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The very first words you say to an officer (or 911 dispatcher) after something like this are the most important words you may ever speak. LEO's are there to collect evidence and document what happened. Saying "I was shooting to kill the guy" will not help you at trial.

You want to say something like "He gave me no choice! I was sure he was about to kill me. I had to stop him!" Then you say "I want a lawyer." And then you shut up.

And if you can't say these things with a clear conscience, you have no business pulling the trigger.

-ccm

LOL I had good buddy, another NRA Instructor who was giving a ccw class to a bunch of businessmen in the inner city years ago. He's putting his portable TV and vcr into the trunk of his car when his spidey sense tingles and he looks up to see two bad guys closing on him in a classic pinchers move from across the street. He immediately spots this little old black lady down the street maybe 100 yds away waiting for a bus. He retreats and puts his back to the building wall. He begins to scream in terror:

Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything you want! Take my car, my wallet, anything, just please don't hurt me!

The two stop and just look at him with puzzled expressions.

As he's screaming he's grinning like a wolf and drawing his 1911 up to firing position. The perps instantly knew he was setting up his defense in court: That little old lady would testify that all she knew was she heard this poor man begging for his life and then she heard a series of shots! The two punks ran away at high speed.

You want to say something like "He gave me no choice! I was sure he was about to kill me. I had to stop him!" Then you say "I want a lawyer." And then you shut up.

And if you can't say these things with a clear conscience, you have no business pulling the trigger.

Always remember to say why you did something, instead of specifically what you did. "He was going to kill me" is much better than "I was tying to kill him." And per Clint Smith, always demand that the perp be arrested, especially if you're making the 911 call. Just because you may have neutralized the threat doesn't mean an arrestable crime was not committed. If it goes to court, you want the officer stating that you wanted the individual arrested, even before a medical condition was determined.

Very Good dialog.

Every bullet is lethal, no matter what caliber or where it impacts, so every shot is a shot to kill in theory. Of course, you should be thinking “shoot to stop”, but don't say anything-read on!

No need to explain at all, in fact, no need to say anything other than “name, rank serial number” to the cops, it is their job to figure it all out. Remember, anything and everything you say can and will likely be used against you.

The only thinking I recommend anyone involved in a shooting (or any matter unavailing the police for that matter) is simply:

“My name is John Smith, I live at 123 AnyLane, Anywhere USA”. Here is my CCW certificate (if appropriate), I will be glad to answer questions after I have spoken to my attorney”.

Stick to it no matter what! The 5th Amendment is not for crooks or criminals-it is to protect you, the law abiding citizen from injuring yourself over any legal matter.

Once you have spoken to your attorney, have him present during all interviews (PC for interrogations)and better yet, do not say anything at all. Let the facts be shown by investigation.

As to the placement of his rounds, the gentlemen involved was 100% on target-he aimed low CM and hit with all of his shots; having been in the dark moment myself, it is sometimes amazing that you can do much of anything at all, let alone precisely deliver rounds from a handgun. I quickly traded up to a M590 shotgun and an M249-probably was the best armed FG officer in my element. The M9 was just baggage.

Well done, sir.

God Bless and MOLON LABE