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Why Don't Police Shoot to Wound?
FindLaw Blotter ^ | August 19, 2014 8:06 AM | Brett Snider, Esq.

Posted on 08/20/2014 12:21:07 PM PDT by WhiskeyX

Police are often harshly criticized for their lethal use of firearms, giving many reason to wonder: Why don't police shoot to wound? That was CNN's Wolf Blitzer's question to legal scholar Jeffrey Toobin when discussing the shooting death of Ferguson, Missouri, teenager Michael Brown. "Why can't they shoot a warning shot?... Why can't they shoot to injure?" Blitzer queried.

To answer Blitzer's (and your) questions, here's a general overview of why police don't shoot to wound:

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.findlaw.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; blitzer; brown; shooting
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To: WhiskeyX

The Lone Ranger was so good, he could shoot the gun right out of a bad guy’s hand with his Colt, from 50 yards, from the hip.

Too bad the police aren’t as good as the Lone Ranger, using their handguns with sniper-like precision.


21 posted on 08/20/2014 12:29:14 PM PDT by lurk
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To: lurk
He's got nothing on The Waco Kid.


22 posted on 08/20/2014 12:30:00 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: WhiskeyX
I was told by a cop that "shoot to wound" only happens on TV as few people are Annie Oakley.

Secondly he was taught that you only unholster your weapon if you intend to use deadly force, i.e. kill.

23 posted on 08/20/2014 12:30:40 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: WhiskeyX

Police aren’t supposed to shoot to kill, they’re supposed to shoot to incapacitate. The truth is, you have to shoot more destructively to incapacitate than you do to kill.

That being said, I’ve come to distrust all employees of the government, and I fear for my life when I have to deal with armed ones. They are not on our side.


24 posted on 08/20/2014 12:31:06 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: dirtboy; Michael.SF.

The reason there were 4 bullets to the right arm was not due to “shooting to wound”, but due to having a blown eye socket due to a knockout punch from a 275 pound thug.


25 posted on 08/20/2014 12:31:25 PM PDT by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
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To: mabarker1; SgtBob; Chode

Think what it would do to your reputation! I can’t imagine being known as a “wounder”. Yeah man, that dude is bad. He’s a real wounder.

Then there’s the added cost in ammo. You would have to wound and rewound and rewound and rewound, on and on. It would just never stop.


26 posted on 08/20/2014 12:32:17 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: WhiskeyX

They shoot to STOP, meaning until the perp is on the ground and not able to get back up. They use lethal force to o do.

A “wounded” criminal who is able to move around, is a criminal who can kill you.

Once you know you need to shoot your firearm, it is because someone’s life is in danger and you use lethal force to make sure that threat is stopped.

Wilson did precisely that, and against an already proven mortal threat.

Brown was a violent criminal and thug, who had lready shown his ability o severally injure Wilson, and already shown his intention to get Wilson’s gun.


27 posted on 08/20/2014 12:32:31 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Semper Fidelis - Molon Labe - Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: WhiskeyX
LOL
Libs crack me up. . . .
Just be nice to the perp, he or she will see the light, go to church and quit being bad.
works everytime. . . . . /s/
28 posted on 08/20/2014 12:33:12 PM PDT by DeaconRed (We have a useless, clueless, gutless leader we can't get rid of for 2 more years.)
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To: dainbramaged
Aim center mass. That is all.

The problem with this is availability of good vests by anyone. I'm sure any 'New Black Panthers' heading into the St Louis area to cause trouble should have laser sights printed to their noggins.

29 posted on 08/20/2014 12:37:39 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: WhiskeyX
Because there is no such thing as "shoot to wound."

Even if you were a precise enough shot to hit an arm or leg, hit an internal artery and it's a kill shot.

But under duress the most the average shooter can hope for is to aim center-of-mass and hit some random part of the body.

30 posted on 08/20/2014 12:38:03 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The man who damns money obtained it dishonorably; the man who respects it earned it." --Ayn Rand)
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To: WhiskeyX

Maybe Wolf would like to run the Tueller Drill...


31 posted on 08/20/2014 12:38:43 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Please $upport Free Republic.)
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To: C210N

“The reason there were 4 bullets to the right arm was not due to “shooting to wound”, but due to having a blown eye socket due to a knockout punch from a 275 pound thug.”

And possibly jerking the gun in a high stress situation.


32 posted on 08/20/2014 12:39:25 PM PDT by CrazyIvan (I lost my phased plasma rifle in a tragic hovercraft accident.)
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To: WhiskeyX

I’d think that’s not part of the decision logic process when you have a crazed, violent 300-pound ghetto thug — who has already caved in your eye — running at you full speed.

Mark Fuhrmann made a great point Monday night on Greta’s show... cops don’t have a duty to die while on the job.


33 posted on 08/20/2014 12:39:47 PM PDT by ScottinVA (If it doesn't include border security, it isn't "reform." It's called "amnesty.")
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To: WhiskeyX

This strikes me as a corollary of a major gun safety rule: never point a gun at anything you do not intend to destroy. If you have to use a gun destroy the target. To paraphrase the schoolmarm in Blazing Saddles, Blitzer has once again demonstrated that he is indeed one of the leading a$$holes in the news.


34 posted on 08/20/2014 12:40:10 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
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To: WhiskeyX

5 wound shots to bring that beast down didn’t work...Sometimes it takes 6!!


35 posted on 08/20/2014 12:40:51 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: WhiskeyX
Brown was injured. He simply died of those injuries.

What a moron Blitzer is. Even if you fire a warning shot, you still have to be worried where it's going to land. What goes up, must come down. You could fire a warning shot, and kill an innocent bystander. We were always told that if you fire your weapon, you better know where that bullet is going to end up. Plus, if you could get the perps to stand still like a target, it would be easier to shoot to injure. But Wolfie, life ain't like that.

36 posted on 08/20/2014 12:42:10 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Fledermaus
The author is an arrogant left wing nut job. Esq? Really? Who still uses that?

Anyone with A BRAIN knows cops are taught and trained to “shoot to kill” because pulling the revolver is a last resort.

Admit it. You didn't read the article.

37 posted on 08/20/2014 12:42:21 PM PDT by Interesting Times (WinterSoldier.com. SwiftVets.com. ToSetTheRecordStraight.com.)
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To: WhiskeyX

A warning shot or a “shot to wound” shot that misses has to go somewhere. No cop wants to fire his weapon and have the round hit an innocent. Aim center mass.


38 posted on 08/20/2014 12:42:29 PM PDT by rfreedom4u (Your feelings don't trump my free speech!)
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To: WhiskeyX

Hmmm, what should lethal force be used for Wolfe?

Hey Wolfe, is an officer just as dead if he gets shot by a wounded enemy?

What happens to a warning shot? Does it just vaporize like the intelligence of a reporter asking a stupid question? No, the lead slug comes down. When it does, it can as easily end a life as the shot fired directly at the threat. The only problem is, it will be an innocent victim instead.

People make choices. If they threaten an officer, the officer is forced into responding. The officer is not required to lay down his life to the person attacking. His job is to return disorder to order as quickly as he and his fellow officers can, to protect life and property.

He is not required to allow people to harm him or the assets of the community.


39 posted on 08/20/2014 12:43:39 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (We'll know when he's really hit bottom. They'll start referring to him as White.)
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To: WhiskeyX

Why don’t thugs just pay for the merchandise? Why don’t they just shake the officer’s hand instead of attack him?


40 posted on 08/20/2014 12:43:52 PM PDT by DannyTN (I)
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