Eyes in the Sky: Your Decisions Before the Gun Comes Out
There’s something I’ve been talking to my CPL students about, especially with the shootings we’ve seen around Detroit and the surrounding communities over the past few years.
A lot of these situations are being caught on camera.
The gas station has cameras. The mall has cameras. The business has cameras. Somebody standing nearby has a phone out. We’re seeing encounters unfold, and afterward, we’re learning what prosecutors will—and will not—pursue as a criminal case.
Sometimes that decision comes within days. Sometimes it takes months.
But what I want my students to understand is this: Your decisions before the firearm comes out matter.
The argument. The following somebody. The walking back over there when you could have kept going. All of that can become part of the investigation.
You might be thinking about the moment you felt threatened. Investigators are going to want to know how everybody got to that moment.
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We’re watching real situations with real consequences
Look at the April 2026 shooting at the gas station on West McNichols in Detroit. Three people lost their lives.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, a vehicle collision led to a confrontation. Three people followed the other vehicle to the gas station, opened the driver’s door, and engaged in a physical altercation with the driver. A passenger fired the fatal shots.
Three days later, prosecutors declined charges because they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooter had not acted in lawful self-defense and defense of others.
Then we have the recent Dearborn shooting inside White House Kicks. Security video captured a man attacking a woman’s boyfriend and the woman firing during that confrontation. She was identified as a CPL holder. Three days after the shooting, prosecutors said they would not charge her because there was insufficient evidence to disprove lawful self-defense or defense of another person beyond a reasonable doubt.
These are the kinds of situations I bring into the classroom. They give us real circumstances to discuss. What happened? What led up to it? What evidence did investigators have?
And we have to be careful about turning somebody else’s outcome into permission for our own actions. Every encounter has its own facts.
You have to understand the whole situation
At Fairlane Town Center in July, prosecutors determined that one participant fired in defense of himself and others. But he still faced a carrying-a-concealed-weapon charge. The shooting decision did not eliminate the separate question of whether he was legally carrying that firearm.
That’s something a person carrying needs to understand. You have responsibilities before an emergency happens, during it, and afterward.
The Great Lakes Crossing case also shows why we shouldn’t put every investigation on a three-day clock. September reporting, attributed to the shooter’s attorney, said prosecutors had declined all charges following the July shooting. That review took more than two months.
Video can help explain what happened. It doesn’t mean every answer is immediately available.
Protecting somebody you love can put you in a complicated situation
I also want students to think about the Eastpointe Foot Locker shooting from May 2025.
According to reporting on the court proceedings, Lakylia Taylor was not charged for shooting one man because she was defending her brother. But she pleaded guilty to manslaughter involving another man’s death and additional firearm offenses from that same encounter.
Think about that. The same encounter produced different legal outcomes involving different people.
When somebody you love is being hurt, emotions are going to be involved. I understand that. But those emotions do not settle the legal questions about every action you take.
We also don’t know everything behind someone’s decision to accept a plea. I’m not going to assume what her family paid or say money caused that decision. What we can discuss is the documented outcome and what students need to learn from it.
Look at what led up to the gunfire
The TGI Fridays shooting in Southfield is another situation people have been discussing. Sonja Bruner was killed, and two bystanders were injured.
When footage of a shooting starts circulating, everybody has something to say. But slow down and look at what led up to it. Who approached whom? What was happening before the firearm came out? What happened as the encounter continued?
That’s the conversation I want my students having. Look at the whole situation. Think about the decisions that were made along the way and where there may have been an opportunity to leave before things turned deadly.
Give yourself a chance to go home
When I tell students to keep their head on a swivel, I want them paying attention early enough to make a good decision.
Notice when the conversation changes. Notice when people start gathering around an argument. Give yourself some distance. If you can safely leave, take that opportunity.
You don’t have to answer every insult. You don’t have to follow somebody to finish a disagreement. Carrying a firearm means you have to think about where your decisions could lead.
You may never know where the camera is. But whether anyone is recording or not, the responsibility is the same.
And even when prosecutors decline charges, somebody may still be dead. Somebody may be recovering from an injury. Families still have to live with what happened.
That’s why I spend time on this in class. I want my students thinking beyond whether they can carry a firearm. I want them thinking about how they carry themselves.
Keep your head on a swivel. Keep your emotions under control. And make decisions that give you the best chance of getting home safely.
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Sources and case updates
Case information checked October 22, 2026. Investigations and court proceedings may develop after publication.
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