Patient who pulled gun on armed robber hopes he taught him lesson

A quick-thinking man who refused to become a victim hopes he taught a young bad guy a lesson.

Most people who carry a concealed handgun won't be in the situation where they have to draw and use it. That was a reality Tuesday for a Waterford man.

James Dockman refused to pull the trigger and tonight the 49-year-old explains why.

"Do you really want to (expletive) do this," Dockman said to the armed robber. 

The young man holding the weapon didn't want to answer, fleeing.

Dockman said he was headed to his dialysis treatment around 4 a.m. Tuesday when he noticed someone coming out of the woods. The suspect walked up to his sport utility vehicle asking for help.

"He just goes leans in and (holds up a gun)," Dockman said.

So James who's licensed to carry a concealed pistol, responded in kind. He pulled out his 9mm Ruger, loaded with hollow points with a round already in the chamber.

"This guy had a gun on me, I got a gun on him," Dockman said. "I don't want to kill this kid. But I'm going home. He started looking both ways at me and kind of like he didn't know what to do." 

The standoff  lasted seconds but James says it felt much longer.

"All it would have taken was a twitch and I would've killed him," Dockman said. "He goes 'Have a nice day.' And then he backs up and as he backs up I  brought my gun  back down and he went back into the woods."

Dockman's quick draw which thwarted robbery and possibly bloodshed, was praised on Facebook

Andy Kinnison wrote "Good job on the good guy for carrying." But others unloaded a salvo of criticism.

Viewer Rick Smith wrote "Do not play games when threatened. When confronted with a gun in a crime, eliminate the threat immediately without hesitation."

And Grant Laskaska wrote "Don't pull it unless you're going to use it."

"A lot of people said 'I would've shot him,'" James said. "Well you know what, when you're in my shoes let me know what you're going to do. Until you're in my shoes I don't give an (expletive)  what you think."

FOX 2: "Were you ready to shoot him?"

"I  would have killed the man," Dockman said. "I would have killed him. I didn't want to. I don't want to live the rest of my life with that on my conscience of killing a 20-year-old kid.

"I'm 49 years old. I've been around a little while now. But push come to shove, I'm going home with that lady in that car there, that's my wife. I'm going home with her one way or the other."

More than the gun in his face, James says he'll remember the look in his would be robber's eyes. A look that was desperate but afraid - and that was before James drew his pistol.

"That guy wherever he is, he's still alive," Dockman said. "I'm glad he's still alive and pray to God he learned something from it."