I’m no expert on tactical encounters. However, I did notice that there were other cars (a patrol cruiser, and a white pickup) in the general direction of the perpetrator. The police officer fires multiple shots at his intended target. Does this endanger occupants of the other cars? Why didn’t the officer with the rifle attempt to disable the perps truck? How do departments train for such encounters?
I think it would be very interesting to hear an opinion of a peace officer.
I was looking at that, too. The closeup of the pickup implies that the pickup was in the background when Sgt. Jacks made the killshot. If you look carefully, though (I ran it back several times), the shot enters from the right passenger side rear window at a high angle before traversing the cab of the truck to kill the bad guy. The video is a compendium of several dash cameras at that point, and I believe that the dash camera catching the kill shot there was in a patrol car situated much, much further to the left of the police marksman. Another dash cam on a patrol car further to the right records Sgt. Jacks firing. It's easy to perceive it all as being from the same camera, which would put the truck in the line of fire. I suspect that the Sergeant had a good clear field of fire, with the truck off to his right, which would explain why he ran 'way over to the far right like he did-- hardly a perfect firing angle, but the safest for bystanders.
Note that Sgt. Jacks didn't shoot from behind a patrol car, which would have provided some cover and a shooting rest. Any trained rifleman will attempt to make use of support whenever possible, and anyone under fire would seek out cover whenever possible. But Sgt. Jack stands on his hind legs, out in the open, to make his shot from a sub-optimal angle? Why?
Because he was taking into account the lives of the citizens beyond the bad guy.
With regard to disabling the vehicle-- it's easier said than done. Trying to do so to a moving vehicle in an urban environment endangers lots of people, inasmuch as you may be shooting at a moving vehicle. A pickup on the straightaway is a hard vehicle to disable for a patrol car. The deputy did a decent job, I thought, and intelligently got out of the way when the guy jumped out.
Shooting tires, in my professional experience, is pretty unrewarding. .45 acp bullets put holes of only the size of the meplat or hollowpoint into the sidewalls of the tires. .223's would likely put pinpricks into them. Now, at high speeds, it's more efficient at shredding them. But at low speeds, you find yourself wondering why the tire isn't deflating or blowing up like it does in the movies.
Similarly, the gas tank, which is mighty hard to hit on most pickups, would simply create a slow and inefficient leak-- they just don't blow up like in the movies. (Not even with tracer ammo, surprisingly.)
Was riding around on the hood the BEST way to respond? Probably not. But I suspect that the officer thought that the pickup was just around the corner, and that as soon as he made it, he'd slide off and engage, without being constrained in the car. Probably better would have been to sit on the open windowsill, if there wasn't an MDT blocking his ability to hook his feet under the dashboard on the passenger side. Still, getting out and moving would have been difficult.
To the detractors of the cops who ran to the sound of rifle fire, I question how you would have dealt with the situation. These officers engaged the shooter because it was their duty. While I agree 100% that every one of those officers on the scene should have had a rifle and a shotgun in their vehicles, many PDs haven't yet realized that a rifle is a far safer way to engage a shooter than a pistol, for the citizenry at large. Most street officers know this, and many admin types know this, but they oftentimes have to get their SOP approved through city council types, who
don't know this, and who are terrified of the "militarization of the police." Heck, give 'em all M-94s. Give 'em Remington 7400's. Give 'em 870's with good sights, slings, and slugs.
Give 'em what they need to stop the fight.
Give 'em support.