Just Stopped the Attempted Robbery of My Gear

[Craig Ryan]

Finally, some sort of justice...somewhat...serves those fackers right. You've made my day, Andrew; after seeing countless stolen gear posts lately, this is a relief. Enough is enough.

I'd say in situations like you've just described, a hand canon is absolutely necessary as a last resort. Thankfully they didn't all pull out glocks. This definitely could have gone in another direction, so you're one lucky guy.

You clearly reacted on instinct and let the testosterone take over, which was obviously the best way to go about it here afterall. And no one can really say what the best thing to do was, seeing how he had seconds to react and assess the situation. It could have gone differently of course, and that's the reality. But let's be honest here, four guys weren't going to politely ask him to hand over his stuff. As far as I'm concerned, Andrew did the right thing in the moment. Either possibly be killed, or stand your ground. It's a delicate issue, but Andrew is one of our own here, we should be on his side. I'm glad to hear he got out of that situation; we can't assume they were just after his gear, either. There are many things those guys could have wanted, and dignity has no price to replace.

**

 

[Andrew Walker]

Sounds to me like you were looking for trouble. Carrying a gun, shooting time lapse in SKID ROW with expensive equipment after dark, on your own. Your avatar and your racist overtones tell it all.

Well done Travis Bickle/Dirty Harry or whoever you are pretending to be. :nonod:

The reason why I had the gun was because I have expensive equipment on the streets of LA. I don't go down there looking for trouble. I go down there looking for stock footage. Sorry if I have the sense enough to plan on going down into a shady area of the city.

Please don't try and paint me as a racist. If I was over in another country and someone called me an American. They would be absolutely right. So I don't see how saying the people that tried to rob me were mexican is racist at all. Sorry I don't use the PC term to describe people of every different race.

I'm also not understanding all the hate towards me from you. I defended myself and my gear and you think I'm trying to be someone else by doing so. Okay here's what I'm not trying to be...a victim.

1. It's not derogatory to plainly state the ethnicity of someone. It would have been racist had he added inflamatory adjectives in front of said description.

2. Milan, you have two posts here, perhaps you should do some research before slamming a member of this community with such hateful messages. If I were a mod, I'd ban you right now for your careless remarks. Andrew has a long history of getting beautiful night cityscapes, it's his part time vocation.

Thanks Shawn. I kind of figured something like this would happen in this thread. You would think people would love to hear how someone didn't get their camera stolen and beatin within an inch of their life trying to stop someone from taking their stuff. There always seems to be a lot of anger in the threads that have a Red camera stolen in them. But if someone does something to prevent it then its wrong. I guess people just like to be victims.

 

[Milan Spasic]

1) You don't know if they were Mexican or not.

2) One look at your avatar is enough. You couldn't wait to pull that gun and then come here to brag about it.

Sorry that I'm not in awe of your behavior.
I thought we come here to express our opinions.
Nowhere does it say that they always have to be agreeable ones.
You posted a controversial story and you've got a contraversial answer (an honest opinion).
If I should get banned for that, that's fine.

 

[Andrew Walker]

All i was saying that if these guys were real badass they wouldve had guns on them too and he's alone...so u do the math ... its better not to go alone at night carrying expensive gear shooting in a dangerous area...
I lived my entire life in a conflict area , lived the craziest war ever... but still i wouldnt do what he did ... its just like ... hey ! yohooo wanna make some quick money?!

My initial though was that they might have had guns also and would just start shooting right off the bat (drive-by). I did have a plan for that but more than likely it would involve me not making it home.

What I do isn't quick and easy money believe it or not. It takes hard work and preparation to get the right shots. At least now those guys will think twice about trying to rob some guy on the street, not knowing if he's armed or not.

 

[Craig Ryan]

No prob, Jason

 

[Jason Ramsey]

no arguing please.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Yeah.. What Jason said.

And no one is getting banned... yet...

 

[Sally Shamas]

I think we should say . Thank "whatever" for ur safety and watch it next time cause ur life is important for many people who love u , just try not to put urself in such situation .
Chill guys... there is no need to make a big deal out of this thread...

 

[Liam Hall]

Ask yourself Andrew if a Canon 5D worth taking someone's life for?

I've shot in some dangerous places all over the world and I've had lots of people stop me on the street when I've been shooting. People are curious, suspicious, nosey, whatever. I've been threatened a few times and had a couple of people try to steal stuff and on two occasions had guns waved in my face. Never once have I thought it was worth dying over or killing someone. It's a camera and that's why we have insurance!

Looking at your gun-toting avatar and remembering your video featuring guns being fired in the desert and also reading how you carry a concealed weapon it's obvious you are in to the gun culture in a big way and that really doesn't play so well in court when you're in the dock charged with killing four Spanish tourists who stopped to ask directions...

Just sayin'...

 

[Roberto B]

My initial though was that they might have had guns also and would just start shooting right off the bat (drive-by).

lucky man

I did have a plan for that but more than likely it would involve me not making it home.

the problem is that life is showing to us every day there are not perfect plans.. just plans.
(edit) subject to change.. sorry.. couldn't resist ehehehehe it is reduser after all

 

[Andrew Walker]

1) You don't know if they were Mexican or not.

2) One look at your avatar is enough. You couldn't wait to pull that gun and then come here to brag about it.

Sorry that I'm not in awe of your behavior.
I thought we come here to express our opinions.
Nowhere does it say that they always have to be agreeable ones.
You posted a controversial story and you've got a contraversial answer (an honest opinion).
If I should get banned for that, that's fine.

I know for a fact that they were mexicans. Just the same way I know for a fact that I'm white. I refer to them as mexicans because they looked of mexican decent. I got a very good look at them as they were 6 feet from me.

You can post your opinions about the situation but calling me a racist is just an unwarranted attack on me because I happened to use a firearm in defending myself. Please stay out of this thread as I'm only trying to share what happened to me. This has never happened to me before so its kind of a big deal in my eyes. I don't think there is anyone else on the forum that has had to defend their gear or themselves with a weapon. If I'm wrong please chime in.

 

[Jason Ramsey]

alright. I already asked nicely.

Drop the personal shit and stop arguing, or I'll start firing... with my ban finger. it is entirely possible to discuss without acting like this.

last warning.

Thanks.

 

[Milan Spasic]

Ask yourself Andrew if a Canon 5D worth taking someone's life for?

I've shot in some dangerous places all over the world and I've had lots of people stop me on the street when I've been shooting. People are curious, suspicious, nosey, whatever. I've been threatened a few times and had a couple of people try to steal stuff and on two occasions had guns waved in my face. Never once have I thought it was worth dying over or killing someone. It's a camera and that's why we have insurance!

Looking at your gun-toting avatar and remembering your video featuring guns being fired in the desert and also reading how you carry a concealed weapon it's obvious you are in to the gun culture in a big way and that really doesn't play so well in court when you're in the dock charged with killing four Spanish tourists who stopped to ask directions...

Just sayin'...

Thank you.

And sorry about that Jason, I'll go and mind my own business now. :emote_popcorn:


:smile5:

 

[Kwan Khan]

OK, Now

 

[Steve G]

I know the ability to bear arms in the USA is a right that is loved by some and hated by others. Good that you managed to defend yourself and your kit in a really horrible situation. The thing is Andrew, having an avatar picture of yourself with a gun doesn't exactly do you any favors, even if you mean it to be ironic. If it was a forum for gun users, no problem.

Those "mexicans" could have been born and raised in America. Doesn't that make them American ?

I've filmed docs in war zones.... Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, North West Pakistan and Gaza Strip. When filming in the Balkans, people asked me if I would ever carry a gun. They were very easy to get hold of. My feeling was/is that if film makers/journalists started to carry guns, and word got round that they were doing that, then we would all be looked at as being potential combatants. Going through checkpoints into no mans land and traveling between sides in the Balkans conflicts was dangerous enough. If they also thought that we had guns, could have been a real nightmare.

 

[Andrew Walker]

Just so everyone sees the area that I was at.

BTW these guys weren't there to ask directions. I talk with people all the time when I'm out shooting stock footage and timelapse on both my Red camera and DSLRs. But I've had enough run-ins with people to know when something very bad is about to go down. Situational Awareness is the key word here.

 

[Liam Hall]

Anyone else notice the barrel distortion

 

[Noah Kadner]

Anyone else notice the barrel distortion

On the gun or the camera?

-Noah

 

[Milan Spasic]

I shot a Harley Davidson spot on that exact location few moths ago.

 

[Roberto B]

Anyone else notice the barrel distortion

nope.. that lowlight seems a better option than others.. you can go w/ the street candles and crop them at post.. don't need extra gear.. :001_rolleyes: go figure if it was that most expensive one.. you'd need 2 guns.. 1 per hand andrew