{"id":2271,"date":"2014-09-26T17:38:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T17:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fightfast.com\/blog\/?p=2271"},"modified":"2021-03-31T15:13:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:13:27","slug":"real-life-gun-fight-practice-training-count","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/26\/real-life-gun-fight-practice-training-count\/","title":{"rendered":"True Story: A Real Life Gun Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Practice And Training Count<\/h4>\nWhile studying the art of law enforcement at the academy, Officer Chris Beck achieved the status \u2018Top Gun\u2019 \u2014 or, simply stated, marksman. Believing that a police officer can never have enough training in the use of handguns, Beck continued to practice in his off time.\n\nSpending any free hours at either a shooting range or a distant site in the desert, he taught himself to shoot accurately right-handed, left-handed, or with both hands from any position \u2013 stationary or moving \u2013 pushing himself until his skill was honed to perfection.\n\nOften, a police officer is the only protective barrier between civilians and imminent danger. Training and mindset are the only things standing between a police officer and potential death during a gun fight as Beck\u2019s story shows\u2026\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

This Is A True Story<\/h4>\nAt the time I had been an active duty police officer for about four years in the city of Compton, CA. This particular day l was making my mid-morning rounds, enjoying a coffee break with a friend when the call came in: man with a gun was as much detail as the dispatcher could offer.\n\nThere\u2019s no such thing as \u201croutine\u201d in a police officer\u2019s life\u2014but, being human, we can slip into a rut. In an area like Compton, particularly the ghetto areas of the district, nine out of ten domestic disturbance calls come in described as \u201cgun involved.\u201d That\u2019s because you have a lot of good people out here that are sick of seeing the drug and gang element hanging out on the corners and sidewalks\u2014 or in front of their house.\n\nThey figure if you call 911, tell the dispatcher that a gun is in play, they\u2019ll get a faster response. Obviously, they are correct. A non-weapon, non-confrontational situation is regarded as a low priority call.\n\nThis is not to say that we don\u2019t treat it responsibly but, unfortunately there are only so many officers on duty at any given time\u2014so things have to be prioritized. I\u2019ve answered dozens of calls like this, and either the suspect with the weapon has bolted before my arrival, or, in most cases, there never was one to begin with. Ironically.\n
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I Wasn't Expecting A Violent Altercation<\/h4>\nI remember telling my friend, \u201cSit tight, I\u2019ll be back shortly.\u201d Maybe, just like anyone else, you watch so many cop movies where the criminal activity takes place at night, that you don\u2019t expect violent confrontations during daylight hours.\n\nA big crowd is usually a clue that shots have been fired, but arriving at the residence, I saw only a few people milling around on the street. I was still under the impression that this could be just another bogus call.\n\nI noticed that the door was standing open. Since I was patrolling alone, I called for a back-up unit and got an update from the dispatcher. Apparently, in the interim, the shots had been confirmed. Witnesses were specific: it was a shotgun.\n\nI drew my weapon, a .45 Glock, and approached the door. I announced my presence and was greeted with silence. An eerie silence, the kind you can almost hear. I knew something was wrong. Nothing else smells like gunpowder, so there was no mistaking the sharp, acrid scent that greeted me as I entered the house.\n\nTiny holes from shotgun blasts peppered the walls and spent cartridges littered the floor. Declaring my presence again, I backed out of the house.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

My Backup Arrived<\/h4>\nMy back-up arrived within minutes, and he know from my stance and the fact that my weapon was in hand that this was the real thing, I told him what I knew. We agreed to call for more units and surround the dwelling.\n\nNow, with two police cars on scene, and with recent gunshots, you increase the number of curious onlookers around the scene. This always presents a problem.\n\nWith the house facing north, and no one inside, we took opposite sides and moved around to the backyard where I almost bumped into the suspect. It\u2019s important to be able to read a person\u2019s body language and positioning and demeanor in this type of encounter. If right off the bat you can tell that your suspect is not intent on causing harm to himself or others, it can go a long way toward determining your style of negotiation.\n
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The Suspect<\/h4>\nThis individual \u2013 male, 50s \u2013 was sitting upright, casually, on a garden bench \u2013 the kind you can buy at Home Depot \u2013 with this immense double-barrel shotgun straddling his lap.\n\nFrom the blank expression on his face, he could\u2019ve been daydreaming about a failed romance. That, right there, is an immediate sign of danger: this guy is either \u201con\u201d something or he\u2019s just leaned so far over the edge that he\u2019s fallen off. Talking to such a person is not unlike talking to a brick wall, but you absolutely have to continue verbal negotiations as long as possible.\n\nIn the firmest possible tone we demanded he release his hold on the weapon, place it on the ground and step away. No response. Meanwhile, of course, we positioned ourselves to maximize our cover. A side-by-side shotgun is a nasty invention, especially when you don\u2019t know what he\u2019s got loaded in it.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

The Confrontation Escalated<\/h4>\nWe repeat our demand. The suspect then stood up and bolted for the west side of the house, disappearing around the corner. As if things weren\u2019t bad enough, the suspect was not heading for the large group of civilians around front, making the situation considerably worse. Anything was possible now. He might open fire on them at random or take a hostage \u2013 neither scenario was appealing or acceptable.\n\nAnd now, of course, the danger to us was increased. In order to follow him around the house and target him correctly \u2013 and safely \u2013 we had to expose ourselves to the full bore of the weapon. We could\u2019ve remained adequately covered and still had him in the crosshairs, so to speak, but if any one of our shots missed him \u2013 if it came down to that \u2013 the bullets would have continued past him and into the crowd out front.\n\nWhen we caught up with him, the suspect was actually squatting and leaning back against an aluminum door that led to a playroom in the residence. The shotgun was cradled in his lap pointing away from us. For the moment, he seemed calm and passive. There was a mere twenty feet between us.\n
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All Hell Broke Loose<\/h4>\nI remember distinctly asking him again for the weapon, at which point he finally spoke. Since these were only words he ever uttered, l remember them clear as a bell: F\u2014k you! You\u2019ll have to kill me and take it out of my hands.\u201d And in one fluid motion he uncoiled, whipped around like a snake stood to his full height, brought the shotgun to bear on us and opened fire!\n\nThe concussion felt like the wind from a door being slammed in my face. At the time, I thought he only fired one barrel; later I would learn he pulled both triggers, unleashing the full force of the weapon. I felt the pellets ripping into my face and my legs, but oddly there was no pain. My partner went down screaming, \u201cI\u2019m hit!\u201d And I could see that the guy still had that thing trained\n\nLike throwing a switch, I went into automatic mode; my training took over. When this happens, I literally ignore the target\u2014it becomes a blur\u2014and my point of focus becomes the sight at the end of the gun\u2019s barrel. In the blink of an eye, I fired off nine Hydra-Shok\u00ae rounds\u2014very proven, very reliable ammunition.\n\nYet target was still standing! I\u2019m thinking maybe my sights are off and I missed. So, refocusing on the suspect, I could see that all nine shots were good, all had made contact with center mass \u2014 his chest area\u2014and he was still standing! So, I reacquire and fire three more times in rapid succession.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

The Suspect Finally Slumped To The Ground<\/h4>\nMoving in. I saw no movement. With my gun still trained on him, I kicked the shotgun aside, out of his reach, handcuffed him and checked for other weapons. Then I checked for vital signs and discovered of course that he was dead.\n\nMoving back towards my partner. I examined his wounds. None appeared to be in vital areas, thankfully, and I informed him that an ambulance was en route to take him to a hospital. My partner started laughing, asking if I\u2019d bothered to call one for myself. It was then that l remembered that l had also gotten hit.\n\nChecking myself over, I found that the little BB sized pellets from the No. 2 buckshot had penetrated my legs and face\u2014including one that had penetrated my cheek and entered my mouth where it rolled around like an oversized piece of pepper until I spit it out. Luckily my vest had taken the brunt of the round.\n
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The Conclusion<\/h4>\nIt was days later, after plastic surgery for my face and an entire day in an ER having pellets removed from my legs one at a time, with a pair of tweezers, that I learned the story behind the incident. The suspect apparently was a Postal worker, blown out of his mind on a mixture of cocaine and PCP, angered at his son, who decided that a shotgun was his best route of diplomacy. I thought my<\/em> job was tough.\n\nOverall, it goes to show you that nothing can beat training. You have to do it over and over and over until it becomes second nature\u2014an instinct that comes to the surface automatically without conscious decision. Otherwise, you will hesitate or second guess your judgment\u2014and that can cost you your life.\n

\n Click here to learn how to get the upper-hand against armed opponents!<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Practice And Training Count While studying the art of law enforcement at the academy, Officer Chris Beck achieved the status \u2018Top Gun\u2019 \u2014 or, simply stated, marksman. Believing that a police officer can never have enough training in the use of handguns, Beck continued to practice in his off time. Spending any free hours Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,19],"tags":[39,108,128,199,246,261],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12787,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions\/12787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}