A young man was shot and killed earlier this month when he and his girlfriend faced armed robbers near Cheaha State Park in Alabama.
The young couple, identified as 22-year-old Adam Simjee and 20-year-old Makayla Paulus, had just gone to see some waterfalls in the nearby state park when things went terribly awry.
Both students at the University of Central Florida, who were taking one last trip before the start of classes the following week, Simjee and Paulus stopped to help a woman seemingly stranded on the side of the road.
Makayla says the woman had “flagged [them] down,” and asked if they could help start her broken-down car, as local news affiliate ABC33/44 reported.
“[Eventually], when nothing could be done, she pulled out a gun and told us to walk into the woods,” Makayla added.
This woman, later identified as Yasmine Hider, demanded Paulus and Simjee give her their wallets and phones. Next, she demanded passwords and banking numbers.
Paulus said she was waiting for Simjee to pull out his own concealed handgun. She said their parents hadn’t been keen on the trip in the first place, but Adam had assured them that they would be fine because he had a gun.
“He had his gun in his waistband the whole time because he said it was suspicious and this is how people get robbed,” Makayla explained.
According to a WBRC interview with Heather Lambert, Makayla’s mother, the attacker let down the gun for a second, and this was when Simjee made his move.
He pulled out his gun and told Paulus to drop to the ground for safety.
Hider, in the meantime, grabbed her gun and attempted to fire it. It jammed, and Simjee managed to get out several shots to her torso and leg before Hider cleared the weapon and discharged a round that hit Simjee in the chest.
Paulus searched around for her phone and dialed 911, then took off her shirt to staunch the blood pouring from her boyfriend’s chest.
Thirty minutes later, police and paramedics found her performing CPR on the now lifeless Simjee.
Lambert stated that it is likely that he had been alive for at least 20 minutes after the initial shot, but that the emergency responders had taken too long to get there.
Having been injured by Simjee, and unable to flee, Hider was still at the scene when the first responders arrived.
Hider was flown to a hospital to be operated on for a shattered femur, and police started an investigation into the incident.
Upon further questioning, Paulus remembered that another woman had been present in the woods, but had disappeared when police arrived.
This spurred a manhunt for the second suspect, a woman by the name of Krystal Diane Pinkins.
Police put the word of the now-wanted Pinkins out to the public and received information of a “base camp” in the near vicinity where people were attempting to live “off the grid”.
SEE ALSO: College Professor: I love my students but I won’t use a gun to protect them
After enlisting canine units, Pinkins was found in a camp with a large number of tents roughly half a mile from the murder scene.
According to police reports obtained by WBRC, officers ordered Pinkins to the ground when a 5-year-old child exited one of the tents carrying a loaded shotgun.
The child was convinced to set down the gun, but not before he walked a good bit closer to Pinkins, who was later identified as his mother.
The boy was taken by child protective services. Pinkins was arrested, and now she and Hider are facing charges of murder, kidnapping, and robbery.
Later, when talking about the situation and her late boyfriend with 1819news, Paulus described him as a “hero,” and said he was a “proud supporter of the Second Amendment.”
She doubts she would have survived the ordeal either had he not been carrying at the time.
As I keep RE-reading the comments, I’m amazed and a bit angered at all the “never stop” responses. All the never stoppers seem to forget that they might be the one stranded in some lonely place or perhaps believe that they can get themselves out of their predicament without a stranger’s help.
I wonder do you carry a Sat phone or a complete tool kit with the knowledge and ability to make your own repairs; oh and let’s not forget all the parts and fluids you might need? I do understand the fear this incident (and others) might bring; but I can’t accept the almost universal “F” them attitude.
Perhaps some of it is keyboard bravado; but I fear much of it is a response to fear when courage should be the proper motivator. As gun owners and carriers we say we own and carry to protect ourselves AND others. Leaving out the others means we are only half living up to ourselves.
Back “in the day” the response would have been “Shame on you”; but today no one seems to understand “Shame”, so I will simply say remember you (or your family) could be the next victim.
As in all things be alert and be cautious but remember your humanity also.
I think what we should take away from this is that there are monsters in this world. In this case it was a woman maybe two or perhaps three, (it’s unclear from the article how involved the second woman was in the actual crime and more so how the child was doing anything but protecting his mother).
Once you accept that monsters exist and are closer than you think; then defending yourself and those you care about becomes even more important.
Every day ask yourself are you more concerned about getting caught with a gun or without one. What’s the greater risk and remember “Concealed means CONCEALED” where ever you go.
As for the details of the incident the young man deserves praise for defending his companion. Again not knowing pertinent details, I wonder why he stopped shooting? Possibly out of ammo or because the suspect may have seemed to be no longer a threat? In either case he paid the cost and still saved his friend.
If this or similar incidents cause you to ignore helping those in need of help, then perhaps YOU should rethink your moral obligations and expectations for your own times in need. Perhaps a better worldview might be to help while remaining alert and cautious. Not all that long ago it was typical for a stranded motorist to fear being attacked by passers by. Is refusing to help really the answer you want to be common place?
Never stop on the road. Never Never. Go by call the police. These days are different when I was raised up many years ago.
WHAT A SHAME! IT’S BAD ENOUGH TO GET ROBBED BY ANYONE, BUT IN THIS CASE, BY TWO BROADS LIVING IN A CAVE? LIKE A BAD MOVIE. SAD, VERY SAD FOR THE GIRLFRIEND. HER GUY WAS TRULY A HERO.
Oh contrair monfrair , stopping power is not a myth, and while I don’t know the % spread, it’s a lot more than 5%. But you are correct in that shot placement is of great importance. A 9 mm will travel through tissue when a .45 with its lower velocity and double the weight of the projectile is considered by many to be a man stopper. The only drawback if you can call it a drawback is the magazine capacity. That’s where the training comes in. Hit your target in the zone and you don’t need 15 rounds.
It would be good to know the caliber and type of gun the young man was using and ascertain if he had any formal combat training from a qualified instructor. Out in the rural open area like that, numerous head and body shots should have been attained. Carrying a gun and knowing how to really use it properly are two different things. The actions of this young man are commendable and he gave it a valiant effort, but was he trained in close combat shooting? Most people are not.
It’s a shame the local “ creek dicks “ let anyone set up
a shanty town on state / federal property .
‘ Guess if they were some teens out sneaking beer ,
or a dog owner walking his pet off of designated
trails , they would have busted their asses .
In California you are not allowed to concealed carry in a state park. National parks and National Forests are fine as far as I know. No weapons at all allowed in State Parks. Don’t worry, the Park Rangers will protect you!
Too much bad TV/movies.
If you don’t think that your life is DIRECTLY in peril when looking into the muzzle of a bad-actor’s gun, you ought maybe not carry one in the first place.
Through fumbling, this could easily have ended up with both dead and a SECOND GUN in the hands of the turds.
Please enlighten us on what an expert such as yourself would have done. Unless you were there its hard to judge the actions of this young man. He obviously felt like his actions were in his and his girlfriends best interest.
No pic of the suspect?
I’d be willing to bet the suspect was NOT a Polish American.
Strange. I don’t see a comment from that wannabe Commy Blue dog she\fag.
It is our duty as men to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Evil abounds so be prepared. My heart goes out to the victims. That young man is a hero.
This is EXACTLY the reason I won’t stop for ANYONE broke down on the side of the road anymore. The reason is this has happened several times in my city recently. In one instance a BLM woman was broke down on the side of the road and when a guy (yep, he was white) stopped to help, two BLM thugs jumped out of the woods and robbed and shot the guy and took his car and left him dead laying in the road. In the past I’ve stopped and helped people change a flat tire. Sadly, I’ll never trust anyone again enough to do that. I will however call the SHP or local police and report someone broke down, especially if they down appear to have a cell phone.
Sad that one can’t render assistance without it being a mortal risk. The story is an illustration on the importance of proper training. The good guy dies when he fails to hit the kill zone. Meanwhile, the perp survived by not only tagging the kill zone but did so after clearing a malfunction. Please include duress and movement into your firearms training so you don’t become a dead hero.
A quick search revealed what I suspected: The perps are feral black trash. Doubtful the shooter possessed a legal firearm.
What a freaking surprise.
Nigros occursum, sequitur tribulatio
I always get suspicious when there are no images of the perpetrator. It took twenty minutes to get emergency response that seems really excessive. If someone did something wrong there needs to be a wrongful death suit for sure. That’s sad, you can’t even help someone these days in case it’s all a ploy to try to rob you.
Cheaha is a rural park spread into spread around several rural counties.
The worthless feral black shot the young white man in the stomach.
Wow how tragic that this young man protected his girlfriend with his life trying to assist a so called person in trouble having an evil plot to trap and rob
Ends times are upon us if you just look at the signs all around us
What is called evil is now good and what is good is called evil
What some people do not understand is that the second amendment is best described as you have the right to protect yourself and your loved ones from foreign and domestic people/government
I pray that peep learn how important our forefathers producers of the second and first amendment is.
With that said ,
Plse tell Jesus Christ you believe HE is the son of God , died for your sins raised from the dead and is alive now for the glory of the FATHER God and to Plse forgive you of your sins bc you are a sinner and need a savior Jesus and only Him is the way , the truth and the life and
To come into your life and live for HIM
In Jesus name you pray
Amen
What a nice post, thank you. Amen indeed.
I dont think Jesus would support a bunch of gun-toting racists…
If you were alive when Jesus was y’all would have called him a feral black man (actually worse, but, you know). He certainly wasn’t a white polish dude…
These are most likely feral democrats, since most democrats are criminals it stands to reason, it’s the hard reality there duno.
Pink is charges should include, child neglect/abuse, endangerment, accessory to armed robbery, and probable armed robbery if they can prove she had the shotgun waiting in the woods for her (primary?) accomplice.
I daily carry. Before anyone decides to carry they need to come to grips with the fact that you need to act almost instinctively and immediately when your life is in danger!!! Talk it over with God and be prepared to take the life of anyone threatening you of your loved one!!!!!
I was hoping this would be stated.
when you arm pick a adequate caliber with hollowpoints iof proven stopping ability.
then when the time you pray never comes you need to act with hyper violence until the enemy is harmless on the ground. he probably had a 9 with fmj and he tried to be nice with bullet placement. at least his gf survived.
‘stopping power is a myth’ not much difference between say 9mm & 45 acp. about 5%. Shot placement is KING, thru practice & training. No free lunch as they say!
lol @ “talking it over with god” like he gives a shit about your robbery situation. but yes, you must be prepared to shoot and it seems this young man was prepared to shoot and did so.
Jeremy, He cares about everything for you. Give it a try. Nothing to lose.
…..and everything to gain.
…amen!