Featured in the POSA Journal of Tactics and Training (1st Quarter 2005)
by Allan J. Garcia, Middletown,RI PD
In a single incident last week, five officers suffered gunshot wounds in a Midwest city. One officer died at the scene. The other four are expected to recover completely. The single suspect was DRT.
The mentally ill suspect spontaneously shot his mother (with whom he was living) to death one afternoon and left her body in the living room where it fell. He used an SKS (7.62X39 Soviet), modified to accept Kalashnikov magazines. His brother, not hearing from his mother for several days, came over to check on her. The suspect told his brother as he arrived that he had shot their mother and that he was going to shoot him too. The brother immediately fled to his car and drove away, calling police as soon as he could.
As police were responding, the suspect went on a shooting rampage through his neighborhood, shooting at cars and houses. He used the SKS but also carried a revolver in his belt. The dispatch center was so flooded with calls, supervisors surmised there might be a gang war in progress or even an organized terrorist attack.
One responding officer was shot through a car door he was using as cover. The bullet struck his collarbone and was deflected downward. It perforated his heart and ultimately lodged in his abdomen. He died almost immediately. Over the next few minutes, three other officers suffered peripheral wounds. No nonparticipants were injured.
The suspect displayed an ability to use movement and cover to his advantage,and showed no interest in running away. He was clearly there to fight! His marksmanship was poor, and most of his shooting was just spraying. Responding patrol officers were armed only with G22s and shotguns with buckshot.
However, a SWAT officer, coming to work, happened to hear the call and showed upwith his AR-15. He aggressively closed with the suspect and exchanged a number of shots with him.
The suspect and the SWAT officer ran dry simultaneously! The suspect struggled unsuccessfully to exchange magazines on his SKS. The officer elected to charge. He closed with the suspect and buttstroked him with his AR. The suspect dropped his SKS but then went for his revolver. The officer immediately drew his G22 and, at range of ten feet, shot him once through the temple.
The 165gr Federal bullet did not exit. Suspect was DRT. The SWAT officer sustained a single bullet wound to his leg.
Lessons: The best people, using the best equipment, with the best training should always be our goal. But, there are no guarantees in this life! When lots of bullets are flying around, people are going to get hit. Good training and equipment stacks the odds in our favor, but does not assure a happy result. However, poor training and equipment virtually promises an unhappy result.
We in American law enforcement are too oriented toward taking people into custody rather than doing what is necessary to stop them immediately. In this day and age, we must remind ourselves that people posing a direct, credible, lethal threat need to be shot without hesitation. A lethal threat is a lethal threat.
We need to get rifles into patrol cars, all patrol cars, even in town! We need something with more magazine capacity and more range than shotguns. Our guys need this capability without delay. It can’t happen too soon.