Curious...
There is a well known video in training circles in which a Highway Patrol officer shoots an armed subject 5 times “center mass” (this is not my assessment but the statement of his immediate supervisors which are interviewed on the full version of the hour long tape) with his 4” .357 Magnum revolver firing hollow point ammunition. All 5 hits failed to do the job and the subject was able to fire one round which struck the officer in the armpit. That round wondered around in the chest cavity and found his heart. The officer unfortunately died at the scene and his attacker is alive today.
I've seen the 'training video' complete with interview with the attacker. This abbreviated account is not quite complete.
The armed subject was shot five times with shots from a .357 Magnum revolver. I cannot remember the actual ammunition used; I believe it was in fact .357 Magnum ammo. The five hits did hit the subject's torso, but not what I'd call 'center mass'; most hits were below the ribcage and none were in the central area of the heart. It should be noted the subject was/is a very obese man and his fat provided a partial 'body armor' effect. Further, the subject was under the influence of methamphetimines (as I remember) and didn't immediately feel the effects of the shots.
By the time the backup troops arrived, the attacker was unconscious and incapable of presenting a threat.
The attacker did survive his wounds. It took a couple serious surgeries and some time to recover.
The officer involved was killed by a freak accident. The one round - .22 long rifle fired from a North American Arms revolver - bounced off the officer's upper arm bone, penetrated the left armpit and ruptured the aorta. The officer was aware and active, calling on his radio until he lost consciousness and died from blood loss.
I'm not sure what to make of this opinion piece. Higgenbotham has some valid points and ideas, but his raw data strikes me as selected. For instance:
...the subject was hit 106 times, but 55 of those hits were ruled by the coroner to be each lethal in and of themselves...
That statement is self-contradictory. Unless the suspect was hit fifty-five times simultaneously, the first fifty-four were in fact, not lethal. One of those rounds might have killed the suspect given time, but none of them did at the time.
Also, in the case of the suspect being shot 106 times, what was the time delay in the incident?
I've read one or two incidents werein the suspect was hit multiple times without effect. Upon investigation, most hits were peripheral and not serious injuries.
Still, there are those very strange times. I'll still bet on a big caliber, heavy bullet and good bullet placement.
I'll agree there are no death rays. Not yet, anyway. But I don't agree one has to shoot every adversary twelve times in the heart and four shots in the motor nerve center of the brain.
As long as we're in the argumentative mode, I believe it should be:
