A Reddit user said the whole thing happened at a park around midnight while he was hanging out with friends and letting his dog run around off leash. According to his comment in the thread, the dog had three legs and did not try to run off, so they were just tossing a ball for him and letting him sniff around. At some point the dog stayed by some bushes a little too long, so the commenter walked over to herd him back. As he did, he called out loudly to the dog to get moving. That was when a man emerged from the tree line right where the dog had been nosing around.
He wrote that the man walked right up to him and was immediately aggressive. The commenter told him more than once what had happened — that he was just trying to get the dog away from the bushes — but the stranger acted like he had been personally antagonized. The more the commenter tried to explain, the less it seemed to matter. According to the post, the man then started putting on work gloves as if he was getting ready to fight. That detail made the whole scene feel much more deliberate. It was no longer just an angry guy mouthing off in the dark. The man was gearing up for a physical confrontation right there in the park.
The Reddit user admitted he got fed up and snapped back. He said he finally asked, “what’s up,” basically inviting the guy to come ahead and make his move. He later called that stupid, but in the moment he was frustrated and had clearly stopped thinking this was going to end with a few words. According to the comment, the stranger then immediately backed up and reached toward his waistband as if he were carrying appendix. The commenter said he did not react right away because he believed he could probably outdraw “some piece of shit bum,” but he stayed locked in on the movement and the possibility that the man actually had a gun.
He wrote that the stranger then spent another five to ten seconds yelling at him before turning back toward the tree line. It was only when the man turned away — and, from the commenter’s perspective, turned whatever might have been at his waistband away too — that he drew his own gun. He said he kept it pointed down and did not aim it at the man. The stranger yelled a little more, and the commenter told him to have a good night. After that, the man wandered off into the dark. No shots were fired, and the gun never came fully into the center of the confrontation. But it had come out because the commenter believed the movement to the waistband might be real and did not want to be behind the curve if the man decided to turn back with an actual weapon.
So the story he told was this: he was at a park at midnight with friends and a three-legged dog, walked over to pull the dog away from some bushes, and a stranger came out of the tree line already acting aggressive. The stranger escalated, started putting on work gloves like he wanted a fight, then backed up and reached toward his waistband as if he might be armed. The commenter waited until the man turned away, then drew and kept the gun low while the guy yelled a little more and finally wandered off.
What do you think — if a stranger in a dark park started gearing up for a fight and then reached for his waistband like he might be armed, would you have waited as long as he did before drawing?
Original Reddit post: What was a time you had to draw but not shoot?
