EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) Following the news of a woman being assaulted and held at gun point in El Paso, an El Paso self-defense instructor is sharing some tips of what to do if you ever find yourself held at gun point.

The Owner and Master Instructor of El Paso Kung Fu says if someone has a gun and asks you for an item, like your keys, wallet or phone to give it to them but never hand it to them.


“If he asks for my keys and my wallet of course the first thing is I want to give it to him but how I give it to him is very important. If I hand him my keys like this, I’m also handing him my arm so if he wants more than my keys, he can take me with him,” said Schroder.

Saying the best thing to do is drop the items on the floor and back away.

Schroder says awareness is also important, and should be looked at in three levels. Number one being aware of your surroundings.

“Where are you, are you in a place where it would be easy to be attacked are you in a place where it’s not well lit where a violent offender might be more encouraged to attack you,” he said.

Number two he adds is being aware of yourself, not being on your phone or looking for things in your purse, or fiddling with your keys.

“You want to really be present and make sure that your looking forward and paying attention to what’s happening around you,” he continued.

The third awareness is being aware of who is present.

“You want to look around and make sure that everyone knows your there and you know whose there because that makes you a harder target for a violent criminal,’ said Schroder.

Saying the number one thing to do if you are held at gun point is to remain calm.

“You want to try to remain calm to not make it a more escalated situation than it already is, the second is you want to make eye contact with the attacker to make it obvious that your also a human being just like them, make it more difficult for them to be more violent. And the third is if they ask for something give it to them,” said Schroder.

Schroder says if you want more techniques of what to do if held at gun point it is best to take self-defense classes as the techniques when dealing with an armed person are complex.

However, he did show KTSM 9 News a technique you can use if you are being attacked by someone who is not armed.

Explaining that if someone is being violent put your hands up but do not make fists.

“If I put my hands up like this and say stay back leave me alone then this tells him that I don’t want him to come any further,” said Schroder.

Schroder demonstrating how to protect your face if an unarmed person becomes violent

If you feel like you can’t stop that from happening if the person starts to grab or swing and punch put your hands up over your face protecting your jawline and the side of your head and pushing the person backward.

“If he pushes in I’m going to move and shove as hard as I can and then I’m going to run,” said Schroder.

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