Most advocates of armed citizenry strongly warn those who hold or are seeking carry permits do so for the right reason, and that reason is for the protection of you and yours. Due to various complexities it is not advised that carry permit holders involve themselves in situations that don’t involve them or their loved ones. A Minneapolis permit holder tried being a good samaritan and things could be getting very dicy for him soon:
Just before 10 p.m., police got a 911 report that someone had been shot in a parking area behind the Super Grand Buffet restaurant about a block west of Cub Foods near the intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenues, according to police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer. When police arrived, a man with a gun who said he had a valid concealed-weapon permit told them he had interrupted the robbery of a woman in her 60s. The man said that he chased the robbers, a male and a female, exchanged fire and killed the male robber.
While I will personally commend the man for getting involved during the mugger his failure was chasing after the muggers after they attempted to flee. From what I understand the state of Minnesota has laws allowing for citizen’s arrests, but only for felony level crimes. In conversation with various carry instructors I’ve learned that while the initiation crime may have been felony level and thus warranting a citizen’s arrest it was no longer a felony crime, but a property crime, when the muggers attempted to flee.
Pursuing a fleeing attacker is dangerous for legal and personal reasons. Legally most state laws will put you in murky water if you attempt to chase after an attacker which exposes you to legal ramifications for doing so. On the personal side of things by chasing after a fleeing attack you’re increasing the window in which you may suffer bodily harm. As the good samaritan learned in this case the muggers were armed and by pursuing he placed himself at a greater risk of being shot by increasing his exposure time to armed criminals. The latter reason alone leads me to believe chasing after a fleeing attack is seldom a good idea (I say seldom because it may be necessary if the attackers have abducted somebody or another similar extenuating circumstance).
In any event this will likely be an interesting case to keep an eye on, especially for a Minnesota resident holding a carry permit.