing.
    There was my mom and when I explained her what happened, she looked to me and asked: “How did you know that THIS was your stolen fairing? I answered: “Well you know the three black stripes… ”
    She pointed to the fairing that I had in my hand and said: “Yes, I know, but the stripes are not there…”

    I turned the fairing to me and watched it… IT WAS TRUE!! The stripes weren’t there! Checking closely I could see that they were erased and small traces could be found under close inspection. But there was no way that I could see that in the street, and anyway I identified instantly and with 100% precission my white fairing with its three black stripes in that moped moving in the street.

    Instinct? I don’t know…

    Please excuse my english as it’s not my mother language.

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  47. I had a gut instinct back in Nov. 15. Decided to blow leaves off my roof within an hour of a shower. Water was dripping in my screened porch. My gut feeling was “leave it for another day” but that’s why I had this issue anyway. Long story short: I climbed the ladder anyway, had left foot on the roof was transitioning with the right foot to the roof and my ladder deserted me. Was only an 8-10 foot fall but I crushed Lumbar #1 vertebrae. I now have total of 5 vertebrae held together with titanium rods and screws. Also damaged Ulnar nerve in right elbow. Just had nerve rerouted to inside of elbow and I’m coming along. As a result, most of your defensive tactics I can only wait until I have completely healed to begin physically learning them. I am just now able to start some light shooting and am learning my weak hand shooting capabilities. However any hand to hand tactics you’re offering are only dreamed of at this point. No way I’m going to drop any attacker with any slick tactics. This has absolutely nothing to do with the above scenario but had I paid attention to my 1st gut instinct I could have used my better judgement and avoided this entire mess I have put myself in. There are no guarantees of total recovery but when able I will train as best I can to regain all the strength that I have lost these last five months. Trust your gut or initial instincts. They’re usually right on. At 64 years old I realize there may be strength that is gone forever. Lesson learned…

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  48. Bob, thank you for sharing this blog with us all. It helped me realize that I must be fully alert to my surroundings and, more importantly, as you’ve stated, trusting our instincts.

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  49. I think you are right here; gut feeling is within us for our survival. From Stone Age onwards, we could not survive without it. Modern civilization tries to overemphasize the rational and logical element of our mind, to the expense of instincts.

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