Hello, everyone. I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I haven't told anybody about the experience I just had, and I don't want to tell my parents or friends about it just yet, not wanting to alarm them, so I'm telling you guys.

Last night, around 3:30 AM, I was taking a little walk around the block (I enjoy a late night walk once in a while to clear my head) when all of a sudden this red Ford Expedition pulls up next to me near the intersection at Treadwell and Lamar-the light on Treadwell is red. This guy with a bandana around his face up to the eyes gets out of the back seat, points a gun at me, I think it was a .45, cocks the hammer and calmly tells me in a low voice to get on the ground. I didn't even have any money on me, which I keep telling him repeatedly as I proceeded to lay face down on the ground. These other two guys get out of the SUV, also with bandanas covering their faces, and the three talk to each other in low voices-couldn't make out what they were saying. There might have been a fourth guy, driving the car or something, can't quite remember. I kept wondering if this was some kind of sick practical joke. I keep telling them in a panic-stricken voice that I honestly don't have any money. I told them I had some cigarettes in my pocket, and they could have those, just don't shoot me. "Shut the fuck up", the guy with the gun says in a low voice.

Suddenly, the light on Treadwell changes back to green, and two cars going southbound on Lamar approach the light (red for them) at the intersection. The guy with the gun says "walk over there", pointing away from the intersection. So I get up, back away with my hands in the air, saying "please don't shoot" or something like that. I think I might have even cried out "HELP!" at some point during this encounter. In my intense state of panic, I was pleading for my life in a pretty loud voice, so they must have figured I wasn't worth the effort, plus there were now witnesses sitting at the intersection. The three (or perhaps four) masked robbers get back in the car and take off.

I never ran so fast in my life.

I finally make it back to the house, still in shock from what just happened. I run to the back yard and hide in my Dad's tool shed, trying to collect my wits. I'd never had a gun pointed at me before, and this was right down the street from my house! I'd always thought this was a relatively safe neighborhood. I keep thinking I should call the cops, but I didn't get the car's license number, so there seemed to be little point in doing so. Then I think to myself, "Fuck this, I shouldn't be afraid in my own neighborhood!" I go back around the house, sit on the front porch and light a cigarette, on the lookout for that SUV, still trying to collect my wits. (the robbers must have been non-smokers, since my cigs were all I had to give them and they didn't take them)

About halfway through the cigarette, two cop cars race by in the direction where I had the encounter with the masked men in the SUV. These cops were driving awful fast-this couldn't have been a mere coincidence. Then I remember that shortly before this encounter, I noticed three people standing around talking in the parking lot of the Alamo Drafthouse not 100 yards away from where all this happened. After I ran off they must have tried to mug these people and one of them had a cellphone with which to call the cops. Or perhaps one (or both) of the two cars at the light might have seen some of this encounter and called the cops on their cellphone. Either way, I'm about 90% sure it was these guys the two cop cars were after.

For someone who enjoys smoking a little reefer once in awhile and usually has a healthy fear of cops for that very reason, I never thought I'd be so glad to see cops driving by my house! I've grown quite a bit more faith in Austin Police Dept, that's for goddamn sure!

Figuring that since these guys I was on the lookout for were probably about to be stewing in a jail cell, I go back inside, smoke about six more cigarettes to calm myself down *my heart is still going a mile a minute*, and for the first time in a long time thank God, whoever he/she/it may be, for being alive. In all likelihood I should have been shot, but I got away without having a hair on my head harmed. I guess there's a purpose for me on this planet after all!

Having a loaded gun pointed at you is not a pleasant experience-I had that figured out before but now I know it firsthand! I should still be trembling in fear, but I'm not. Today I've been living it up, happy to be alive. I made myself a HUGE meal, drank a six pack of my favorite beer, and I've been listening to all my favorite music-all things I might not have ever been able to do again. I learned a valuable lesson from this whole experience-never take life for granted again! (I ain't taking any more late night walks for awhile either) You gotta live it up like it's your last day on this stinking rock.

Do yourself a favour and the community too - CALL THE COPS NOW! You may just have a vital missing piece of a jigsaw.

Ben

Yeah dude call the Cops if they do this to someone else they may not be as lucky as you, and then you will have the ""what if i had called the cops"" could i have prevented this.On your conscience

It may turn out to be nothing........And you could also do it anonymously and just tell them what you remember

yep i agree.....it may be that they did attack someone else, hence the sirens, but you dont know that they were caught. if they're still roaming free, and they frighten the wits out of someone else like they did u, or worse, you would regret not reporting this.

thank goodness you got away without being hurt.

You're probably right-my instincts are just about positive the cops got em, though. If they got away, I'd have surely heard about it on a local news channel. No such mention, and I watched the local news at every opportunity today, er, yesterday, just in case. Since good news is bad for ratings in the TV news buisness, they were even more likely caught.

These guys were obviously cowards. I mean, if they were as badass as they surely thought they were they'd have shown their faces. No match for big city law enforcers with bulletproof vests.

However, just to be safe I'll phone in my info first thing in the morning.

Good! This may help the police, as everyone says.
And Glad you are okay!

Mary

First of all , let say , so very happy you are ok.Second, you know better then to go walking by yourself in the wee hours of the morning! And , third definately call the police and tell them what happened to you. You may save a life. AND, fourth, sorry I sound like your mom harping on you, but I care.And dont you forget that.

that sucks man. You shouldnt walk alone at night. i know when it's hot, I myself do the same thing. But if someone rolls up on you, always be prepared. That means anything from turning the opposite way and running your ass off and hopping over fences if you have to. Another thing is to find a nice big rock. Throwing a rock even at someone with a gun can be effective. Only 1 in 10 shots are fatal. The odds are in your favore. And if you feel cornered, look for a branch or more large rocks or even medium size rocks you can stuff in your sock. use the sock as a weapon.

Best thing to do is not walk near roads. Find a nice area to walk that has alot homes you can yell help to. Sidewalks are next to houses but they're also next to cars that can roll up on you. It's sad our country has gotten to the point where Inner city crimes have spilled over into suburbs. Nowhere is safe anymore.

You're both right (Cricket & Trog), but having worked as many night jobs as I've had, I've grown accustomed to being out and about during the wee hours. The possibility of something like this happening was always present in my mind, but, being the strapping young male that I am (not to sound egotistical ) I always figured I had little to worry about, and aside from that one incident, nothing has happened to me in the several years I've had the nocturnal lifestyle I've come to know and love.

It's still way safer to walk the streets at night here than in Dallas or Houston.

As for having a rock to throw, it sounds like a good idea, but I think I did the right thing by letting survival mode kick in and just doing what they said. Throwing a rock might have worked, but then again I might be stuck with a massive hospital bill right now!

I don't know Trog rock vs gun is not a good thing dude no matter what the odd's on getting shot are......

It's true Austin may seem safer when you compare it to Houston or Dallas, and you develop a false sense of security because the area is familiar to you, but Metropolitan areas are seldom safe, especially in the late hours.

I'm glad you're safe because it sounds like those rotten individuals were up to no good since you said you kept telling them you had no money their intention was probably to physically hurt you.

I hope you did call the police and if you haven't done so, you need to.