Three Men Took His Car at Gunpoint Before Sunrise in Fall River
A Fall River man was approached by three strangers before 5 a.m. in July 2024. One showed a gun, and they drove off in his car. He was not hurt.
Scene imagery is illustrative — not the actual locationJust after 4:45 a.m. on a Thursday in July 2024, a man on Meadow Street in Fall River was approached by three people he did not know, according to Fall River police.
One of the three brandished a firearm, a detective sergeant told the Fall River Reporter, and the group drove off in the man's car, a white 2007 Nissan Altima. The victim was not injured.
Police opened an investigation into the carjacking. For the man on Meadow Street, the entire encounter, from being approached to watching his own car disappear down the block, lasted barely a minute in the pre-dawn dark.
Seconds versus minutes.
Nobody moves toward danger faster than police. The clock is still the clock.
Until they arrive, you are the plan: distance, locked doors, a phone in hand, training. A Massachusetts license takes months — start before you need it.
Sources: NENA 911 call-processing standard (STA-020.1-2020) · FBI, Active Shooter Incidents 2000–2013 · City of Boston, Boston About Results — BPD Performance Report. Boston's figure is its last published Priority 1 median, call receipt to arrival. Incident timing is from the FBI's study of timed violent incidents. Respect for the officers who answer these calls, always — this is arithmetic, not blame.
This could have been any of us.
Before 5 a.m. is when nurses, cooks, tradespeople, and commuters catching early shifts are out at their cars, usually still half asleep, keys in hand, mind on the day ahead. That routine, same car, same spot, same time, is exactly what makes those minutes vulnerable. This was not a luxury vehicle or a flashy target. It was a 17-year-old sedan and a guy starting his day.
The reality most of us never see coming.
Sources: Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Mass.gov / EOPSS crime data release
What we tell our students.
He did the right thing by handing over the keys. We say it in every class: no vehicle is worth a life, and a firearm, for those who lawfully carry one, is never about protecting property. What training adds to a moment like this is what happens before it, noticing three figures approaching in the dark while there is still time to create distance, get back inside, or drive away.
Nobody can promise that any tool or any amount of training changes a given outcome, and we never will. What we can say is that trained people have more options and make calmer decisions. That is what our courses are really about, and it is what the Commonwealth expects from anyone it licenses.
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