And these are the only ones with sufficient training?!

By | August 24, 2012

By now, you’ve probably heard of the shooting at the Empire State Building this morning.  Some may call this a mass shooting (hey, there were 11 shot, 2 of which died), but that’s not the real story.  The real story is that the NYPD desperately needs to bump up their firearms training.

Per the article, the attacker was out to shoot an ex-coworker.  He very much succeeded in this task.  Using a .45 caliber pistol with an 8 round magazine (probably a 1911), he shot 5 rounds into the former coworker, which killed him.  When two of New York’s finest responded to the gun fire, the attacker reportedly pulled the gun on the cops and may or may not have fired a single round at them.  The two cops then pulled their pistols and fired a combined 16 round at the attacker.  This trade happened at approximately 8 feet.  9 bystanders were injured and both the initial victim and the attacker were dead at the scene.

First, let me make this clear, the situation as described in the article is absolutely a recipe for a righteous shooting by the officers.  I’m glad that they’re alive and the attacker is dead, rather than the other way around.  That’s not my issue.

My issue is a case of shots fired vs shots hit.  The attacker fired 6 rounds (there were 2 rounds left in the 8 round magazine.  He may have fired 7 if he topped off).  5 of those rounds hit the intended victim, and, I assume, failed to harm anyone else.  That means that, by the official report, there was only 1 stray round that could have struck a bystander.  There were 9 other folks injured at the scene.  Even giving the police the benefit of the doubt, that means that a large majority of those stray rounds came from a cop’s gun.

I realize that shooting a moving target that’s possibly slinging lead back at you from 8 feet on a busy sidewalk is not the same as hitting a target that’s standing still at the range, but dear lord!  Get this cops back to training, and make sure they can hit what they’re aiming at!  Especially if you’re going to say that those that wear the shiny little badge are better trained and will handle situations better than a carry permit holder could.

3 thoughts on “And these are the only ones with sufficient training?!

    1. oddball Post author

      Then some lawsuit happy New York lawyer should sue the city for issuing firearms that are so inherently inaccurate that “highly trained professionals” can’t reliably hit a man sized target at 8 feet. I’d consider that a danger to the general public.

      Reply

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