13 July 01

>From an LEO friend and trainer on the East Coast:

"One of our patrol officers was involved in a fatal shooting last week, his fourth during his fifteen-year career. He did great!

After making a vehicle stop, the driver of the vehicle hangs a Kel-Tec 9mm pistol out the window and fires twice at our officer. Both rounds hit the patrol vehicle, but our officer is not injured. The offending vehicle then sped away, and a high-speed chase ensues.

The offending vehicle crashes a short time later. More police vehicles have been summoned, but none have arrived yet. Our officer exits his vehicle, goes around to the rear, and comes back up on the passenger side moving for cover of a nearby brick wall.

The bad guy, still inside his vehicle with his pistol still in his hand, leans out the passenger window and points his gun at the (now unoccupied) patrol vehicle. Our officer fires several shots at the bad guy. He reports that his night sights were a big help.

The bad guy was hit but still animated. Another officer (rookie) arrives and runs right up to the bad guy's car, shouting at him to surrender. The bad guy (apparently not impressed) points his gun at the rookie, and the rookie freezes in fear. Our officer then fires two more shots, striking the bad guy in the head and neck. The bad guy slumps, drops his gun, and was dead at the scene.

Neither officer was hurt. Our guy fired ten shots and hit the bad guy with eight! That's an eighty percent hit ratio. The range was eight to ten meters, and the target was difficult, as the bad guy skillfully used his vehicle for cover."

Lesson: There is no substitute for good tactics and surgical accuracy. The bad guy was simply out fought by this officer. Good show!

/John