2 Aug 02

Fatal shooting last week by one of our LEO students in TX. This is a patrol officer who attended our Advanced Defensive Handgun Course earlier this year. He came to us as a competent shooter. I trust what he learned from us was helpful in this incident:

"I was coming to the end of my day shift. Our department runs all one-man, beat cars. I fell in behind a speeder, got a radar fix, and attempted to pull him over in traffic. It was late afternoon but still light. I became suspicions and concerned when the driver was slow to respond and started moving things around in the front seat with his right hand and arm. Eventually, he pulled over and stopped.

The moment the vehicle stopped, the driver (an extremely large, Hispanic male) hopped out and started walking back toward me. I ordered him to get back in his car, but he continued to walk as he put his hand in his right pocket, all the time saying, "License, license!" in Spanish.

I got him to stop, put his hands out front, and turn around. As I approached and frisked him, I detected a pistol in his right, front pocket. The moment I touched the pistol, he started to turn toward me. I jumped back and moved laterally while drawing my own pistol. I ended up with my vehicle between him and me.

The suspect was confused by my moment and started looking around, apparently trying to figure out where I had gone. By this time he had produced a small, chrome pistol from his pocket (the same one I had felt) and was holding it in front of him. I started firing (SIG P229 40S&W, w/155gr Speer Gold Dot). The suspect stumbled backward and struck a utility pole. I knew I had hit him. He then slumped down into a sitting position. He was transported to a local hospital, but died on the way. He was pronounced DOA.

As it turns out, I fired three shots at a range of fifteen feet. The fist impacted just to the right of the navel. The second five inches higher. The third struck high on the left chest. Yes, I ‘zippered' him, just as I had been taught. None of my bullets exited. No one else was hurt.

Our ‘friends' in the local news media were quick to point out that ‘ Witnesses saw no weapon on the suspect.' The suspect was a local, six-time loser with no driver's license, and, yes, we did recover his pistol at the scene.

Training kicked in. I moved, shot, and then moved again. It definitely confused the suspect. I got on his body midline and just started working my way up. I never once doubted that all my shots were hitting him."

I asked this student if he could recall seeing his front sight. Without hesitation, he replied, "It was there!"

Good show!

/John