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Don't mess with this Marine:

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_articl ... ryid=80405

"Former Marine Foils Armed Robbery

Reported By: Elaine Reyes
Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 5/30/2006 8:52:21 AM


A former U.S. Marine pulled out a pocket knife after five people, including a young girl, allegedly tried to rob him late Monday evening in Midtown. That girl died.

Another one of the alleged assailants is in critical condition.

Investigators are calling the case one of self-defense. They say no charges will be filed against the victim in the case.

Police say they have been talking to three of the suspects, trying to find out what happened.

Atlanta police say around 11 p.m., the victim -- a former U.S. Marine -- was walking home from work at Jock’s and Jill’s in Midtown. He says that when he got to 4th Street and Penn Avenue, five people jumped out of a Cadillac with guns. He says he kicked the guns out of their hands, and fought back with his very own pocket knife.

Police say that two of the suspects were armed -- one with a handgun, the other with a shotgun.

Investigators say two of the suspects got stabbed. They all took off and drove themselves to Atlanta Medical Center. One suspect died, a second one is listed in critical condition. The remaining three suspects were taken into police custody.

“These are the individuals we have been looking for, for the past two nights,� said Atlanta police Detective Danny Stephens. “They’ve were riding around in this area. They were actually robbing people. There’s actually been a lookout for these individuals, and tonight, we caught up with them.�

The older sister of one of the three people police have been talking to said she had been warning her brother about running with the wrong crowd.

“I’m really disturbed by this,� she said. “We’re always telling my brother that he needs to straighten up, and get it together and not run with the wrong crowd.�

No charges against the victim, but no word as of yet to what charges the suspects will face.

Police have not released the names of the suspects yet."

Paladin wrote:They say no charges will be filed against the victim in the case.

Seems like more often recently the media is starting to get this right!!

That is one brave individual, although it goes to show you that most criminals don't expect you to fight back, and are generally stunned when you do. Kudos to this Marine!

No4Mk1 wrote:

Paladin wrote:They say no charges will be filed against the victim in the case.

Seems like more often recently the media is starting to get this right!!

That is one brave individual, although it goes to show you that most criminals don't expect you to fight back, and are generally stunned when you do. Kudos to this Marine!

Roger that! I would really like to talk to that Marine.

Thanks for the news Paladin! I'm glad the Marine reversed the threat and took no injuries (from what I read), and as a proud son of a late career Marine it brought a bit of cheer and extra pride my way today!

Goes to show that things are getting worse for criminals. With CHLers they don't know who's packin'. With so many Soldiers getting true combat experience, criminals just don't know what they are getting into. It seems that more and more people are fighting back.

As a former Army Soldier I completely agree with the Marine's actions as I read them. Kudos!

I also carry a pocket knife (5") while in the waiting room for just such an occasion. (God forbid it happens, but...)

Hoss

Semper Fi and kudos! Good article Paladin.

Take note: It IS possible to bring a gun to a knife fight!

Glockamolie wrote:Take note: It IS possible to bring a gun to a knife fight!

Ain't that cool.? OK, I have a thought, hope it's not too far off topic. Not that the sheep are starting to carry firearms, what will be the Wolves counter move be?

Diode wrote: Not that the sheep are starting to carry firearms, what will be the Wolves counter move be?

They wear bullet resistant vest. It's happening already.

Ah yes, another of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.

It appears to fit the description of what I think Mas refers to as "a catastrophic failure in the victim selection process."

Any bets on the size of "pocket kife" that he had to retrieve from a backback?

Greybeard wrote: Any bets on the size of "pocket kife" that he had to retrieve from a backback?

Can you say "Ka-Bar"?



Anygun

female: "Give him your money"

Dundee: "Why"

female: "He's got a knife"

Dundee: "That's not a knife" <pause> "That's a knife"

Every April when I send in my tax money, I like to think this is where my money went. Superb training! That and I like to think I'm paying for a gallon or two of Jet A for the Blue Angels.

KinnyLee wrote:

Diode wrote: Not that the sheep are starting to carry firearms, what will be the Wolves counter move be?

They wear bullet resistant vest. It's happening already.

Keep practicing on failure to stop drills, then. I doubt they'll have effective headgear anytime soon.

New article, interview with the Marine:

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_articl ... ryid=80494

Ex-Marine: 'I Was Going to Survive'

The 36-year-old former U.S. Marine who fought off five attackers, killing one of them and critically injuring another, reflected on the incident Wednesday.

The late-night attack Monday left Thomas Autry with severe bruising from being punched in the chest with brass knuckles. He also suffered a cut on his finger but said he knows it could have been much worse.

"I was going to survive. It was either me or them and I choose me in that equation!" Autry said from Midtown Atlanta. At 6 feet, 6 inches tall, Autry is hard to miss. The five would-be teenage robbers targeted him as a potential crime victim as he walked home from his job as a waiter.

"I hear a car gun its engine and they jumped out of the car and started chasing me," he said. The next thing Autry knew is that he was being attacked by five different people -- one with brass knuckles, one with a pistol, and another with a rifle.

What the suspected robbers didn't know is that Autry is a former Marine who never forgot his combat training. In an instant, fear shifted into action and he knew he had to fight to save his life.

"I kicked the shotgun down. He was trying to reload it and I kicked it down. I wouldn't let him bring it up." Autry said the blows became more vicious and that's when he knew he had seriously injured or killed the female suspect with a box cutting knife he had in his pocket.

"They were trying to for real hurt me," he said. "She jumped in and was throwing flurries of punches. I'm 6-6 feeling her punches, mean, angry. They were trying to for real hurt me."

When it was over, 17-year-old Amy Martin was dead and a teenage boy critically injured from Autry's stab wounds. Three others, including a juvenile boy, are charged in the attack.

"That was a terrorist act. That was terrorism. That was homeland terrorism. There isn't any which way, if, ands or buts about it. They were terrorists," Autry said.

Autry said he's most bothered by the fact that all he had in his pocket that fateful night was less than $10. "I had roughly about $8 in my pocket. They tried to rob me for $8 and that's the part that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Somebody lost their life through my hands for $8."

Autry said he feels horrible that the 17-year-old girl died and his heart goes out to her family. He said the other four suspects should be tried as terrorists and should be rehabilitated.

Two of the suspects were ordered held without bail during their first court appearance Wednesday. One of the teens, 17-year-old Kendall Barksdale, was due to graduate from Grady High School Wednesday night. The other, 17-year-old Christopher Hayes, has a job at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and no criminal record. Attorney Bruce Harvey asked that Hayes be released on bond.

"I believe the evidence is gonna show that Mr. Hayes never got out of the vehicle, never approached anybody, never had possession of any weapon and, at the best, is the driver of the vehicle that the other people got out from," Harvey argued.

The judge was not swayed. He ordered both teens be held on armed robbery and aggravated assault charges until a June 14 preliminary hearing.