Do you have a plan?
Aug 14, 2023
RALEIGH, N.C. – A legally armed North Carolina woman acted in self-defense when she shot and killed a male perpetrator during a road rage incident at a grocery store parking lot in Raleigh last week, the Wake County district attorney declared.
“I think what’s really important here for people to understand is that provision in our law is not an invitation to vigilante justice, but it does allow when someone has a reasonable fear for imminent death or bodily injury that you’re allowed to protect yourself,” Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said.
Steven McLamb, 49, was fatally shot outside a Food Lion located at the Greystone Village Shopping Center in Raleigh last Tuesday after 5 p.m., reported ABC 11.
McLamb was the aggressor in the altercation, according to authorities who reviewed footage of the shooting. They said the man tried to pry open the woman’s car doors before she fired at him.
“Mr. McLamb was the aggressor,” Freeman noted. “He followed the other individual into the parking lot, and upon getting out of his car – approaching her car and attempting to get into her car – she, acting in self-defense, shot and killed him.”
According to local media reports, the deadly confrontation began as a road rage encounter. Freeman said law enforcement officers were able to review different videos from the scene and interview witnesses during the investigation.
“We were fortunate to have access to various video. Also, there were witnesses in the area that were able to give a pretty clear image as to what happened here,” Freeman said.
The woman involved in the shooting has not been identified. Officials confirmed she legally owns the firearm and has no prior criminal history, Fox News reported.
North Carolina law allows individuals “to use force to protect themselves when there is a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm,” Freeman told the News & Observer.
McLamb died at a nearby hospital following the shooting.
We were not there; we cannot argue that this was necessary or unnecessary based upon the given information. We do want you to consider a few options before you must go to your gun or whatever tool you may be carrying, to defend yourself.
By all accounts this began somewhere on the road. If this happens call the police first. The main reason is that you are getting help on the way and you are cutting their response time in half. The police know where they are, and they know where you are. They can direct you someplace in the middle.
Stay on the main roads. They are easier to navigate and for you to know where you are. Even if you do not know your directions (North, South, East, and West) you can easily say where you are coming from and where you are headed to help police locate you. If you start making random turns on side streets, it becomes increasingly difficult to know where you are, and the police will have a harder time finding you.
While on the road try to pick the lane that you are driving in. The lane closest to the curb is more advantageous than the center lane where you can get stuck in traffic with no escape route. If traffic does stop and you are in the curb lane, if necessary, you could possibly drive over the curb to escape your attacker. If the police see and stop you, it is a bonus, as there is your help.
Generally, we are not encouraging you to pull into a parking lot and stop if you can avoid it. What if the bad guy parks behind you and blocks you in, what if they get out and try to get you out of your car (as happened in this instance), what if they have a weapon and you are stuck inside your vehicle? At least take off your seat belt when you get into the lot. That way you can get out quickly, run, or in the worst case be able to move and defend yourself inside your car without being tied to the seat. The use of your horn has the potential to draw attention to your situation, either while driving, in a parking lot, or crowded area. If you are going to stop in a lot, consider pulling in front of the store doors and running inside for help and not parking in a dedicated parking spot.
Depending on where you live driving to a police or fire station may be an option. Here in the Valley that might not be your best choice, as a fair amount of local police stations are not manned 24/7 and several fire stations are volunteer and not manned at all. Call 911 first and get help coming.
Remember that you are your own first responder and responsible for your own safety. You are more likely to be recorded on someone’s phone than to get help.
If someone is in a “rage” they lose the ability to think clearly. They have literally lost their minds for that period of time. There is no reasoning with them, they could be your local pastor, but for those ten minutes, they are someone completely different. One of the biggest physical characteristics of someone in a rage is a whitening around their nose, mouth, and eyes. If you see this create space if you can, and if not, start preparing for the potential of a physical attack.
All things considered this is a “win” for the victim; she is alive and relatively unharmed. She was, however, forced into a situation where she had to take a life. Were there other options available that might have led to a more desirable outcome, one that may not have led to the loss of life? If you take a life, it will leave a mark, how big of a mark is up to you.
There are always three fights in every conflict; the physical fight (which you have to win for anything else to matter), the mental fight (both during the conflict and afterwards), and the legal fight. You must win all three fights to be successful.
Factual documentation of the incident can help save you from criminal and civil liability. It starts with making a call to the police, getting help, and establishing yourself as the victim. Additionally, the use of inexpensive dash cameras that can be manually operated during events like this can help with that documentation.
Lastly, there are no rules. We have discussed some of the options, but the situation will dictate your actions. The bad guy controls the time, place, level of violence, and how he reacts to what you do. Choose safety in whatever form that may take.
Knowledge builds confidence and confidence is a non-victim quality.
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