Assaulted near home, now my neighboorhood can be triggering. Advice please?

[TerryClause]

Just to clarify, Terry is not my real name, in case any concerns.

Basically this event happened a couple of years ago, but it was so close to home that I became a very paranoid and anxious person. I live on a busy street, but it's a nice area overall. There is a plaza on the busy part of the street, and a group of teens tried robbing me one night, and I defended myself. Unfortunately, this seemed to piss them off, because months later they saw me again in the plaza and violently assaulted me in broad daylight, in front of many people.

Because it was so close to home, I was always anxious about running in to them again, while on the bus, waiting at the bus stop, getting groceries etc. I'm not sure how to move past this incident and tell myself that a third incident won't happen.

ONE REALLY IMPORTANT factor of all this is that I've been afraid to get legal intervention, because I do not want to escalate things further and potentially cause danger to my family, and not just myself.

Because I don't feel comfortable going to the police, I feel a little helpless. I'm not sure what I could do to prevent a third incident. Can anyone please give me some advice on hot to not feel so FEARFUL? I've honestly avoided certain parts of the area, and it's becoming too draining.

Please do not suggest moving away - I am trying to avoid living in fear and acting on emotion.

Thank you



If anyone has some logical, realistic advice they can give me, maybe

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

if u make police report then u have that on file in case things escalate. that way if you defend yourself and one teen gets hurt you can show the history which works in your favor for claiming self defense.

make report, buy mace and stun gun. personal alarm

 

[TerryClause]

if u make police report then u have that on file in case things escalate. that way if you defend yourself and one teen gets hurt you can show the history which works in your favor for claiming self defense.

make report, buy mace and stun gun. personal alarm

Luckily I did report it at the time, I just never followed up the police due to the anxiety.

I was always aiming to AVOID a third altercation, but I've always been concerned that these people wouldn't want to move on. Is it reasonable to think that they wouldn't bother with a third incident, because of the high risk of them getting arrested? I just want to move on, and not to worry about a third traumatic event. Thanks

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

in the old days they wore armor and carried large sword

u better outsmart them. since they are dumb teens

 

[TerryClause]

in the old days they wore armor and carried large sword

u better outsmart them. since they are dumb teens

I'd say that I've already outsmarted them by reporting their crimes - I think the risk of going to jail would be pretty frightening and would make you rethink your actions...but I'm more focused on the present, and what I can do to not be so concerned about running into them.

Sure, I can call the police if I see them, but I wonder if that would even solve things, because, like you said, these are dumb people and I worry this would make them even angrier. I may just be overthinking all of it, but it's hard to think rationally when there are all these unknowns.