A police officer shot a homeowner who had confronted armed criminals attempting a break in, just moments before. The police say that they homeowner refused to drop his firearm. From thestate.com:
Posted on 05/10/2015 4:43:47 PM PDT by marktwain
A police officer shot a homeowner who had confronted armed criminals attempting a break in, just moments before. The police say that they homeowner refused to drop his firearm. From thestate.com:
A sheriff's deputy responding to a home invasion shot the homeowner in the neck Thursday because he refused to drop his gun, authorities said.
Two deputies from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office encountered the man at the rear of his mobile home in Hollywood, South Carolina, after two other men fled on bicycles, Sheriff's Maj. Eric Watson said in a news release.
The man was either leaving or standing at the back door of the house and was armed, Watson said. One of the two deputies shot him after he refused to drop his gun, he said.
"The officer did it but it was an accident," Heyward says in the recording. "I should have put the gun down, but I didn't," he says a short time says in the recording.
According to the report, the deputy who fired the shots tried to help the homeowner as soon as he realized he was injured.
Use extreme caution!
Most CCW classes will teach you what to do when a cop says "drop the weapon". You drop it. Right now. You don't wait, you don't set it down. You don't turn, you don't take another breathe. You open your hand and drop your gun.
>>Most CCW classes will teach you what to do when a cop says “drop the weapon”. You drop it. Right now. You don’t wait, you don’t set it down. You don’t turn, you don’t take another breathe. You open your hand and drop your gun.
What if you don’t know for sure that its a cop? What if its just a bright flashlight in your face with a voice behind it shouting to drop the gun?
Cops are supposed to be the “trained professionals”. That means that they should be the ones defusing the situation instead of just going in gunning down everyone without a badge who is armed. A citizen in their own home who just just had to scare off an intruder with a gun is not going to be thinking of these 6 rules from the OP. But the “trained professional” should be the calm one who knows to stay behind cover while talking calmly to the person.
If I remember correctly dropping a weapon may cause it to discharge. Especially if it’s a revolver. If that happens every cop within a hundred feet will empty their weapons.
No modern firearm worth carrying will discharge when dropped, even modern revolvers. If it will, you shouldn't be carrying it.
In this case it seems to me his tragic mistake was being in the open with no cover and possibly with good illumination. He had a good defensive position in his laundry room, which is where he should have stayed. No reason to go after the home invaders, because no matter what he did or where he went, it would be less tactically advantageous.
Which is a good reason to greet the cops with you firearm holstered.
“If I remember correctly dropping a weapon may cause it to discharge. Especially if it’s a revolver.”
It is very unlikely to discharge if it is a firearm made after 1980. There are a very few designs that this can happen with, usually if they are improperly loaded, such at the North American mini-revolvers.
But dropping a weapon does create a quick movement of the weapon dropping, and that might elicit a reaction. I would tell the officer that I am putting the gun down, and do so slowly and obviously.
There have been situations where multiple officers yell conflicting commands, such as “drop the gun” and “freeze”.
I recommend that in such a case, a person “freezes” until a little calm is restored.
A cousin had guns pointed at him in a felony stop. He was simultaneously told to stop, freeze, and get out of the car. He could not do all at once. The car was in gear.
If he “froze” he could not put the car in Park. If he got out he would have to take his foot off the brake and he would start moving.
He chose to freeze until some order prevailed.
He was not shot.
It depends on the totality of the circumstance. If you called the cops, if you see lights, if you see a uniform...you're going to have to take the chance they're the good guys and drop your firearm.
Someone with a light and there's no reason to believe cops are around...I wouldn't drop my firearm.
You're right in that the cops shouldn't execute at the first sight of a gun, and they also need to take the situation into account. If a suspect won't drop a gun, and he might be the homeowner, as long as he's not actively threatening anyone, they need to hold their fire.
I remember in the 60s cops I knew never kept a live round in the chamber of their revolver. Apparently that’s not a problem anymore.
If the crooks are still in the house I don’t think I’d holster my weapon. As soon as the cops arrive I believe I’d lay flat on the floor with my arms stretched out and repeat over and over “I’m the one who called. I’m the one who called.”
Don’t call the cops. Problem solved.
Never, under any circumstances, call the cops. At least until the situation is completely resolved.
This is likely the best course of action.
I think the home owner (any home owner) who had to get his gun, moved into another dimension of time in his brain and couldn’t think clearly at that moment - it is like the gun is stuck in his hand and he’s not aware the gun is there.
Think about it - it is a paralyzing brain warp to be in that situation - he is stunned and can’t think rationally. And, he gets shot.
That is one reason why one should practice, at least in his/her mind, what to do if that situation came up. Practice it so often that one wouldn’t freeze - that one would drop that weapon, even before the police got there if that was possible. If not, for sure drop it at the first sign of police getting there.
Bad advise. It's not that simple.
You need to understand there have been many incidents where very violent bad guys pose as cops during robberies, home invasions etc.
There are thousands of such cases.
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