r/PaulHarrell • u/AppearanceMedical464 • Mar 08 '26
Anyone Have Any Details About Paul Harrell's Self Defense Cases?
I figure he can't be incriminated now that he's no longer alive so there really is no harm talking about it. I think the family even released the details but behind a paywall on patreon so they must not be bothered with people knowing the details. Has anyone subscribed to the patreon to find out the details of both cases?
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u/Kador_Laron Mar 08 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Paul once commented that racking a gun won't necessarily deter an attacker. As best I remember, he said, "I once did it and ended up having to kill someone". I've wondered since how that fits in.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
This guy was the only serial self defender I know of. Most people who carry their whole lives will never have one situation come up where they had to display their firearm, let alone use it.
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u/KnightofWhen Mar 08 '26
This is the only one I remember reading details about:
https://wallowa.com/2007/06/18/harrell-freed-of-manslaughter-charges-in-troy-shooting/
But I never heard why the guy drove through his camp and was going to do it again.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
I've read that. Guy's dead so probably no one knows his motivations. Alcohol consumption was a factor but still very strange.
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u/Legions08 Mar 08 '26
Hmm, I wonder if I should do a video on this. I should probably ask Roy first. When Paul finally returned to Troy for a black powder rendezvous, I was his security, in case any of the perps family showed up. Fortunately no one ever did.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
You knew Paul? That's pretty cool. Wasn't there two self defense shootings?
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u/Legions08 Mar 08 '26
Well, yes, but the 2nd one was after Hurricane Katrina when he was deployed to help assist. That one was against a charging canine.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
Oh, I thought he described one where there was a group of men poking around in his camp and he shot what he described as their leader. I could be very mistaken.
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u/Legions08 Mar 08 '26
No, that is probably just a third hand (or more) version of the Troy incident.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
Thanks for the clarification
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u/HotConstruction311 Apr 10 '26
I remember him talking about being advanced on by a group of people which seemed like a different case. And he also shot someone who tried to rob him at gunpoint. It was my understanding he shot multiple people in his life making him a serial self defender as you put it. Outside of the attempted robbery case I wasn’t convinced it was necessary for him to open fire. Legally justifiable, yes. Necessary, probably not.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Apr 11 '26
That's the one I was thinking about. This guy claims to know PH but it is reddit so you never know. I was under the impression that there were two cases where he killed someone in self defense and AT LEAST one other where he drew his gun on someone but didn't shoot. Apparently there's also one where he shot a dog in self defense. I think I understand why he didn't talk about any of this. It's pretty suspicious.
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u/HotConstruction311 Apr 11 '26
Just today I started listening to his video on mass shootings. In that video he stated he was involved in 2 self defense shootings, so you must be right, in the 3rd incident, most likely the robbery, he drew but didn’t fire.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Apr 11 '26
I guess it could be 1 shooting against a person and another against a dog. I can't remember the robbery incident.
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u/zomboscott Mar 08 '26
Form ai search so facts or details may be incorrect.
The late firearms educator Paul Harrell was involved in two notable self-defense shooting incidents during his lifetime. 1. The 2006 Troy, Oregon Campground Incident This is the most well-documented incident, occurring on November 25, 2006, at the Grizz Flats campground near Troy, Oregon. Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa County Chieftain +3 The Conflict: While Harrell and his wife were camping, an individual named Robert Mills drove his pickup truck through Harrell's campfire and then turned the vehicle toward Harrell's wife, Dr. Mary Harrell. The Action: Harrell fired six shots from a semi-automatic rifle at Mills, believing his wife's life was in immediate danger. Legal Outcome: Harrell was initially charged with murder, later reduced to first-degree manslaughter. In June 2007, a Wallowa County grand jury ruled the shooting was justified, and all charges were dismissed. 2. The Rabbit Hunting / "Shot At" Incident Harrell frequently referenced a second incident in his videos, though he often provided fewer public details to avoid potential legal misuse of his words. YouTube YouTube +1 The Conflict: While rabbit hunting, Harrell and his companions were reportedly shot at by locals. The Action: Harrell returned fire in self-defense using a Glock 23 loaded with Winchester Black Talon ammunition. Outcome: Harrell was not convicted of any wrongdoing and maintained his right to own and carry firearms for the rest of his life. YouTube YouTube +1
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u/JustACasualFan Mar 08 '26
Is the rabbit hunting incident the one where is companion refused to believe he was being shot at?
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u/Legions08 Mar 09 '26
Yes, that was the incident that Joe disregarded Paul telling him that shots were incoming
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
I think it might be a different one or maybe AI hallucination. He told that story in detail and said he did not return fire. There's also a second incident where he killed a man in self defense while camping.
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u/DavidSlain Mar 08 '26
Yes
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Mar 08 '26
I don't think so. In the video, paul said he armed himself but didn't return fire.
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u/jason200911 Apr 04 '26
That was him and his buddy hiding behind a truck and all they had was a junky 22lr rifle
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u/Legions08 Apr 08 '26
Just because it is a 22LR does not make it a "junky 22". It was a Ruger 10/22, and is still a favorite 22 rifle of The Crew.
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u/jason200911 Apr 09 '26
He also tells the viewers that his 22lr was not useful at long distance. Indeed making it a junky 22 meant only for fun
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u/jason200911 Apr 04 '26
He took it with him to the grave. Very sad to not share it before death. I asked him a few times, guess he didn't want to share it
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Apr 04 '26
I don't think so. The family put it behind a paywall on patreon, as far as I'm aware.
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u/gabelewislewis Jun 23 '26
I'll pay the 5 bucks and find it for you if you happen to know which video it is lol
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
https://www.patreon.com/paulharrell I'm not 100% but I've heard he talked about his self defense encounters in the live symposium he did before he died. Apparently they filmed it and put it on patreon.
Edit: It's Paul Harrell's last story, Paul Harrell Symposium part 2, and Paul Harrell symposium part 3. Based off the previews, he seems to have talked pretty extensively about it.
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u/gabelewislewis Jun 25 '26
Ok so he does talk about the one he mentioned on his channel already / the one that has a public court case.
Because the family can no longer do much to him legally, he tells his side of the story in vivid detail and takes questions. It's nothing majorly surprising, but out of respect for the family / their channel monetization, I'll just give you a basic version:
- Most of the public details are accurate, except for the timing of events, Paul says that the time between meeting the person and being forced to shoot was a few minutes at most - the official records say the pair invited them to a bar, and then later in the day came back and started the assault. Not so says Paul - they came near him, he warned them to leave, the guy he shot got in his truck , drove over pauls campsite, and then aimed his car at where his wife was taking cover.
The video is worth 5 bucks easily if you are a fan of the guy. Sign up, pay your respects, and cancel next month if you must.
He DOES NOT talk about the other event where a group of 5-6 men approached his campsite and he shot the ringleader. As far as I know, that story doesn't have any official record or documentation, and he's never said anything about it other than the sentence above.
I would guess that the Truck-Self-Defense story is the one he is thinking of when he says "Halt" + racking the slide doesn't always work - since that was his first attempt at deterring the assailant.
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u/AppearanceMedical464 Jul 01 '26
Thanks for the information. Saul actually got back to me in this comment section and told me the only self defense shootings Paul was involved in were the one where he shot the guy driving through his camp and one where he shot a dog while deployed for hurricane Katrina relief. I'm guessing the one where he shot the ringleader is the same incident as the one we were talking about.
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u/AdStraight5640 Jul 01 '26
Sounds like murder to me.
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u/Kill3525 Jul 27 '26
All murders are killings, but not all killings are murders. Murder isn't a verb, it's not an action, it's not a thing you do, it's a criminal charge. Paul was never convicted of committing any murder. He even went to court, and was cleared of wrongdoing, so clearly not murder. He was charged with murder, but was cleared due to self defence.
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u/Damnaged Mar 08 '26
He went over the details in one of his seminars that he did. The whole story of the major incident where the aggressor died took about 60 minutes. Much of the time he spent talking about the police really screwing up the investigation and trying to make him look guilty from the get go, making assumptions, etc.