So I found this video and it really got me worked up.
The full video can be found here
I’m really not going to Monday-Morning QB this specific video. The man’s a cop, I’m not. He heard there was a nut with a gun and he went TO that location rather than myself who would get as far from that location as possible.
Also I’m very glad to hear that the worst of his injuries is he is now light an eye, and has some scarring. I wonder what the guy was using for a shot load, I would suspect birdshot as buckshot has a LOT more penetration, and a solid hit to the eye (it could have been a ricochet against the car) likely wouldn’t have stopped in a non-vital spot.
Still watch the unedited video, and see how many times the shotgun is pointed at the officers. We all know how long it takes to squeeze a trigger. Now watch this video…mostly because its funny:
Now after the luscious ball-breaking, check how fast Caleb is going from concealed to firing. The same could go for long-guns say going from African Carry to a shooting position. I’m sure most of us have practiced drills like this with our various defensive arms so that we can go from our carry positions. Now go from holster or sling carry to low ready and look at your times. Feels almost like cheating doesn’t it?
So now back to the Story at hand, the officer is VERY lucky to be alive. He got shot by a shotgun that had been pointed at him multiple times. Furthermore he was called to this location as a known disturbance.
From us non Law Enforcement-types we just need to remember that once your opponent is at low-ready type position, you do not even have seconds after he decides to act against you.
I applaud the officer’s restraint, in that he couldn’t see what was beyond his target. That said, it does appear that he forgot to take adequate cover. In a situation like that, if you’ve decided not to go on the offensive, you REALLY need to take DEfensive action. There’s no neutral ground; he’s lucky to be alive.
I wonder if he had a rifle or a pistol, that’s not a shot I’d want to take with a pistol at that range.
Really this kind of incident is why I’m ok with the idea of a patrol rifle, I know some people see it as an indication of the militarization of the police, but I think sometimes it’s just the right tool for the job.
Pistols suck. The ONLY things pistols are good at is you can lug them around all day long with little more burden than not having a gun. Even if it was culturally and legally permissible to lug long arms around without the reactions they currently would get, I still wouldn’t bother, because I’m not going to war, or to a riot, or into the wastelands ruled by The Lord Humongous. I’m going to the store, or to the movies, or to work, and even the lightest carbine is vastly more cumbersome than even an all-steel 1911 or CZ-75.
That being said this guy WAS going to a hot call, he was not surprised, he was not ambushed, so if I was in that situation I’d #1 have a rifle close at hand as a rifle in a patrol car is NOT a burden at all, and #2 I’d go for that rifle because it will do everything a pistol can do but better once deployed.
Given where he was hit, I doubt adequate cover would have been relevant – he still had to be able to see his opponent, which means exposing his face. The shooter took a deliberate, aimed head shot, and even used the car he was behind as a benchrest. The only way to protect against that without losing sight of him is to shoot first.
What struck me the most was how widely the other officers missed once they started to return fire. You can see more than one shot hit the overhang above him, which looks to be about 5 feet or so above his head. I know it’s difficult to hit a stationary target at that range with a pistol, much less one that’s both moving and can shoot back, but the fact that they’re missing by that much is still disturbing.
As for a rifle, many departments that issue them keep them in the trunk, not in the front. The whole thing didn’t take very long at all. If he had one he may not have had time to get it, or may not have been able to get to it safely in that situation.
In efforts to be respectful I will not point to stereotypes of Police Marksmanship.