28 Apr 04

Police Shooting:

"The incident began with a report of a disabled vehicle on the bypass early in the morning last week. Complainants said they stopped to help the driver , but he refused to roll down his window and told them to 'get lost.' They did and called police.

When our first two officers arrived, they attempted to make contact with the driver. They were unsuccessful, and eventually broke out the passenger side window. The driver sprayed the nearest officer with OC. The officer was immediately incapacitated. The suspect then got out of his car with the can of OC in one hand and a knife in the other and aggressively confronted the second officer, who had j ust been joined by his sergeant. The suspect then fled across the highway. His progress was stopped by a chain fence. Here the standoff began.

A hostage negotiator arrived, along with a deputy armed with a 'bean bag' shotgun. After two hours of pointless negotiation, we decided we had to do something else. We threw a flash-bang at the suspect's feet. It had no eff ect. We then shot him in the thigh four times with bean bags. His response was to charge our officers, knife still in his hand.

Two of our guys began firing (S&W Sigmas, 40S&W). Our guys all know the ' 21-foot rule.' The suspect received a total of four bullet wounds, one to h is right thigh, one center abdomen, one to his right pinkie finger, and one on the chin. The thigh shot went through and through. No bone or artery hit. The abdominal hit did not pass through any major organs, just intestines. No ex it. The chin shot was the final one. It put the suspect down. The bullet entered on the point of the chin and traveled around the contour of the lowe r mandible, exiting on the side of his face. The suspect laid motionless for several minutes. Just after fire department folks examined him and pronounced him ' dead,' he sat up! He had merely been knocked out. He was then arrested wit hout further incident. He is now in 'serious by stable condition' at our local hospital. Our guys are all okay"

Lesson: Pistols are not reliable fight stoppers. Even what we describe as "solid hits" are often ineffective. We must be fully prepared to shoot with surgical accuracy more times than we think could possibly be necessary if we expect to live through a fight. And, most importantly, we must never relax too soon!

/John

28 Apr 04

From a colleague in SA:

The era of the CZ75 has come and gone. Decocking is awkward and dubious. Bad ammunition (East European, South American) causes no end of difficulties. Mini 14s don't hold up Pump shotguns are more reliable than autoloaders. Optics are more a hindrance than a help. The fancier they are, the less reliable they become Batteries go dead at the worst times!

Kydex holsters and strong, stiff belts work best Surefire torches (flashlights) work. Glocks work Galils, AKs, Rs, and other Kalashnikov clones almost never stop working.

Comment: Voice of experience!

/John