At a distance of 10 feet, 7 hits out of 16 shots comes to a 44% accuracy rate. 10 FEET! and the other 56% went where? We know that at least nine innocent bystanders were wounded in this shooting. And by coincidence the two heroes missed the killer nine times. I know that the NYPD is one of the most honored in the country, but this is unacceptable. Maybe they should be disarmed.
Live or visit New York City? Not me. It is too dangerous.
I’ll Take my chances down here with the drug smugglers and UDAs.
I agree. At 10 feet, only 4 shots at the most should have been needed with each cop firing twice. I’m sure that some will say that 9mm weapons were the problem, but I’m fairly certain that they were hollow points or high impact bullets. Additionally, where did the 7 bullets hit? When did the fatal shot strike the agressor .... the 16th shot after spraying the crowd. The first 4 shots should have been to center mass and fatal. Additionally, the training that should have been required should have included active thinking and targeting rather than just qualifying by firing several hundred rounds at a paper target.
It wasn't target shooting. Immediately behind the target, was 5th Ave. rush hour traffic, a bus pulling up and stopping briefly at the curb and people crowding the sidewalk prior. In the space of what is exactly 6 seconds: timer on the video, you can see he turns to look behind him and the officers challenging him, he pulls his pistol and they both fire with one officer facing more to his front the other to his side-then gunman folds in the middle and drops dead flat to the concrete on his back--6 seconds.
Noise, high sidewalk traffic, and in front of the Empire State Bldg. For patrol officers on rotation, and not SWAT, pretty damn good. And no matter what the NY slimes says, they were right to fire when the dude drew. FWIW witnesses close at hand reported three shots from the gunman then 10-15 from the two officers.
And the last time you fired on someone who you thought was preparing to shoot you was..........
Until you've been there, all you can do is spout idealistic conjecture about what a combination of fear for your life and high doses of adrenaline will do to your steadiness. The adrenaline will also speed you up to the point that there is a disconnect in what your brain telss you is the proper time to pull the trigger as your weapon is moving - you move faster and farther and jerkier. Some have the ice in their veins to stay steady and on target - in my experiences they are a minority (not miniscule, but minority).
One gunman, nine bystanders!
That's at least 10 hits out of 16 shots, (62.5%!) even if nine out of ten 'targets' were the wrong person.
I'd bet the average CCW holder can do better. No sovereign immunity, no laws protect the civilian, only skill and training. I'd flunk the warm fuzzy social work part, though.
Maybe they can get some of that DHS ammo and practice more (on the range).