You’re Armed And You Stumble Upon A Murder Taking Place

You’re not a cop. What would you do:

Definitely an interesting scenario to stumble upon.  For some reason I know my initial reaction would be to want to hurt the guy doing the choking, and help the guy getting choked.  Who’s to say the guy getting choked isn’t the “bad guy” though?  You have no idea what happened before you got there… which is why this is such an intense situation.  Would you even want to get involved?  What if it escalates and one of them has a gun?

I’m surprised they do this kind of social experiment anywhere, but especially in the U.S..  Most places in the world where guns are not so prevalent, the absolute worst case scenarios I can think of would be someone winding up and kicking the guy doing the choking full force in the head, or hitting him really hard with something (like that fire extinguisher), or stabbing him with a knife.  If this wasn’t set in NYC, the chance of someone drawing a gun would likely be very high.

1:35 – Ugh douchebag recording it on his cellphone probably thinking of getting that youtube money.  Despicable.

It may all be faked for the video or it may not be… the scenario is something to think about though whether you carry or not.

The website listed at the end of the video actually refers to this new movie Dead Man Down:

Dead-Man-Down-Movie-PosterColin Farrel and Terrence Howard hey?  I’ll risk 2 hours of my time on that when it’s out on disc.

1:17 – FAIL!  Sweet blank bro.

Thoughts?  What would you do if you walked right up on someone being hurt by another person?  Would you get involved? Has this type of thing ever happened to you?

Hat tip: Gabe


Comments

36 responses to “You’re Armed And You Stumble Upon A Murder Taking Place”

  1. matthew james Avatar
    matthew james

    WOW. what a fucked up scenario :( I’d be doing the kick to the head and calling the cops I think… And my kicking leg is very strong. guns on ready in case one of them came at me. Guy making cell phone vid needs a kick to the head.

    1. ++

      what kind of person watches / does nothing?

      what kind of good guy strangle someone from behind. i think a super secret agent would be a little more discrete. shame on anyone not stepping up.

      anyone question how real this is?

    2. Taylor TX Avatar
      Taylor TX

      Seriously though, that fucking guy who started recording it /swiftkick. This kind of blows the “helping your fellow man” theory right out of the water, although I did get a good laugh from the guy carrying the couch.

    3. If you have not already, you should familiarize yourself with the murder of Kitty Genevese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese). According to the generally understood narrative, she was beaten and raped in the alley surrounded by three apartment buildings (u-shape), and people heard the incident and did not report it. The attacker came back for her after leaving, and then killed her. It prompted a lot of research on the diffusion of responsibility theory, which have led to two important findings: 1) should you ever find yourself in such a compromised scenario, the best way to get someone to help you is to look them straight in the eye and say something like “You, help me” (singling them out makes them accountable), and 2) now that you know of the human tendency towards the diffusion of responsibility, should you ever encounter an act like in the video above, it is imperative that you take it upon yourself to intervene.

  2. aviator mike Avatar
    aviator mike

    I’m half surprise no one tried cold cocking him right in the face. That “experiment” was interesting none the less, just goes to show how if you’re fighting for your life, you’ve got about a ~50% chance no one will help, 30% that they’ll hit you with a purse and 20% that some ass-hole will take out his camera and watch…

    By the way, in the second video, not a fan of the Pink Floyd cover.

    1. Perfect analysis!

      They were filming a candid camera show in Moscow where a guy hid in a mailbox and grabbed the mail from the peoples’ hands when they put their hands by the slot. Scared the shit out of most. One guy came by and took out a pistol and emptied the whole “clip” (had to throw that in there). The guy died on the scene.

      Another candid show in Istanbul was where a guy taps a guys bumper and then goes out and complains about pain and whatnot…dumbass stuff trying to be a prick…just to be a prick. Like the old show jackass. Anyhow, one guy the hit just came out and beat the crap out of the guy. Even when the guy was screaming about it being a show and joke, the guy still beat him…….even harder!

      Lol. Gotta love the Turks. They’re some hard MF’ers. Everyone serves there.

  3. Sivl32 (elvis) Avatar
    Sivl32 (elvis)

    Has to be fake.. I would of came in with a flying knee to the face. then sort it out, lol being from NJ we can’t carry, wah wah

    1. miguel Avatar

      use your knife hands, YEEE!!!!

      1. The woman hitting the men with flowers is no different than her trying to stab at them with a feather duster. What a moron!

        I think less of women who attack with a purse, unless there are a few bricks inside inside the purse, why bother?

        People standing around not sure what to do, what a lovely place NY has become.

        Video description: What would you do if you walked into a murder in progress? Two guys asked themselves the same question and staged a murder-in-progress inside a New York City elevator. Hidden cameras recorded people’s reactions. What would you do?

  4. SnJohnson Avatar
    SnJohnson

    I always see social experiments/viral ads like this and I’m actually glad I don’t run into them… Mostly because I don’t want to be the guy that shot a paid actor.

  5. Stephen D Avatar
    Stephen D

    I would have to think that this is a produced video (e.g. Faked reactions from actors). I can’t imagine the liability that could arise even if the participants were not staged.

    I conceal and carry — what would I do? Would I have drawn my gun to save a life, even if it means potentially breaking the law?

    Would the “attacker” risk getting seriously beaten or shot by one of the patrons ?

    I just don’t think so. It’s a plug for a movie I bet, although it is a good conversation piece.

  6. miguel Avatar

    i love that fat bald guy at the end, just took a photo. lol

  7. dave w Avatar

    I’d wait for a different elevator. Call the police while waiting. I dont know the story, maybe the guy down was caught messing with the others 9yr old. Without the backstory flashback theres nothing to do here.

    1. Dave even then, murdering a person for “messing with” your own children is still illegal. Even bad guys are entitled to due process, unless you kill them in the act. My state’s laws on the use of deadly force may be different than yours, so it’s best to read up on your own first.

      1. I believe the civilian ROE is that you can shoot in the event you’re shooting to prevent a felony in progress which would lead to imminent death or grievous bodily injury to you or others near you.

  8. DaveP. Avatar

    1:19, see the crimp in the spent blank as it ejects.

  9. Capt. Glenn Avatar
    Capt. Glenn

    The encounter definitely needs to be stopped and the two persons restrained.

    But, before you use lethal force and kill the man on top, can you be sure he was the bad guy, perhaps he was the one being choked and turned the table on the bad guy.

    Unfortunately, we live in a society where someone trying to do the right thing can get themselves into serious difficulty with the law.

    In this video you do not see the witnesses after the initial elevator opening, I would guess that many of them called 911.

    Imagine this scenario; You step into that elevator to assist, the elevator closes and the two men stop struggling on the floor and instead attack you.

    I think many people are very Leary about providing assistance for fear of becoming victims themselves either directly or through the law.

    1. How about just shooting them both?

  10. This is a VERY risky experiment. If I had seen that I might have drawn down on the guy.

    And if he didn’t stop, I may have pulled the trigger.

    I’m all for expose journalism but the guy faking murder could easily have gotten himself shot and killed, and honestly, it would be justifiable since he wouldn’t clarify that it was staged.

    Then no body wins.

    1. Dennis Avatar

      Couldn’t have gotten shot accidently….they were in NY. :-)

  11. You see a biker dude with a gun lead a little old lady out of the corner store at gunpoint. What do you do?

    Turns out the biker dude is an undercover narcotics officer and the “little old lady” is the Heisenberg of her area and is wanted for distribution. Things aren’t always what they appear. Leave and call police. Not your fight.

    1. ENDO-Mike Avatar
      ENDO-Mike

      hahah she’s the “Heisenberg of her area”… gold.

      1. You like that huh? Lol. AMC has some great original programming.

    2. Sorry, can’t live my life that way and still look in the mirror. And no I’m not just spouting off, I have, more than once, gotten involved when I have seen things that are not right. I have not had to draw a gun yet.
      I have also stopped and given people rides in bad weather and helped stranded motorists on the road. I refuse to live in a world where I am afraid to be a man and get involved if needed.

      1. This was advice given by a well respected CHL instructor in a class. Makes sense to me. Unless you see what leads up to it, don’t interfere. I am not responsible for someone else’s safety. They are not responsible for mine. Period.

  12. Something tells me that this is not all that meets the eye. This seems on par with the guy walking down the road with the RPG in the derp factor.

  13. SittingDown Avatar
    SittingDown

    Pink polo, pink cord. LOL

  14. Ninjavitis Avatar
    Ninjavitis

    I disagree. Some of us are responsable for other’s safety because we have the means and will to do so. It’s in our nature. It’s the same reason I carry a well equipped medic bag in my car. I will run towards gunfire, I will run toward chaos because it’s who I am. I don’t want to kill anyone but someday it may happen and if it does, I will be ok with it because I trust my reactions. My ability to assess the situation. That one didn’t call for deadly force but it did call for intervention.

  15. Quint Young Avatar
    Quint Young

    A gun is to protect you and your loved ones. Do not interfere to scenarios that do not directly threaten your life (or your loved ones) with you gun unless they escalate into a situation that directly threatens you.
    Call the cops, or hit the security/call button.

    Allow me to offer a scenario. A man is on an elevator, a mobster get on the elevator and attempts to Garrot the man (for any number of reasons), he fails and the “victim” winds up on top with the Garrot. Since it is the most effective weapon available he begins to use it to choke out the mobster. Now here’s were you walk in, witnessing this scene you attack and injure/kill/incapacitate the man on top. Once he’s down the apparent victim gets up and begins to thank you, he then pulls a pistol/knife and stabs/shoots you because you are a witness (and then the original victim).
    Your actions have lead to the death of you and the original victim

    1. Ninjavitis Avatar
      Ninjavitis

      As I said, it didn’t call for deadly force. You stop the attack and when the Police arrive, they get to sort it out. Choking is a really inefficient method of killing a person in terms of time. The victim was still asking for help which indicated a partially clear airway or at least being early in the attack. He could continue the choke for several minutes without killing the man. That being said, I will not stand by and watch another person get killed. A one on one fight is one thing but the garrote is a weapon with only one purpose. The intent there is clear. You get control of the situation and work from there.

      Here’s a scenario that actually happened.
      My buddy and I watched a bunch of high school aged kids case an empty lot near his house. The cleaned the ground of obstructions and then left. It was odd enough behavior that we started watching. Later, two vehicles arrived and I spotted the moves of a fight taking place. I walked out and watched for a minute to assess the situation. I have no problems with two young men settling their differences one on one. One then got picked up and dumped onto the hood of one of the cars and collapsed to the ground. He was getting up but I decided to stop this because it was getting serious and I was going to have to be the one to provide medical attention. I walked into the middle of it and pulled them apart and sent them on their ways. I was armed with a .40 USP under my jacket but they never knew it because the situation didn’t call for it. Afterward I called the non-emergency line for our local dispatch and reported the indident along with descriptions and licence plates. Nothing further came of it.

      My point is that some situations call for intervention. Not guns blazing maximum lethal force intervention, but something to stop what’s happening. Give the responders time to arrive.

      1. Quint Young Avatar
        Quint Young

        I agree, though one other thing I’d like to contest. There is no evidence of attempted murder. Strangulation only leads to incapacitation unless you break an airway or continue minutes after the fact.

        For all you might know it’s possible the guy is only trying to subdue an attacker, unlikely, but possible.

  16. counsel Avatar

    Of course, the recording is the only thing to assure a good prosecution-against a potential defendant…. The recording… why do most seem to think it is for the wrong reason? It was smarter than assaulting someone…

    Don’t assume-anything…

  17. Vhyrus Avatar

    I think we are missing the big picture here. These guys decided to stage this event in NYC because they knew that there was no chance of an armed citizen shooting one of them. The worst that could happen is one guy gets a little beaten up. Now lets apply that in a slightly different sense. What if this were real? If you’re going to kill someone, wouldn’t you want to do it in a place where you know no one could truly stop you even if they wanted to?

  18. No One Avatar

    This is SO fucked up!! This could go wrong so fast!

    It’s good to see some people did something, it’s not surprising that someone people do nothing.

    If this were me, someone would have several rounds of jacketed hollow point in them before they could say this was a prank.

  19. I admit my first reaction was thinking “typical hipster douchebag” at the guy recording, and that he was going to upload to worldstar. I think it would make sense in context to record some part of this as evidence and present it to law enforcement.

    i think another question is what do you do if you pull your sidearm, and order the guy to stop, and he doesn’t. to me this is a valid use of non lethal force, but are you even allowed to carry pepper spray in Emperor Bloomberg’s kingdom?

  20. SittingDown Avatar
    SittingDown

    Notice this sort of stunt never happens in the ghetto.