Following a shooting...

[Shadowangel]

This thought occured to me while I was in the Walmart parking lot this evening. Say someone comes at you, trying to mug you with a pistol, and you shoot him. He falls down, and goes unconscious, with his gun in his hand. You look aro8und and check your surroundings to make sure that he was the only attacker, call the police, then what? Do you keep your gun traine on him in case he wakes up? Cover the distance between you and kick the gun away from his hand? What? It seems quite dangerous to stand there while he has a gun in his hand, seemingly unconscious or not. But it's also dangerous to try and remove the un from his possession.

 

[Bartkowski]

I would shoot till I think that I had killed the attacker, call the police, tell them what I look like where I will be, my name, all that, and I would kick the gun away too.

 

[finnerandr]

I was trained to shoot to stop the threat. If he is down, with the gun still in hand, and if I perceive him to still be a threat, then I will shoot again. I wont stop shooting until the threat has been neutralized. But then again, once he goes down, why stand there? Wouldnt it be better once he drops to start running towards a "safe" place and get out of harms way?

 

[Pax Jordana]

I would shoot till I think that I had killed the attacker

I hope that was just a semantic error. If not, I'd recommend you don't say it in front of an LEO or a jury


So we're taking the shoot as a given. I'd shoot, if he went down I'd keep him covered and order him to toss the gun. If he was seemingly unconscious I think I'd circle around above his head and come from there, if kicking the gun away was to be attempted.

As far as a "safe" area goes, unless there's reason to get outta dodge, I'd consider it more prudent to stick around. Especially in a wal-mart parking lot, people are going to notice there's an unconscious bleeding guy with a gun. And at that point, the odds of the situation turning into an absolute circus go way up.

 

[apollosmith]

I think there's potential danger in standing around too long. I'd try to leave or at least neutralize the situation to a point where you can holster your weapon ASAP. Imagine you (or a police officer) walk by and there's a man with a gun standing over another guy that's leaking all over the pavement. There's a good change you may become the next guy leaking all over the pavement, right?

If the guy MAY still be a threat, he's a threat - so neutralize the threat, take away his gun, or get out of dodge, but do so quickly and decisively.

 

[fearless leader]

Preserve the evidence

When the police get there, they will want to know where the weapon was that put you in fear of your life. I have BTDT. I would get the weapon away from him and try to preserve the scene as I could. If he won't let me have it, then I may "let him have it".

When a "situation" happened to me, the BG was reaching for something under his coat, IN AUGUST! I drew mine before he got to his. Legal? Not exactly, but he was making moves consistant with drawing a firearm. Point of fact: I am still alive.
I gave my BG the opportunity to leave, unperforated. and he did. I had no desire to hurt him, I just wanted him to leave me alone.

When the police got there, the first thing they wanted was to know what put me in fear of my life. He had already left with whatever he had, leaving me looking like some paranoid nut that just pulls guns on people! I almost went to prison. PRESERVE THE EVIDENCE/SCENE.
If you retreat to a safer location, your BG may get rid of the weapon or get up and leave or pass the weapon off to an accomplice. Hell, some crackhead might steal it from his dying hand to sell it. Don't let it out of your sight, if you cannot secure it.

 

[Archangel]

Do not attempt to kick the gun out his hand for 2 reasons.

1.) It's dangerous to approach a downed BG. What if he's faking? Or wakes up right as you get to him? Even if you manage to shoot him before he can do any harm to you, now the evidence shows that you shot him, walked right up to him, and delivered a coup de grace. You will go to jail for a very long time.

2.) The gun still in his hand is excellent evidence that you were in fear for your life. This helps you avoid going to jail for a very long time.

After he goes down, move to cover, call the police, and while you are waiting for them to arrive do one of the two following things:

A) If you are somewhere secure where the police can only approach from one or two directions, and you know that you can see them coming before they see you, keep your gun trained on the downed BG. When you see the police coming, put the gun down or reholster.

B) If you are in public, re-holster. You can leave your hand on the gun so that you can quickly re-draw and fire if he becomes a threat again. When the police arrive, slowly raise you hands, leaving the gun in your holster.

Obviously, in wither case, if he becomes a threat again, shoot him again until the threat stops. But whatever you do, you DON'T want to be standing there with a gun pointed at him when the police arrive.

I would shoot till I think that I had killed the attacker

So what do you do if you shoot him, he falls over and stops attacking you, but is obviously still alive?

Shoot to stop the threat. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'd shoot until the threat has ceased (like I was trained in the Academy). Don't ever go around saying that you'd only stop shooting when the subject is dead. An attorney will paint you as a cold blooded killer. Even after the perp is down, I'd approach with weapon still pointed at the perp preferably from a blind angle with intent to retrieve the perp's gun (for my safety). Even after it's retrieved, I wouldn't assume that he's unarmed and there may be other weapons on him whether it's a firearm or otherwise. I don't recommend a pat-down (we were taught to cuff first, pat-down second), but back off and await the arrival of the police and the paramedics (especially if you're non-sworn).

 

[Thernlund]

I'd shoot, if he went down I'd keep him covered and order him to toss the gun. If he was seemingly unconscious I think I'd circle around above his head and come from there, if kicking the gun away was to be attempted.

That's pretty much what I was going to say.


-T.

 

[ShackleMeNot]

Distance and cover are your friends.

Your pistol is a distance weapon so move to get behind cover/concealment and keep your gun out. I can't see a realistic reason to approach someone to kick a gun out of their hand.

 

[crankshop1000]

Leave the scene alone!!!!! What better evidence of the threat you faced than a BG laying shot with a gun in his hand. Let the scene tell the story.Keep your wits about you and co-operate with police.If you need time, tell the police at the scene that you are not feeling well and request medical treatment before making a statement. They have to give you treatment.Use the time to gather your thoughts and even contact a lawyer. The premise of your right to defend yourself is your fear and your action was to stop the threat, not to kill. Chuck.