Chased by a guy with a knife

[Tres Leches]

I was walking through a neighborhood to a coffee shop this morning with my 13 year old daughter and a friend when a guy who looked like he's homeless approached us. He growled "hell no" and walked toward us with a kitchen knife. Well, I screamed and started running and my friend grabbed my kid and ran too but the motherfucker followed us. We got separated while running but all ran to nearby Catholic church with crowds of people out front.
I called the police (while still trying to hide) and they came. Another man talked to us and said the guy pulled out the knife on him too.
We talked to a police officer who said the guy was high on drugs, had a warrant and was going to jail.
I'm still rattled. This happened in an area of the city that I like to frequent. Wondering if I need to watch my and my kid's back all the time now.

-Teresa

[Dānu]

Holy shit! I'm glad you're okay. Perfectly understandable that you'd be rattled. It took me over a week to get over my home being burglarized. I'd be a wreck if something like that happened to me.

[Tres Leches]

I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing my daughter when I ran. My friend did, thankfully. I was so panicked when I saw him coming at us with the knife that I just ran.
My friend and daughter at first didn't even know he had a knife because they didn't see it. My friend said she tried to avoid eye contact with the guy as we walked by because he appeared to be a transient. But my gut told me to pay attention and look at him as he approached us.

-Teresa

[brewerb]

That's pretty scary. Very glad you're OK.

Time to invest in pepper spray?

A big stick?

[Tres Leches]

I thought about pepper spray too but the cop said he was on drugs. Would it work on someone who's high? Not sure.

-Teresa

[Dancefortwo]

Wow.  You must be really rattled.  I would be too.   Take a few deep breaths.  Drug induced people do all kinds of nutty things.  He may have been off his medication too.  Not sure which is worse.

[Fireball]

That's damned scary! Glad you are OK! Pepper spray may have worked, but to use it, he would have to be too close and your risk for injury would have been greatly increased. To give you an example, if someone with a hand weapon, not even a gun, a police office can elect to shoot at 21...ish feet if they choose to run at the officer. The distance is determined by how fast a person can run and how fast the officer can get his gun out to defend himself.

[Dom]

I thought about pepper spray too but the cop said he was on drugs. Would it work on someone who's high? Not sure.

-Teresa

Yes it would.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Running was your best option. Don't let him get within blade-range of you.

Good to know you're safe. You may have some collywobbles later, it's normal.

[Tres Leches]

That's damned scary! Glad you are OK! Pepper spray may have worked, but to use it, he would have to be too close and your risk for injury would have been greatly increased. 

That's what I was thinking too. When I called the police they asked for a description of the guy but I told them I didn't get close enough to see what he entirely looked like. 
After the police came, we stood an entire block away watching and waiting to speak with them about the incident. No way were we getting any closer, even with the police there.

-Teresa

[skyking]

So sorry that happened to you, hugs
You did the right things. Your 13 year old can probably out run you. She needs to know to do that. So sorry she found out this way.
Even if you had pepper spray, you still want to avoid any engagement.

[SYZ]

I was walking through a neighborhood to a coffee shop this morning with my 13 year old daughter and a friend when a guy who looked like he's homeless approached us. He growled "hell no" and walked toward us with a kitchen knife...

Shit mate, that's a terrible experience for all three of you.  I hope your daughter's okay too and won't suffer from
any ongoing stressors after this.  My first response when reading your post was shock, and the later, second one
was anger.

I'm totally pissed off that we can't even walk our own streets, in broad daylight, without having to watch out for
armed nutters drugged up on who knows what chemical concoctions.  At least the police detained him—but which
fact doesn't make your experience any less disturbing or impactful in the shorter term I guess.

Please take care whatever you decide.     

[Minimalist]

That sucks.  Glad you weren't another victim of our failed mental health system.

[Dancefortwo]

I was going to post..."good thing he didn't have a gun"  but I decided not to do that because it might open up a whole can of worms.  So I'm not going to post it.  

Take care of yourself Tres but don't let 10 minutes of crazyness define you.  

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm glad y'all are unharmed, T.

I think pepper-spray could be a good idea -- with the caveats posted above -- if worse should come to worst, but you did the right thing; threat-avoidance is the best answer in most situations, and combat of any sort is your last resort in almost every case. This would be one.

Avoidance only works with good situational awareness, though; that's the trade-off. It sucks, but it's a fact of life.

Hugs for you and your daughter, hon.

[grympy]

I was walking through a neighborhood to a coffee shop this morning with my 13 year old daughter and a friend when a guy who looked like he's homeless approached us. He growled "hell no" and walked toward us with a kitchen knife. Well, I screamed and started running and my friend grabbed my kid and ran too but the motherfucker followed us. We got separated while running but all ran to nearby Catholic church with crowds of people out front.
I called the police (while still trying to hide) and they came. Another man talked to us and said the guy pulled out the knife on him too.
We talked to a police officer who said the guy was high on drugs, had a warrant and was going to jail.
I'm still rattled. This happened in an area of the city that I like to frequent. Wondering if I need to watch my and my kid's back all the time now.

-Teresa

Bloody Hell!  How terrifying for you.  Glad you and your daughter are OK .  

Won't be smug and say it can't happen here, because it bloody well could!  I'm safe these days because I very rarely go out at night.

[jerry mcmasters]

I thought about pepper spray too but the cop said he was on drugs. Would it work on someone who's high? Not sure.

-Teresa

Yes it would.

Not necessarily.  But it's better than nothing.  (Maybe walk around with a Raid spray can of heavy-duty wasp and roach killer?)

[Tres Leches]

I may buy some pepper spray. Years ago back in New York I worked at a convenience store. While we never had any problems, I kept some pepper spray by the cash register. The owners who were Vietnamese had a relative visiting from Vietnam and she didn't know it was. She sprayed it while was in the back of the store and I got a literal taste of it when I walked back up front. Oops. Not pleasant!

-Teresa

[Fireball]

I may buy some pepper spray. Years ago back in New York I worked at a convenience store. While we never had any problems, I kept some pepper spray by the cash register. The owners who were Vietnamese had a relative visiting from Vietnam and she didn't know it was. She sprayed it while was in the back of the store and I got a literal taste of it when I walked back up front. Oops. Not pleasant!

-Teresa

  I'm reminded of the George Lopez routine where he's talking about some rioting Chicanos, and the police use pepper spray. Some of the people in the riot say, "Hey, come over here, it smells like home!", or some such. It's been awhile since I saw him present it. Hilarious!

[SYZ]

Pepper spray (olecerian capsicum) is classified as a prohibited weapon by Australian laws and is illegal to
carry or use, although the laws are pretty lenient if the circumstances specifically require it for self defence,
and particularly by women.

[Minimalist]

You reminded me of:

The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.

They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.

Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.

It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.

Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.

[Szuchow]

I'm glad that you're ok.

As for pepper spray - by running you did best thing that one can do when confronted with knife.

[Mathilda]

I'm glad that you're ok.

As for pepper spray - by running you did best thing that one can do when confronted with knife.

Yep. You can see for yourself. Go up against someone armed with a sharpie and see if you can do something like spray pepper or block them without them getting any injuries. Any ink on your skin should be considered a slash or stab wound.

[Szuchow]

I'm glad that you're ok.

As for pepper spray - by running you did best thing that one can do when confronted with knife.

Yep. You can see for yourself. Go up against someone armed with a sharpie and see if you can do something like spray pepper or block them without them getting any injuries. Any ink on your skin should be considered a slash or stab wound.

I'm aware of this experiment but I based my response more on the statistics and knowing how easy is to injure oneself with a knife.

[NorthernBen]

Glad that you all came out unscathed, physically at least.