1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:04,720 Hey guys, it's Chris here. Before we start the episode, I 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:06,720 wanted to give a little heads up. 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,040 This story does contain gun violence and graphic details, so 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 if you're sensitive to that, listener discretion is advised. 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:25,840 Enjoy the episode. I shot the first man twice. 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:31,640 There was blood in the water. I'm sitting there with my 1911 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,760 in my hand. I didn't want to be put into the 8 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,960 situation of having to draw my sister from HV Studio. 9 00:00:40,560 --> 00:01:06,320 This is unnerved. Welcome back to the Unnerved 10 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:09,560 podcast. It's where normal people share 11 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,560 their abnormal stories, and if you enjoy true stories of the 12 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,200 strange and terrifying, then you're in the right place. 13 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:28,160 I'm your host, Chris Fricke. What price would you pay to 14 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,880 protect the ones you love? To what extent would you go to 15 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:39,760 ensure their safety? In Hollywood movies, it's a very 16 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,480 popular theme to have the bad guys take advantage of the 17 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:51,040 innocent and bring harm to them, but there's always a hero that 18 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,640 arrives and saves the day by any means necessary. 19 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,880 These means can range anywhere from a swift exchange of words 20 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:08,199 to an intense fight scene. In the movies, light always 21 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:14,400 prevails over darkness, but there's usually a cost, a deadly 22 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:23,780 cost. In today's story, Cam recalls an 23 00:02:23,780 --> 00:02:27,700 event that happened on the Buffalo National River in 24 00:02:27,700 --> 00:02:31,420 Arkansas. What was supposed to be a 25 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:36,460 pleasant kayaking trip would completely change in minutes. 26 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,240 The evil that Cam and his friends encountered that day 27 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,440 would quickly turn into collateral damage. 28 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:52,400 This is his story. My name is Cam. 29 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:58,120 I am from southwest Missouri and I have a love for the outdoors 30 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,840 and nature. I've always grown up in nature 31 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,920 and to be able to experience wildlife on many levels. 32 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:08,400 As a kid hunting with my grandfather and my father and 33 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 those things are, you know, beneficial to learn and be like, 34 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,520 hey, I have the skills in my brain and nothing really could 35 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,520 prepare me for what I went through in Arkansas. 36 00:03:28,260 --> 00:03:30,980 My friend, I will call him Derek. 37 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:35,740 We usually do an Arkansas camping trip in December every 38 00:03:35,740 --> 00:03:39,040 year. We planned on doing about a week 39 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:45,760 trip on the Ozark Francis National Forest, the east fork 40 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,280 of the Buffalo National River. Very remote, not too mountainous 41 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,440 on the southern end, but enough where we could access it. 42 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,720 We would still have emergency services. 43 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,960 We were planning for about a week and a long day. 44 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,960 Five We had kayaks in the back of his truck. 45 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:10,920 He drove a Ram 1500. And on day five, my fiance and 46 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:18,279 Derek's girlfriend drove down and we met them at Ponca AR and 47 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,360 we drove back down to the East Fork of the Buffalo National 48 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:33,280 River. It's December. 49 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:38,000 There's no leaves, if any. The blue Cedars on the the Ridge 50 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,240 are beautiful. You know, the Buffalo National 51 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,400 River is out of the 48 states that I've been to including, 52 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,760 like Alaska and Maine, that you know, some really neat 53 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,240 territory. There's very few places, even 54 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,080 outside of the country, that have been, that are like 55 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,280 northern Arkansas and southwest Missouri. 56 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,440 I am not much of A fisherman at all. 57 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:10,440 My friend Derek goes into competitions, he wins a bunch, 58 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:15,160 and I was not too excited about how long I was going to have to 59 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,160 fish for. I really like kayaking. 60 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:23,920 I enjoyed just sitting out there enjoying creation and whatnot. 61 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,720 I'm not catching anything, but he's having a great time. 62 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,640 My fiance, she can catch fish more than I can. 63 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,560 I'm kind of like in a whatever mood at this point. 64 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,600 I'm still happy, but my mind is a little fried because I'm not 65 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,360 catching anything. Everyone else is. 66 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,760 And that's when we started smelling pot and weed. 67 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,600 And you can just kind of hear the, you know, reverberating 68 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,120 bass of speakers in the distance. 69 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,960 It's actually kind of common for a lot of people to do floats, 70 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,440 not necessarily in December. I can see if you were to go 71 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:16,120 floating on a river in July or August or you know, even in the 72 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,680 spring, the fact that there were people in the water and on the 73 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,720 beach and kind of having a little bit of a cookout drug 74 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,640 out, whatever I'll call it was a little strange. 75 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,720 We're paddling and we're hearing these things and we're the 76 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:43,680 voices kind of come clear and we're on the right side of the 77 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:49,320 Buffalo National River. It's flowing West to east and we 78 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:59,860 round this bend and I just see the group of of people I didn't 79 00:06:59,860 --> 00:07:03,860 know what I was getting myself into definitely did not expect 80 00:07:04,420 --> 00:07:09,200 this group of people as we got closer to you know acknowledge 81 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:17,540 us that we were there. Typically when other people are 82 00:07:17,540 --> 00:07:21,900 floating by me if they're of a like manner of are they fishing. 83 00:07:21,900 --> 00:07:24,380 I might you know ask them how their fishing is going. 84 00:07:24,380 --> 00:07:28,060 But you know we're just mind business and this group of guys 85 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:30,260 is on the beach some of them in the water. 86 00:07:30,900 --> 00:07:34,500 As we got closer, we got within, you know, we were at 100 feet 87 00:07:34,940 --> 00:07:37,820 and then we were drawing in and we're trying to get to the right 88 00:07:37,820 --> 00:07:41,560 side. And their roughhousing just kind 89 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:46,280 of pauses in a way. And they're mouthing us off, but 90 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,680 not to us, like to each other, like, hey, check that out, We 91 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,720 got some meat to use up, you know, like just really weird 92 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,160 terminology. I heard the word rape at least 93 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,960 once or twice, and that's when I'm like hardwired. 94 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,880 I am protecting my family at all costs. 95 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,280 I had just like that Big Brother, because I'm the eldest 96 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,240 of many siblings, you know, I just, I had that protective 97 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,600 mindset. I felt vulnerable in a moment 98 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,200 where I train. I do go to ranges, private 99 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,720 ranges, you know, all my friends, we grew up with 100 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,560 firearms and I had mine close by. 101 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:37,120 My heart's racing, getting closer and realizing that two or 102 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:42,080 three of them are waiting out farther to intercept where we 103 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,320 will be. I'm like, oh crap, you know, 104 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:47,440 this might actually happen. I'm going to have to get out of 105 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,720 the water and tell these guys to not touch us or not do anything. 106 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,200 I mean, who knows what these guys had, at least in the 107 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:57,840 moment? Like, what are their intentions? 108 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,480 You don't just approach people and stop four people kayaking. 109 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,960 If they didn't have anything wrong that they were going to 110 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,520 do, then why'd they come out there? 111 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,400 The guy on the paddle board and then there was a guy in a 112 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,800 doughnut. These two guys approached at 113 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,320 first. Next thing I know, these two 114 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:22,560 guys up at the front and a third guy waiting out even more are 115 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,520 pushing at me hard, like very fast. 116 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,760 Do you do you draw your your pistol? 117 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,920 Do you not draw your pistol? Do you get out of the kayak and 118 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,080 stand your ground? And if I did stand my ground, 119 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,080 you know, would they have pushed me under? 120 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,880 I didn't know what to do. You know, I have my fiance and 121 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,880 my lifelong friend right next to me and I'm terrified. 122 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,080 I didn't want to be put into the situation of having to draw my 123 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:56,520 pistol. I saw one of them had a rock, a 124 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,840 river rock, and the other guy actually had a pistol. 125 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,000 But I didn't know this. The guy that was on the donut 126 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,040 had a pistol. He probably was concealing it in 127 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,640 his like from a rear draw. He was probably pressed up 128 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:18,000 against his back in his swim trunks, and as they they got 129 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,160 within just a few feet, I knew that I was going to be taking a 130 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,720 shot because he was too close. I feared for my life in that 131 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,480 moment. That's when I drew my gun, and 132 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:36,680 in a matter of 10 seconds of drawing that pistol, I shot the 133 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:50,480 first man twice in the chest. Once I shot him, he then drew, 134 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:58,200 shooting twice as well. Then he just kind of fell down. 135 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,440 He then fell face first into the water. 136 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,480 The one guy that was kind of swinging over to the left, he 137 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:17,240 would have been in front of my kayak. 138 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:23,880 He dove towards me and I actually ended up putting around 139 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:33,080 through his face the group of guys that were on the beach, 140 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,000 some of them just kind of stood there. 141 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,680 The rest, they all just ran off. And that's when I'm like, that 142 00:11:43,680 --> 00:12:13,160 just happened. I was starting to cope and be 143 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,000 like calm down, evaluate the situation. 144 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:21,040 Derek actually ended up calling the cops just as I was firing, 145 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,960 but he also had a handgun on him which he never ended up using 146 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,400 because the girls were in between us. 147 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:35,600 In that moment I get out. There was blood in the water and 148 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:41,200 I I grabbed the one guy that his face 1st and I kind of rotate, 149 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:46,360 lift him into where he's his face is up out of the the water. 150 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,360 It was such a mess. I was angry. 151 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,360 I was terrified, I was sad. In that moment I'm sitting there 152 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:59,760 with my 1911 in my hand and you know I'm holding this man that I 153 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:06,000 just, I took his life. The guy that I shot in the face, 154 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,440 I just started quivering, looking at, you know, the exit 155 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:16,080 wound. One of the three guys that took 156 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,880 us round on the beach, kind of waiting in the water area, they 157 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,400 ended up, you know, collapsing. They got hit in the leg and they 158 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,800 were, they just weren't running away and they were yelling at me 159 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,760 and they were cussing me out and they were, you know, crying for 160 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,560 their friend. Then I remember putting my 161 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,920 pistol in my kayak. Derek and the girls are trying 162 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:41,320 to keep everything floating away. 163 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,080 My fiance is sobbing, I mean just distraught. 164 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:48,960 And it was. It was horrible. 165 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,120 We had to get the bodies up on shore because everything was 166 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,440 kind of floating away. When the police arrived, I was 167 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:06,280 put in handcuffs and they did take Derek and I's firearms and 168 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:08,920 the girls, they were. Nothing happened with them. 169 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,080 Everyone kind of got searched. There were some, you know, EMS 170 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,400 that eventually came out, some Park Rangers. 171 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:23,200 One guy was still bubbling some stuff and speaking even 1015 172 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,760 minutes after. And you know, those EMS were 173 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:28,720 trying to, you know, work with him. 174 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:35,400 And this was, you know, a moment of just replaying everything 175 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,160 that happened. You know, the sound of something 176 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,920 hitting human flesh, people crying. 177 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,440 And it's something that I can't erase out of my mind. 178 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,680 I've tried. Maybe I don't need to erase it. 179 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,840 Maybe I need to harness that to help people who have gone 180 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,360 through a similar experience, or maybe who have experienced 181 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:05,710 something worse. Self-defense situations are very 182 00:15:05,710 --> 00:15:10,280 lengthy in court if you know people are decide to choose that 183 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,120 action. But you know the police needed 184 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,440 to evaluate what happened and they questioned all of us. 185 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:19,400 And over the next two or three weeks everything kind of got, 186 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:24,400 you know, resolved after all the paperwork and signing and I was 187 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,800 found not guilty. Some of the weird things that I 188 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,280 was asked is did you tell them to back away? 189 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,720 Did you know? Why did you do this or why 190 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,280 didn't you stop or why didn't get that? 191 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,720 You know, there's always those, you know, Why didn't you do 192 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,200 this? Like, if I was in that 193 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,040 situation, I would have done something different. 194 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,920 I have said that so much in my life that I no longer do it 195 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,080 after that situation. You know when someone's six feet 196 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,960 away from you, even 10 feet away from you, they've proven that 197 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,800 police officers, trained police officers, even in the military, 198 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:01,640 that a charging person within, what is it, 20 feet can reach 199 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,040 you before you can like pull your, you know if if they're 200 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,560 running full Sprint and so these people are doing this, my 201 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,440 handgun is right there. I'm not going to be like, hey 202 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,160 guys, I have a gun or hey back the way I have that. 203 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,160 It happened so quick. It was like and maybe I should 204 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:19,920 have tried to say something like hey, wait or. 205 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:24,080 But if their intentions are to harm, they're not stopping when 206 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,040 I say something to them. A lot of going on. 207 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,240 Gun owners, like they think that just because you shoot means 208 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,880 they're down. But there are multiple police 209 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,880 reports where they, you know, discharge their weapon and that 210 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,560 person keeps coming. For him to pull that out and and 211 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,960 then shoot, you know, with two in his body was, you know, I I 212 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,120 wasn't expecting it. But you know, I I completely 213 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,080 understand. I mean the human body is very 214 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,680 durable and especially on drugs. I mean, I've heard stories of 215 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,640 people that are high. Apparently they have like not in 216 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,880 human strength but just like adrenaline constantly. 217 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:10,520 I have experienced people on drugs, people that are not 218 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,920 themselves, that are not in a safe environment. 219 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:16,680 I know how violent they can be. And so I did have that kind of 220 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:19,119 in the moment. Like this is not a good 221 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,800 situation. I knew what they were saying. 222 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,359 They were talking about raping our our women in our group. 223 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:32,400 It's sad that that's where their lives were, and it also makes me 224 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,480 sick to think that something could have happened to my fiance 225 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,480 if I was hurt or killed. I mean that just it makes me 226 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,160 sick to my stomach to think of that stuff. 227 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:48,960 The things that we do for people we love are sometimes a shock to 228 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:54,160 us, but are also the most natural, deeply driven and 229 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,920 rooted things that we want. We want to hurt people that are 230 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,760 going to hurt our loved ones, but not because we want to hurt 231 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,680 people. It's a deep thing. 232 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:09,840 It's a intimate to the way that reality works. 233 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,000 You know, I am sorry for those people's lives that I took. 234 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,840 And I don't know, a lot of people may feel like it's wrong, 235 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:23,480 but it's if you're going to hurt the ones I love, then you know, 236 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,320 they will then in turn be, you know, hurt. 237 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,840 And I No one wishes that we wish it wasn't such an evil world, 238 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:46,410 but it is. The fatal incident that happened 239 00:18:46,410 --> 00:18:51,330 that day was a harsh reminder of the darkness that can arrive 240 00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:56,290 when least expected. The choice that Cam was forced 241 00:18:56,290 --> 00:19:00,690 to make is something none of us will hopefully ever need to 242 00:19:00,690 --> 00:19:05,080 face. It's impossible to know how we 243 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,560 might react in a similar situation. 244 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,280 Ham was prepared if such an event ever arose. 245 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,640 It's not the ending he would have preferred, but it could 246 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:22,720 have been much worse. Wherever you are, a threat could 247 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,720 always be present. And if a threat were to present 248 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,280 itself to you or your loved ones, are you prepared? 249 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,960 Do you have a plan in place to protect them? 250 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,400 Having a simple plan is better than no plan at all. 251 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:53,710 Thanks again for listening to Unnerved. 252 00:19:54,230 --> 00:19:57,110 If you guys enjoyed this episode, please share it with 253 00:19:57,110 --> 00:20:01,550 your friends and leave a review wherever you get your podcast 254 00:20:02,350 --> 00:20:05,950 and if you want to see photos related to each episode. 255 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:11,080 Be sure to follow us at our Instagram at Unnerved Podcast. 256 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,040 Until next time, take care.