Civilian Protects Two Wounded Cops

[Blaine]

https://www.q13fox.com/news/i-drop-an-e ... o-deputies

Since this is Washington, I hope there are no charges against this Hero.

[Grizz]

he did a mag dump and missed everyone downstream? that's scary. glad he is getting good press though. imagine if he had nicked the shotgunner?

[Blaine]

he did a mag dump and missed everyone downstream? that's scary. glad he is getting good press though. imagine if he had nicked the shotgunner?

Whatcom county. Had this been in King county, his legal problems might have been very different. And, they might still be.

[Bronco]

It's hard to imagine just how accurate you will be in an actual gun fight! Practice, practice helps enormously but you just never know until you are in the dog fight.

[Bill in Oregon]

Interesting set of events. I am required to take online training on law enforcement matters as part of my job at our county shooting range. One module I just had was on the relationship between the LEO and the armed citizen. The LEO must first determine that you are armed, then determine whether you are lawfully armed, and then determine whether you still represent a risk as your level of training and your intentions are unknown. Considering all this, LEO trainers say that lawfully armed citizens should be prepared to defer to the LEO's wishes when being contacted. They specifically warn the armed citizen not to think of himself as a "buddy" of the LEO, or even an asset to an LEO. An armed citizen, especially one present during an emergency, is a wildcard, an unknown variable and in many cases a hindrance to trained officers.
Just saying this is the background I was taught, and it actually makes sense.
Of course, this does not apply in the Whatcom case. But it opened my eyes.

[jeepnik]

There have been many cases where armed and unarmed citizens have come to the aid of police. Many years ago near the little town of Newhall one such person stepped up. Do they even still teach about this incident to new cops? He was lauded as the hero he was.

Today cops look at every citizen as the enemy. Perhaps that’s what the are now taught.

[piller]

Your first time getting shot at will probably not go like a video game. Just remember that practice builds muscle memory, and muscle memory can help on any job when the brain is overwhelmed. It probably is a good idea to join a Police Reserve unit. The training on legal matters should be a help. Here in Texas we have had some instances of civilians helping within the last few years.

[marlinman93]

What many people forget is that for most cops any shooting they're involved in is likely their first time too! It's not like Dirty Harry where they're in a shootout every day of duty. The vast majority go their entire careers without being involved in a shootout, and those that are once will likely never be again.
So the civilian is probably no less experienced in a true shootout than the cop. And the civilian often shoots more in their spare time than the cop. Most officers don't shoot anymore than they're required to in order to stay qualified. A lot of us love shooting, and do far more of it than the average cop does.
We may not have the formal training in some situations, but I bet most avid gun owners will likely hold their own better than a lot of cops have shown to in past shootings. I've read of many cops with high capacity Glocks emptying a magazine and missing the criminal at less than 20 ft. We had a shooting here back in the 80's, and I watched two cops empty their guns, firing 22 rds. at a woman with an "Uzi" at 10 ft. away, and hit her three times. It later turned out to be a suicide by cop situation as the Uzi was a toy gun. They blew the windows out of the entry area of our building, and put innocent citizens inside in jeopardy, but fortunately nobody inside the mall businesses was hit.

[Lastmohecken]

I think odds of finding yourself in a position to need to help a police officer would be rare but does happen more often than one might think. I would not hesitate, to help an officer in need but at the same time, I would want to be very careful about what I did and how I did it, because the risks of being mistaken for a bad guy, could be very high and get even more risky as additional officers arrived on the scene. There has been plenty of civilian hero's and also plain clothed police officers that have been shot by police, on occasion.