One Year Later: The Long Range Peach House Gunfight

Dean Weingarten said:

You are correct. There is much we do not know. All the information given was from Vic Stacy's POV. I am working on getting more information for another article. I cannot say more at this time.

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I'd like to hear the officer's point of view. The one who was being shot at.

Don't know if they're allowed to talk about that stuff.

But it'd sure be interesting, what ran through his head, when the second shooter entered the scene. Did he know it was a friendly? Did he think about shooting at the second source? Was there any communication during the fight?

But it'd sure be interesting, what ran through his head, when the second shooter entered the scene. Did he know it was a friendly? Did he think about shooting at the second source?

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I'd be interested in hearing that too.

But it'd sure be interesting, what ran through his head, when the second shooter entered the scene. Did he know it was a friendly? Did he think about shooting at the second source?

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I'd be very interested in that also. To me that would be real news, not just the headline, but detailed follow up.

On that note, is the police report subject to Freedom of Information requests? I bet that officer's post-action write up was ... colorful.

Only in Texas does the Governor give a tricked out AR-10 and a case of ammo as a reward to an armed citizen who comes to the aide of a police officer.

In NY, MA or CA they probably would have thrown him in jail for some idiotic FOID card violation.

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The governor giving a man a gun as a reward for bravery sounds amazing to me

In terms of righteousness it sounds like heaven compared to where I live.

Jrob24 said:

In terms of righteousness it sounds like heaven compared to where I live.

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Come on down. We have room for ya.

Dean, nice report. I remember when this went down. It's nice to hear the 'rest of the story'.

Thank you!

This story never made it to daylight in Houston - at least that I know of. None of my friends or co-workers ever mentioned it. Thanks for putting it (and others) out there, Dean!

Nice shooting, especially for a handgun. Respect to Mr. Stacy for standing in there.

Great writeup. When were the photos taken? I was surprised that poor Valentina's blood was still visible.

And great to hear the Governor presenting him with a practical award.

Excellent example of how important hitting at a greater distance than the so called defense ranges. Capacity is also a factor worth noting.

Excellent example of how important hitting at a greater distance than the so called defense ranges. Capacity is also a factor worth noting.

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I agree completely, well said. Besides shooting at long range is fun.

The point some are overlooking is that the guy with the revolver hit him once, with the first shot, but didn't take him out. The BAD GUY continued firing, and then focused on the LEO who was using an AR-type weapon

We don't know whether the first shooter connected with the other shots, or not -- he felt he hit him with two other rounds, but that was not confirmed. Had the LEO not also been shooting at the Bad Guy, the first shooter might have been in a big mess. Had he taken his AR instead of the Python (or taken it TOO), it might've been over much sooner.

I'm glad our shooter responded. I'm happy he assisted in taking out the bad guy. His presence had to have made it easier for the LEO. But I wonder if our original shooter wasn't more lucky than we know?

Hopefully, we'll eventually get info from the coroner's report.

The point some are overlooking is that the guy with the revolver hit him once, with the first shot, but didn't take him out. The BAD GUY continued firing, and then focused on the LEO who was using an AR-type weapon

We don't know whether the first shooter connected with the other shots, or not -- he felt he hit him with two other rounds, but that was not confirmed. Had the LEO not also been shooting at the Bad Guy, the first shooter might have been in a big mess. Had he taken his AR instead of the Python (or taken it TOO), it might've been over much sooner.

I'm glad our shooter responded. I'm happy he assisted in taking out the bad guy. His presence had to have made it easier for the LEO. But I wonder if our original shooter wasn't more lucky than we know?

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To be honest I haven't got a clue how I would be in this same situation, as do many others here. It is one thing to chat about it casually but quite another when your faced with the same situation.

As the report states he took what he could carry with relative ease and not be overly blatant about it. Conner had gone back into his trailer but nobody knows if he might have also been looking out the windows as well, before he came back out at the sounds of the sirens. Had he been looking out already, and had he seen that Mr. Stacy was carrying a rifle, he could have easily taken the first shot from inside, and with Mr. Stacy being unaware he was even being targeted. So while in hindsight the rifle might have been the better choice, it might also have been a fatal one as well.

Yes there are many things we don't know, and may never know, however 56yds isn't overly far with a revolver. Many shoot bullseye competition at right about that range with much lesser rounds, and shoot very impressive groups. Having been hunting with my own revolvers for going on 20 years, I do fairly well at that range and further especially when rested. I took my first white tail with a GP-100 at 76yds. Again however, I have no idea how well I would be under the pressure Mr. Stacy was under.

I would like to think I would react just as he did, and if faced with the possibility of having to defend myself, my family, or even a friend, I would do my best to take care of business with what ever I had at the time.

It's probable that if Sergeant Means was not at the scene, or already engaging Conner, Stacy would have gone to fetch his rifle. Instead, Conner's attention was focused on the officer. That combined with the fact that Means's life was at imminent risk is enough reason to engage with the suboptimal revolver, imo.

This is all armchair theorycrafting, and I'm glad the incident played out the way it did.

I think it's also worth noting that all that killing started over dog crap. One never know when and to what extent one will have to go. It seems after rereading the story that the rifle would have been the best choice especially given that the caller said that a woman was down and he needed to bring a gun.
It is worth looking at people with a judgmental view. First impressions aren't always right but they are worth giving the benefit of the doubt to.