Man decapitates passanger on Greyhound bus

[Squisher]

Don't bring a pillow to a knife fight.


btw-I guess the guy was eating the victim's flesh

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
If you are defending someones life, putting your future in danger should be the least of your worries. If I worried about that every time I made an EMS or a fire call, I would be a pretty poor firefighter. You can do plenty to stop a knife attack without using a knife. In that situation there were pillows, blankets and overhead luggage that could have been used to stop that attack. It was a pointless death and sad that the military guy sitting in front of the attack panicked and let it get to that point without trying to stop it. He will have to live with that decision the rest of his life.

It's easy for you to say stuff when you are sitting in front of the computer and not in the real situation. The killer is obviously insane. He cut the victim's head off, cut the body open with guts everywhere and according to some news, ate the flesh of the victim too.

Who on earth would NOT be afraid of an insane guy like that empty handed? Don't mean any disrespect, but it's your job as a fire fighter to go into a fire and risk your life to save people. Other people didn't made the choice to put their life on the line every day, and they have nothing to be ashamed of if they value their life and not want to face a crazy person who just cut someone's head off.

 

[SlickSnake]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
If you are defending someones life, putting your future in danger should be the least of your worries. If I worried about that every time I made an EMS or a fire call, I would be a pretty poor firefighter. You can do plenty to stop a knife attack without using a knife. In that situation there were pillows, blankets and overhead luggage that could have been used to stop that attack. It was a pointless death and sad that the military guy sitting in front of the attack panicked and let it get to that point without trying to stop it. He will have to live with that decision the rest of his life.

Well if there happened to be a martial arts master on the bus, then maybe you'd have a point...but "pillows, blankets and overhead luggage" in the hands of an average person are not adequate weapons against a large knife.

I've done a lot of martial arts training, including some unarmed defenses against knives and other weapons, and the thing they ALWAYS stress is that even if you are highly trained, chances are very good that you will be hurt. All our techniques focus on minimizing that injury and disarming someone without dying yourself, and even with several years of training I wouldn't feel super-confident going up against someone with a big knife if all I had was a pillow or blanket.

For someone who is untrained and/or surprised, I'd say the chances are very good that they would be seriously hurt, probably fatally. That doesn't mean they shouldn't do anything, but I think you're downplaying the risks a little much. You compare it to your experience making EMS or fire calls, but (I assume) you've had extensive training on how to handle that kind of situation. Going after someone who has a knife is not something I'd suggest the average person try unless they absolutely have to.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

He was preoccupied with the victim. I think you can use a blanket or even a jacket to good advantage if you quickly put it over the head of an attacker and wrap it tight about the neck. He would naturally drop the knife and try to get the thing off his head, disarming him. Remember how close he would be to you, sitting directly behind you. It's not like he is across the room or something, watching you and waiting for you to stop him. I don't consider this a ninja tactic at all, especially if this guy was as single minded as the witnesses claimed and trying to decapitate the victim.

Once the knife is removed from the attackers hands, subduing the attacker becomes a lot easier, plus you can use the knife to defend yourself. And luggage is a great way to protect yourself from an attacker with a knife, unless he chooses to throw it, then he is disarming himself. I think that would not be an issue here, but who knows? I just feel certain I would have intervened somehow and not panicked and ran away immediatley. I would have at least tried something depending on what was available to me.