Police: Gunman stopped by single shot from cop

ap on Yahoo ^ | 3/30/09 | Mike Baker - ap

[NormsRevenge]

CARTHAGE, N.C. – A single shot from a decorated police officer stopped a gunman's rampage through a North Carolina nursing home, ending a slaughter that left eight people dead and three more wounded, police said Monday.

Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said Monday the gunman may have targeted the home because his estranged wife, whom he did not name, works there. ...

Authorities said Robert Stewart, 45, went on a terrifying rampage in the Pinelake Health and Rehab center on Sunday morning, killing seven residents and a nurse and wounding three other people.

He was stopped by a single shot to the chest fired by Justin Garner, a decorated police officer responding to a 911 call. Stewart wounded Garner three times in the leg as they traded gunfire in a hallway, McKenzie said.

[NormsRevenge]

His ex-wife, they divorced in 2001, was a nursing assistant at the center.

He had recently been in contact with some of the family, had cancer and would be going away on a long trip.

One of the victims was 98. The youngest victim, a male nurse, was 39.

Prayers going out to all the families and deepest condolences.

[domenad]

Budget cuts must be serious, he didn't double-tap the guy.

Spend the savings on a medal.

[MitchellC]

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail MitchellC if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[DocH]

Single shot?

He should have fired multiple shots until the POS was sure to be taking the "eternal dirt nap".

[EyeGuy]

I’m glad Officer Garner did not wait for “sufficient force” and/or the SWAT team to arrive.

[Scythian]

Due to budget cuts each police officer is alloted one bullet per month. The reason is lead is a toxic chemcial so they have switched to copper bullets. Also, if possibly, they are to re-aquire the bullet from the victom and remelt it into another bullet in order to finish out the month with at least one bullet in their gun.

[Shane]

“He was stopped by a single shot to the chest” Well obviously he was not “Stopped” or he would not have been able to return fire and wound the police officer. “Stopped” is when the shooter can do no further harm.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Apparently you missed this part:

He was stopped by a single shot to the chest fired by Justin Garner, a decorated police officer responding to a 911 call. Stewart wounded Garner three times in the leg as they traded gunfire in a hallway, McKenzie said.

He fired multiple times, one struck the gunman and stopped him. He fired enough. One discharge or 12, you fire until your target is incapacitated and then you stop. Period.

And given the environment, it's best the LEO fired as few times as possible; drywall will not stop misses very well, and with aged and infirm bystanders the chance of incidental shooting deaths skyrockets.

Kudos to the LEO to recognizing when it was time to holster his firearm.

This should also be a lesson for all CCW and carriers - you WILL miss with the majority of your shots. You should count on hitting once for every 5 to 7 shots (yes, a 20% hit rate is very good). Carrying a pistol with fewer than 7 shots is essentially taking a gamble that you are a better on-the-move, in-the-action shooter than experienced LEO and troops and are willing to run dry without a single hit on the target.

[Manly Warrior]

To those who are making silly comments about how this officer performed...

Please stop revealing your ignorance and lack of awareness of how these things go down.

This officer saved probably more than a few lives and all you armchair QBs can do is disparage his effectiveness?

The report probably lacks all the facts, perhaps only one shot hit the threat, maybe the officer had to thread a needle and make his one shot count.

I doubt if any of you have ever experienced what this officer has and your ridiculous “double tap” and austerity budget comments are quite sophomoric (without thought).

I am very glad that it only took one good hit to stop the badness. If in fact he fired only one shot that would be a credit to his coolness under fire (have any of you been to see the elephant?). Though not. PS- he did this while hit multiple times, probably on the ground or immobilized; I would like to shake his hand and give him a medal myself.

[Eye of Unk]

That tends to answer a sticky problem that I have to face up to, my absolute favorite pistol is my Sig P220, but it only holds 8 rounds of .45, 10 if I wanted a longer mag.

I also have three Glocks, the G20, G21 and G23, none hold less than thirteen rounds but are not as accurate as the Sig.

So in view of the dramatic increase of violence it is making me rethink about carrying the Glock, there is nothing wrong with it but I am a purist and have more affection for fine pieces made of metal such as the German built Sig.

Also just happening is another family killing/suicide in Santa Clara CA up on Drudge.

[TexasRedeye]

Yet another example of: “The bad shooting stops when the good gun shows up”!

Unfortunately here in Texas, private citizens carrying a concealed weapon at a nursing home or hospital or other health institution is illegal.

Had the nurse that was shot been carrying, could he have stopped the shooter? We’ll never know.

[DFG]

Officer Garner needs more range time. Unfortunately, he only wounded the gunman. Would have saved us taxpayers a lot of trouble if Officer Garner had killed the gunman.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

I’ve got a P229 (40 cal) SIG - I love it! But my carry pieces are either my S&W Sigma 9 (ugly, and accuracy isn’t too good beyond 15 yards but I’m not looking for a firefight at that range) or a pair of Kel Tec P32s (8 rounds each, one for each hand, giving me 16 rounds live and ready to go with the pull of a trigger from either the weak or strong side).

My usual is the Kel Tec setup - very light weight, easy to conceal, and lots of flexibility. Plus if my firearm jams (which does happen, even with SIGs) I have a backup pistol ready to go.

And I do all my practice point shooting exclusively singled handed, strong and weak side. No Weaver stance for me - I practice shooting while moving, running, ducking. In other words, returning fire while presenting as bad a target for the other guy as I can!

I have the SIG, and it does shoot like a dream, but I prefer to carry the Sigma 9; having those extra 5 shots (I have the 17 round magazines) is nice, and if I drop the Sigma and scratch the crap out of it, well, it’s not a SIG that got damaged! I think I’d cry if that beautiful slide got all dinged up if it crashed into concrete...

[oh8eleven]

Please stop revealing your ignorance and lack of awareness of how these things go down.
Great post. What this officer did was truly heroic and took real guts.
Ask any combat vet - despite all the training, the reality of being there is something else again.

[Eye of Unk]

Yeah I have the SW9VE as well, it would be the first thing I would lose if needed. I am getting some Lone Wolf barrels for the Glocks.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

The cop made one mistake...he took the guy down with a single shot to the chest, but the gunman could have been wearing armor and could have taken the cop out. The proper procedure where you have a homocidal gunman is to fire multiple bullets to the chest and one to the head in case the gunman is wearing body armor. We need to stop being so upset when the police permanently take out a gunman.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Stewart wounded Garner three times in the leg as they traded gunfire in a hallway, McKenzie said.

I'm willing to bet that more than one shot was fired by the LEO; one struck. Apparently you've never been in a firefight, and do not realize that 4 out of 5 (or more) of your shots miss. Getting multiple consecutive shots on target when the target is moving AND you are avoiding being shot (presenting as small of a target possible yourself) is nearly impossible.

One shot was apparently enough. If the gunman had body armor, he may have taken more, but having seen guys hit while wearing body armor, he'd be an easier target at that point (the vest may stop the bullet from penetrating you, but it still hurts like crazy, does a fair amount of blunt force trauma, and will stun you for at least a few seconds).

The reality is that - even with all the training you can muster - in a firefight you're lucky to hit more than 20% of the time. And that drops immensely if you're shooting for head shots only. You shoot for the largest area of the target as possible, and if your target is wearing body armor you'll slow them down.

Ever seen the damage on the inside of a IIIA vest after being hit with a 9mm round? No, there's no hole from the bullet, but the golf-ball sized protrusion will get your attention in a hurry, if not crack or break a rib. Body armor will stop you from being perforated by pistols, but it won't keep you from being incapacitated.

I've seen guys knocked out of breath - like they were punched in the solar plexus - when hit in their body armor, and it took them 5+ seconds to recover. And the bruises that showed up a few hours later were some of the nastiest black and blue patches I've seen...

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"And I do all my practice point shooting exclusively singled handed, strong and weak side. No Weaver stance for me"

Weaver stance is what they taught us in the military. IMO, not the best stance. The best stance is to shoot one handed. Go to a pistol competition and you will find that most shooters are shooting one handed with the other hand either in their pocket or on their belt loop. Good idea to practice shooting weakside though.

[cav68]

I must agree, when you are in contact, things are Ono the same as at the range. I have an old SW Model 29, 44 mag. I enjoy shooting this weapon, I have had it for 2o some years and have grow in confidence in my ability to shoot it at moving or still targets. Practice, practice makes you better. I feel comfortable with it up to 40 yards, like I said I have been using it for a while and shoot almost every week. I Feel the officer did his job and saved lives.

[cav68]

I must agree, when you are in contact, things are not the same as at the range. I have an old SW Model 29, 44 mag. I enjoy shooting this weapon, I have had it for 2o some years and have grow in confidence in my ability to shoot it at moving or still targets. Practice, practice makes you better. I feel comfortable with it up to 40 yards, like I said I have been using it for a while and shoot almost every week. I Feel the officer did his job and saved lives.