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Everyone has a gun in Arizona. Or so it seems. On Friday evening, at 5:30pm, Jorge Aguila Rodriguez, aged 45 — old enough to know better — got into an argument with another man while working in his neighborhood. Instead of packing up and going home for the weekend, Jorge pulled a pistol.

On the other side of the equation, the other unidentified man drew his own Roscoe in response and ended the threat.  When police arrived, they questioned the victim of Rodriquez’s anger and determined that the victim had acted in self-defense.

In fact, police didn’t even take the man into custody.

Fox10 has the story . . .

Investigators say the shooter was defending himself when he killed 45-year-old Jorge Rodriguez, and he was not arrested.

The incident happened at around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 after Rodriguez reportedly began arguing with the suspect, who was working in the area at the time.

The suspect told police that Rodriguez took out a gun and pointed it at him.

“The suspect took out his own handgun and shot the victim,” police said.

While media accounts of what happened are pretty thin on details, the story should offer some lessons on how best to find yourself in a shootout.

First off, the most effective way to win a gunfight — as always — remains to avoid them any way that you can. You’ve heard of “must be present to win” drawings for prizes? Well, in gun fights, you “must be present” to lose.

Secondly, de-escalation has a lot to be said for it. Yes, you may have to temporarily surrender your desire to “be right,” allowing an idiot to have their way. Apologizing or deferring to an angry individual and walking away remains a far better alternative than entering sticking around as a the situation escalates. It just isn’t worth it.

Apologize for any perceived transgressions and then continue on your way. Save your personal defense ammunition for another day.

Thirdly, dash cams and video surveillance outside your property can make a world of difference in exonerating you if things go south. That’s assuming, of course, that your actions are what a reasonable person would judge as self-defense. They can also act as neutral observers for both yourself and others to critique your response as to handle such situations more effectively.

Long story shot…walk away if at all possible. Drawing a gun and pulling the trigger should always be the last possible resort.

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28 COMMENTS

    • “The case is still under investigation, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will determine if any charges will be filed.”

    • Just because someone was not immediately arrested doesn’t mean they can’t be charged if an investigation shows that their story is inconsistent with evidence.

      • But just suppose, for the sake of argument, that there were no other witnesses.

        All you have is the living person’s word against a cooling corpse. Worse, they are random strangers, neither one has met the other before the encounter. (In the case here, there was likely some sort of history between them.)

        That gets to be a bit of a sticky wicket, and why carry insurance suddenly becomes very valuable to have…

    • That’s why you want to make sure you double tap. Even though your in the right, leave no conflicting stories. Otherwise, your in for a lot of pain.

  2. Yeah…The most effective way to win a gunfight — as always — remains to avoid them!
    But the second most effective way is to shoot first😎

    When someone’s pointing a gun at you, winning an argument is not the point, like the Bee Gees said it’s staying alive, staying alive!

  3. “The suspect took out his own handgun and shot the victim,” police said.

    Whut.

    Pretty sure the *victim* took out his own handgun and shot the *suspect*.

    • We don’t know that, having only one side of the story. We do know that one of the men was a ‘gun shot victim.”

      The proper wording to use would probably be “decedent” but what can you do.

      • Well, according to the police, one man was threatened by a second man with a gun, then the first man defended himself.

    • Tim, you are correct. If the description of the events is correct, the victim shot the suspect. As it should be.

    • Also make sure “Blondie” doesn’t unload your gun while you’re sleeping. Especially if Lee Van Cleef is around.

    • If the story is true then it very possibly was a Tuco like scenario.
      The first guy was probably a big mouth waving and pointing his gun around but then got real stupid and looked away for a moment on a guy who knew what his own draw time was and was waiting for his opportunity.

  6. Thirdly, dash cams and video surveillance outside your property can make a world of difference in exonerating you if things go south“

    Until the prosecutors show the jury the enhanced, super slow motion version of the video showing you with an angry look on your face and the thug with arms/hands open, slightly turning away. Guilty!!

  8. If he only had a double barreled shotgun he could have fire both barrels out his back door and the guy would have dropped his gun and run off screaming!

  9. I’d be willing to bet that the deceased had a long trail of anger management offenses, which is why the cops didn’t take the shooter in for questioning.

  11. That’s why you want to make sure you double tap. Even though your in the right, leave no conflicting stories. Otherwise, your in for a lot of pain.

  12. Bullshit! And there’s the problem right there.
    The police acting a judge and Jury.
    They do not have any choice in the matter an incident like this and such incidences MUST BY LAW be subject to investigation especially if there are no INDEPENDENT witnesses.
    Are you really suggesting that this incident should not even be subjct o to and independent scrutiny and that it’s perfectly OK for anybodyn to shoot somebody and not even be efin’ QUESTIONED and that merely to say ”he pointed a gun at me’ is sufficient to get somebody klilled?? ? If that IS the case Heaven help you all in America .

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