Against The Unarmed: A Disparity Of Force Shooting

American Handgunner, Sept, 2001 by Massad Ayoob

Situation: You face a savage attack by a bigger and stronger man whose sheer physical power is a deadly weapon.

Lesson: The law allows recourse to the gun in such cases, However, there can be other factors.

You, the general public, often do not realize that it is justifiable to use the deadly force of a firearm in defense against an ostensibly unarmed person. The law calls these "disparity of force" cases. When a bare-handed assault is so one-sided it is likely to cause death or great bodily harm, the greater power of the attacker becomes the equivalent of a deadly weapon. that warrants the victim's recourse to a per se lethal weapon in self-defense.

Force of greater numbers is one example of disparity of force. Others include male attacking female, able-bodied attacking the disabled, adult attacking child, an attack by a person known to the shooter to be highly skilled in destructive unarmed combat, and other such "unfair" matchups. A great difference in size and strength that favors the attacker is another disparity of force element, as illustrated in the case that follows.

This incident took place in 2000 in Irving, Texas, a satellite community of Dallas. As regular readers know, we normally give actual names along with the details in this series. On rare occasions, we change some names. This is one such case. The actual names of investigators and the investigating department are used, but the names of the shooter, his wife and the attacker have been changed. This is partly because the shooter is literally in hiding from the assailant, who survived his gunshot wound and could be released from custody at any time. Also, it's partly because of something else. Something I think you'll understand. You might not want your name attached to even a righteous self-defense shooting like this one, either, if the man you had been forced to shoot was your own brother.

Let's call the players Jim Smith and his younger brother, Bob. Jim has many happy childhood memories of his younger brother. Changing his diapers, playing with him, mentoring him, teaching him sports. Jim grew up to be an engineer and a productive member of society. Sadly, Bob wasn't wired the same way. Psychiatrists would later determine that his mental illness was a severe form of schizophrenia, and it became worse as he grew older.

As an adult, Bob stood an imposing six-two and 260 lbs. of solid muscle. Unable to turn his abilities into productive functions because of his affliction, he focused on developing his body until he could benchpress 500 pounds. In college, he was a star fullback on the football team. "He would probably be in the NFL now except for his mental illness," notes a family member, who adds, "[Bob] is far too powerful to be restrained by even several normal men."

The family discovered the latter fact the hard way. By age 31, Bob's schizophrenia had became full blown with paranoid overtones. Several of the family members received death threats from him. There were also physical attacks upon family members, and others, by Bob.

The situation escalated. On November 2, 2000, Bob entered what would later be diagnosed as a murderous psychotic state, driven by delusions of persecution." He told his parents that he intended to kill his brother and his sister-in-law, and asked his father to help him do it. The parents immediately called Jim to warn him. By that time, Bob was already on the road, driving 150 miles to the home of Jim and his wife.

The Incident

Jim knew what his brother had become. He was sad, but also practical. A 43-year-old man of five-eight and 160 lbs., he knew he had no hope of controlling Bob even if his brother was unarmed, particularly if he was in a psychotic state.

Five years before, Jim's uncle, a retired 130 lb. minister in his 60s, had been savagely beaten by home invaders. Jim and his spouse decided it was time to become armed citizens. They took advantage of the Lone Star State's recently passed "shall issue" concealed carry legislation, signed up for a training course, and read intensively on the subject.

Each chose a Glock pistol, almost identical "his and hers" compact models. The wife chose a G19 chambered for 9mm, and the husband, a G23 that he loaded with 165 gr. Cor-Bon hollow-points, caliber .40 S&W. Jim carried his gun in a Kydex belt holster.

After the warning call from his parents, Jim slipped the loaded Glock G23 into a Kydex hip holster, which he covered with an untucked, extra-large T-shirt. It was a Thursday. Though he was in the middle of a compellingly important project at work, he felt it more important to stay home to guard his wife, and fired up his home computer to spend time on the critical project.

At approximately 10:15 p.m., Jim heard a loud knock on the door. His first thought was, "My brother!" Rather than go to the door, he woke his wife, whom we'll call Mary, and asked her to stand ready with the cordless phone to call 911. The two of them moved into the hall, in a position where they had the cover of a wall and could watch the door.