Phoenix PD Shooting 9JAN2021

Brian Nelson 58m · Shared with Public https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/police/1719

I'm often critical of LE marksmanship ability, because most cops shoot rather poorly if you measure skill objectively. This gentleman, however, did right when it mattered. Faced with a very high-stakes shot (suspect with gun holding a baby) the officer immediately took a good supported position with a patrol rifle, applied some magnification to his variable-powered optic, and made an immediately incapacitating headshot. Also big props to the officer (looks like the driver of Domer Pyle's vehicle) who said "No! F**k it, get the kid!" when told to hold up. THAT'S the kind of thing that makes me feel good about cops.

Some takeaways from a gun dude:

I'm willing to bet that this officer sought out training beyond what his department offered, Most police agencies *might* have officers shoot to 50 yards on a full-size humanoid target with a patrol rifle and don't teach any supported-position shooting.

How do you feel about making a 30yd headshot, miss-and-you-hit-a-baby, within 10 second of rolling up to a scene? Do you want to take that shot with a red dot, or would you rather throw some magnification on that thing? Is your rifle zeroed well enough to make that shot? Oh, and that's assuming you HAVE a rifle available. If all you've got is a pistol (like the first dude that rolled up), what's the likelihood of you making that shot with a Glock? Angry d-bags with hostages don't really care what you have in the car, after all.

And now the controversial piece: How many cops would you trust to make that shot if that was YOUR kid? If you think you're one of them, how about setting up a similar target presentation and then doing it. Talk is cheap, but department bullets are free!