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Don't know if they were from police weapons. But just for giggles I 'searched' my POV for fired casings. Came up with three .45s and one 9mm. And I haven't been to the range in a while. Guess they fell out of my range bag when I put them in the truck. I generally go through a couple thousand rounds on any given day on the range.

Ricochets are generally actual bullets, as opposed to fired brass.

And lastly, it is accepted practice that one makes sure of ones backstop when putting live rounds downrange. It is the citizens responsibility to make sure that his/her bullets don't hit innocent bystanders when firing at a 'bad' guy. You are responsible for where your bullets go. If you are irresponsible when you put rounds off target, you are responsible criminally and civilly for the result.

So tell me why a police officer should be any different? If I shoot at an armed criminal in the commission of a felony, I will be held responsible if I shoot an unconnected person. Always make sure of your target, and nothing bad can ensue. But if you miss such a LARGE target, then you are spraying and praying.

"...accepted practice that one makes sure of ones backstop when putting live rounds downrange"

You obviously don't live in a Metro area. I suppose police officers could ask all criminals to come to an inside range so know bystanders could get killed, but that really wouldn't be the real world.

...and to hell with the bystanders at the club hugh. That officer had a duty to attempt to stop what he saw as a possible gunfight at a high density civillian area. Given the evidence of what he saw transpire, if he did nothing, he would be held responsible for not acting on the information he had.