Never EVER fire a warning shot! Always shoot to STOP an attack, which means center mass and in the event of a failure to stop go to the head shot (thru an eye).
IOW: When you're up the creek, use Mozambique!
Here's what happens when you do as you have suggested: First you have to know that even the very act of displaying a firearm is use of "Deadly Force." You have the right to use deadly force when you think that YOUR life or the life of another in the same proximity of an attack is in immediate danger of suffering death or great bodily harm. IF you shoot the leg or other extremity that has little chance of being life threatening the State Attorney in an antigun jurisdiction will address the jury thusly: Mr FREEPER, you used a firearm and thus used deadly force. But you aimed for the leg....so you must NOT have really believed in your heart and soul that deadly force was justified or necessary. Therefore your actions represent extreme negligence and a reckless disregard for the laws of this state which govern such actions.....
See?
A warning shot might have done the trick...or a shot in the leg
I've seen this before when campers forget toilet paper.
If a snoot full of pepper spray had no effect, I doubt a loud noise (warning shot) would have.
Shooting his legs out from under him is also not a good idea.
You shoot to stop, not to wound.
2 rangers one bad guy - take the club away from the bad guy and kick his a$$ all the way to the jail.
Better than this scenario
"1 park Ranger was clubbed to death today in an incident reported as a domestic disturbance. 1 other Ranger is in the hospital with massive head injuries. A camper in a nearby site who tried to assist the officers is also in critical condition tonite with head injuries. The Perpetrator has not yet been found."
I prefer the former
You've been watching too much TV.
I'm no fan of the police (in general), but it appears they were clearly justified in this situation. They even have an eye-witness to back them up.
A club is a deadly weapon, and one blow in the right place can kill a man or render him a vegetable for the rest of his life. Verbally threatening someone with a club and physically moving towards them demonstrates an intent to use that deadly weapon. As such, this was a good shoot. The only mistake they made was letting the guy get that close. He easily could have struck them, even after being shot multiple times, from that close distance.
Just because someone is police officer doesn't mean that they surrender their Right to defend their life with deadly force.
Maybe those bozos at Interior will now rescind the administrative rules against us peasants carrying guns in parks.
Is there something about the word STOP that these maniac morons don't understand. A cop ever tells me to stop and I can assure you I will turn to petrified stone and do exactly as I'm told.
They call it deadly force for a reason ....if ya have to use it use it properly.
Just my opinion of course....
We were camping with my parents back around 1960 at Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia. It was in June and we were the only campers in the park.
We were from Florida and were surprised how cold it was on that mountain. The Ranger, actually I think he was the park manager brought us blankets, figuring we might be cold.
A couple of days later the Ranger, I remember his name was Mr. Christian, chased some guys from South Carolina around 40 miles before arresting them for vandalism.
Another time we were camping at a Corps of Engineers camp in Oklahoma. There was a bunch of high school age kids next to us literally raising hell, drinking yelling cursing etc. all night long. The next day, I mentioned it to the volunteer couple at the front gate.
The next night around 10 P.M. an Oklahoma Lake Patrol officer walked by their camp, saw what they were doing, and promptly told them to pack up and leave.
Published Tuesday August 2, 2005
Combined wire, local reports
Police records indicate a California man shot dead by a ranger at Crater Lake National Park last week had been arrested a year ago for allegedly pulling a knife on security guards who confronted him for shoplifting.
Ronn Merl Ward, 38, of Sunnyvale, Calif., was shot twice Wednesday night after he rushed with a club at a ranger in the Mazama Campground, authorities have said.
The National Park Service has reopened the campsite where Ward was killed, but no new information on the shooting is expected for a few days.
Park spokesman Mac Brock said lab work from an autopsy done Friday in Medford is not expected until late this week or early next week.
The National Park Service and other law enforcement agencies are continuing an investigation to determine if the ranger was justified in using deadly force.
Police records in Sunnyvale show Ward was arrested May 12, 2004, at a neighbor's house after brandishing a knife at security guards who confronted him for stealing merchandise at a grocery store. Guards notified police after noting Ward's license plate.
In a letter to the editor of the Sun newspaper in Sunnyvale dated March 30, 2005, Ward criticized the city for failing to provide enough public defenders to give people like himself proper representation. In the letter, posted on the newspaper's Web site, he wrote that he was convicted of robbery for taking some breath mints.
According to authorities and witnesses, Ward was yelling obscenities and banging around his campsite Wednesday night so that he could be heard through the trees at the evening campfire lecture in the campground, which was filled with 424 campers. A woman was in the trailer with him.
When two park rangers came to talk to him, he came out with his shirt off, but did not obey orders to raise his hands or stand still. He asked if the rangers wanted to die, then rushed at them with a wooden club. When a cloud of pepper spray did not stop him, one of the rangers shot him twice and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brock said the shooting death is the first in memory at Crater Lake.
"There aren't really any precedents for that," park historian Steve Mark said of a ranger firing or even pulling a weapon on a visitor.
Mark said there was an incident about nine years ago when a person at a campfire program pointed a loaded crossbow at the park interpreter. When challenged by a park employee, the person put down the crossbow. The crossbow was confiscated, but no arrests were made.