Robbed at Gunpoint

So...

A friend and I were robbed at gunpoint about 2 hours ago. Walking across the apartment complex parking lot with groceries, noticed some guy walking behind us, figured he was just doing his own thing.
Walked a bit and realized he was now right up on us. Gun out, pointed at me, he asks us to move out of the parking lot over to the side out of the lights.

At this point, 2 other guys ran up on us out of nowhere and emptied our pockets while the gunman was holding his gun on us.

They took 75 bucks from my friend, and everything that I had: Wallet, (ID, SS Card, and Bank Card), 2 packs of cigarettes, and my cellphone...

Then the gunman told us to get down on the ground behind this nearby vehicle, (at this point, I thought we were about to be executed) and the three of them ran away.

You can only speculate as to how you might react in such a situation, and may talk alot about how you may be able to disarm the gunman or some other such nonsense, but when it's actually happening to you, you just remain very calm and do exactly what they tell you to and hope you don't die.

Thanks to God for watching over us.

Scary...

Originally posted by graphuto
Thanks to God for watching over us.

If I had the ability to stop you being robbed at gunpoint, I would have.
Thats the difference between me and your god.

Very sorry to hear about what happened to you and your friend, must have been a very frightening experience. It sounds like you handled the situation very well considering the intensity of what happened. While I am glad to hear that you nor your friend were harmed physically, the mental/emotional scars have likely not surfaced and you are probably still in shock.

Good luck in moving forward, I wish you and your friend all the best.

reply to post by graphuto


Well, that sucks mightily. I take it that you have cancelled any cards, and contacted the relevant bodies to get replacement identification and social security credentials?

I also assume you have spoken to the police about this matter? I would hope that they would have swabbed and picked at the lint in your pockets, looking around the edges of the pockets for sloughed off skin cells from the theives and so on?

In any case, its a bloody shame, and I hope those who did you this injustice get a thorough kicking at some point.

reply to post by alfa1


I'm sure there are a few more differences.

While I appreciate that you would have stopped the situation if you could have, I don't appreciate your pot-shot at God.

The whole situation has been a perception altering event.

reply to post by Dark Ghost


I hope I don't have any emotional scars, but I have basically been in a semi-catatonic state for the past 4 hours...
Replaying the situation again and again, and scared to go outside after dark...

reply to post by TrueBrit


We have not yet gone to the police. We plan on going down to the station first thing in the morning, not that it will accomplish anything, but at the least maybe my ID and such will get returned to me.

Didn't really want to have to deal with the cops and their thousands of questions right after such an event.

reply to post by graphuto


(HUGS) to you and your friend.

Reporting it means a few things. If they get caught with your stuff, it can be used against them as evidence if you've gone on record saying it was stolen.

Also, you'll be in the crime records, statistically. This can be good because if there is lots of crime in a particular area the police might step up patrols. If this group of 3 that robbed you is doing this regularly, well, you're giving the cops one more piece of info on them.

It might help you to have notes with you when you go in to make a report, even printing a copy of your OP will help as a reference.

I've been a victim too, and an almost-victim, and you WILL get it over it. It just takes time and don't rush yourself. I strongly recommend you tell people, family, friends, coworkers, etc. It helps.

Thanks for that reply.

These guys were young, but they seemed like they had done this a few times before. It was all very efficient and calm on their part.

Glad you are OK, but do tell the cops, give a description etc they may know of the scumbag who did this and it may stop them doing it again and stop someone from getting killed.
I have been robbed at gunpoint here in the UK but only for a pack of fags.

I'm thinking of calling in to work tomorrow.
Is that crazy?
Am I taking this too hard?

reply to post by graphuto


Take a sick day and relax, don't let them run your life dude..If you do they win.

I am so sorry to hear this happed to you. I was in a near identical situation with a boyfriend, except after they robbed us, one of the gunmen took me, and seperated us. My boyfriend was left behind, with multiple gunmen, and about 20-25 other "people", you could tell it was all set up, they had done this before. We walked into a set-up. They brutally beat him.

I was, as I said, moved to another area, by one of the gunmen, where I was raped. After raping me, he ran, firing two gunshots in my direction. I don't remember the block of time after that. I came to sitting in the back of a police car, a woman hugging me and rocking me in her arms, I was weeping. I looked up and saw dozens of police cars, helicopters, ambulances. I didn't know how I got in the back of the car.

I did think, when they had us get on our knees and put our hands on our heads, they were going to execute us. I thought I was going to die.

There were somewhere between 20-30 people involved, and almost all in age ranges from 13-18, but most were about 15.

One of the gunmen was a 13 year old. He was one of the ones that searched me.

My rapist was caught.

I am so glad that you and your friend are ok. My boyfriend was brutally beaten, but he was alright. I was only 16 when this happened, and it took a while for me to get past it. I never did regain that lost block of memory, but, I am grateful for that.

Sometimes, I wish I knew who that woman was that was holding me and comforting me. I think she was the one who called the police. I would like to tell her, "Thank you", just for being there. It really meant a lot to me.

Stay strong. Peace will find you. You are in my prayers.

reply to post by Libertygal


Wow, how unfortunate. I'm deeply sorry to hear that this happened to you...

Kinda makes me feel like I don't really have anything to complain about...

reply to post by graphuto


Graphuto, I know that when you have just been through a traumatic event, the last thing you want to do is have a drawn out discussion with someone about it, but on the off chance that they are going to be proactive and get your things back, not to mention putting the jerks responsible behind bars for a bit, its best to deal with this sooner rather than later. If the theives left any physical evidence on your persons, any forensics at all, then leaving things for twenty four hours is not going to help.

I would advise making a call, or going to the police station, pointing out that thier hands were in your pockets (which will have caused loose skin cells from thier hands, or wrists if they were gloved, to have come off in your pockets and around thier edges), and detailing any place where the assailants may have touched your clothing or person in any way. You should also make sure to recollect as much as you can about them, and recount in the most possible detail, everything that happened, every word that was said, and if you can the type of weapon that was being pointed at you.

It may be that this was part of a string of robberies, as it certainly seems to have been a highly organised affair. If the people who robbed you have done it before, then the manner and the specifics of this incident, may lead detectives to a familiar modus operandi for a particular criminal or robber crew, that they are already aware of. I really would advise against leaving it till tomorrow. I understand the motivation to do so, believe me, but having been in situations where the assistance of the police is required, I know that they are difficult enough to motivate when the trail is superhot. You wait till later, and you are asking to be ignored.

Originally posted by graphuto
reply to post by Libertygal

 

Wow, how unfortunate. I'm deeply sorry to hear that this happened to you...

Kinda makes me feel like I don't really have anything to complain about...

What happens to you, happens to you.

Each thing in life affects us all, and comparing isn't fair. I was just reaching out and explaining I know how you feel.
I can identify.

Your situation will and has, created a pardigm shift in your life. Your outlook, attitude, eveything will have to readjust. That's normal. You may also even experience the 5 stages of grief, because, life as you knew it, has changed.

All of those things are normal, and it just takes time to re-adjust. You will once again be able to go out at night, but you may find that some self defense classes make you feel more comfortable.

Just be sure, whatever you do, that you never blame yourself. People that take advantage of others are to blame. Never second guess yourself, or let people tell you, "You coulda, shoulda, I woulda...", because whatever you did to survive, it was the right thing.

People can and will armchair quaterback and Billy Bad Ass you to death, but they never know until they face the situation.

You survived, you are alive, hence, you did the right thing.

Let no one tell you differently.

Originally posted by graphuto
I'm thinking of calling in to work tomorrow.
Is that crazy?
Am I taking this too hard?

No, you are not taking it too hard. You thought you were going to be executed. You were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint. That is a HUGE deal. On a stress level of 1-100, you are flying at about 400 here.

You need time to regroup, speak to the police, encourage your friend to, as well. It is not pleasant, and they are going to ask why you didn't report it right away.

I think most police understand the shock that follows an event like that.

Don't try to minimalize it, though the cops may treat it like "just another robbery", depending on where you live, and how common this is in your neighborhood. Still report it anyway.

They won't care about sloughed off skin cells. It was a robbery, no one was raped or murdered. Someone has been watching too much television.

Let me guess, these "teens" were Asian, right?

reply to post by TrueBrit


I'll be going here in about 4 hours now.

Thank you very much for that advice, I appreciate it greatly.

reply to post by Libertygal


Thanks so much for your kind and experienced response. It brought a tear to my eye.