Teens Run Wild: Another Mob Attack in Philadelphia

This morning I was browsing the Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association Forum when I stumbled onto yet another news article on a Philadelphia Mob Attack. I clicked through the link and watched the short report of the incident. The incident apparently took place in May but adds to the growing tally of attacks.

It would seem that a woman was leaving work, near City Hall, when she was attacked by a group of teenage girls. The woman was thrown to the ground and beaten before the girls ran off. A street camera caught the incident.

These unprovoked mob attacks have been going on all around the country but since I am in the Philadelphia Area, I hear about those most frequently. When I watch the footage and see still photos of the victims (The man beaten on a bike trail looked pretty bad with a fractured skull and 20+ stitches down his face), I wonder what would happen in the event that someone fought back.

Imagine yourself in this situation. You are walking down a city street, minding your own business, when a group of teenagers catch you by surprise and begin to attack you. Lets say that you were hit once and had a few seconds before the fists of teenage fury began to rain down on you. You put everything you’ve got into one massive hail mary and blast a kid in the face before you are overcome by attackers.

After beating you for what seems like ages (which winds up being less than a minute) the kids run off, leaving the one you struck behind. This attacker was hit just right, maybe he has a broken nose, maybe you opened up a significant gash on their face. As far as I’m concerned, the attacker got what they deserved but what kind of backlash do you get for blasting a teenage attacker in the face?

Lets take it a step further and say that you were carrying a gun. The images of the bike trail victim are fresh in your mind and you are in fear of great bodily injury. You draw your gun and fire a round as you are being beaten. What kind of backlash comes from shooting a young attacker?

In either scenario, are you the villain for hurting a child? I mean, after all none of the victims died and only that one wound up significantly injured (that was sarcasm). With each attack being brief, I can easily see the community coming down on the victim for defending themselves against the attack.

What do you think would happen in the event that someone defended themselves from a mob attack, when their attackers were a bunch of young kids?