This police shooting happened during a traffic stop in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Notice that the driver immediately exited the truck and started shooting. Watch how the suspect engaged both officers while he was shooting. You see him shooting at one officer, then shift his fire to a second officer and then back to the first officer before retreating back to his truck.
I assume the shot that stopped him was a head shot. Watch as he is in the truck and his hat flies off. I’m pretty sure that is when the fight was over. One officer was wounded during the gunfight, suffering serious injury to his foot and toes. He is expected to return to duty.
It appears the subject may have been connected to as many as 10 other shootings in the area.
What are the lessons learned from this video?
Starting with Aaron’s article yesterday on radio communication in traffic stops, calling in the stop before making the stop is very important. If the officer hit the lights and then tries to call out the stop, he or she may not have enough time to call it in before the suspect jumps out and starts shooting. If you do not have GPS (or it is not working today), no one is going to know where you are when you call out “Shots Fired!”
Have a plan for what to do if a suspect jumps out suddenly when making a stop. You are automatically behind the curve since you are reacting to the suspect’s moves, but considering your options ahead of time is one way of quickening your response.
For the involved officers, things worked out. Another option that may (or may not) have been available is to rapidly back up the squad car if someone jumps out of the car to create distance.
If you are still in the car and the driver jumps out shooting, running them over is another alternative. A 3000 pound Ford beats a 155 grain hollowpoint for stopping power.
I think the officers did exceptionally well in very bad circumstances, and I am only throwing out these options as something to think about. I hope you never find yourself in similar circumstances, but if you do one of these alternatives may work better for you.
What are your thoughts?
Stay safe!
Richard is a police officer with a medium sized, central Florida department, and previously worked for a Metro-Atlanta agency. He has served as a field training officer, court officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, watch commander, commander of a field training and evaluation program, and general pain in the butt to management-types looking to cut training hours.
About Richard
Richard is the publisher of BlueSheepdog.com. In addition to writing here, he publishes GunsHolstersAndGear.com and is a regular contributor to places like Human Events, Police & Security News and The Firearm Blog.
Intense! Good example of multiple officer safety concerns.
This video couldn’t have expressed the importance of my thoughts from my radio procedures article yesterday any better. Like many police video systems, the audio doesn’t kick in until the lights actually turned on so maybe these officers had already completed radio traffic on the stop. Let’s hope so.
I agree with Richard; these officers responded very quickly to horrifying circumstances and completely jumped into this guy’s OODA cycle. This guy may have had the upper hand (first action) at first, but that only lasted 4.25 seconds from the time he exited to the time he turned to retreat. A long time in a gunfight, but incredibly short under the circumstances. And thank goodness, since he had the presence of mind and will power of action to engage both officers. The fact that he forgot to put his truck in park was a bonus in his retreat, as the return fire seemed to be that much more effective. I think I see him limping just before he gets in the truck.
Once the officers engaged the bad man, his attitude and course of action was remarkably different. And these officers did great to keep the heat on until this guy was done. He was so out of sound thinking that he didn’t realize his truck was pinned against the pole. Enough time for the officers to zero in their fire and stop his retreat completely.
And it appears that this bad man may have seen the last of his terror days thanks to these brave officers’ actions.
I’m not sure what kind of car goes rolling by at the end, since it had some kind of blinking lights in the back window. The driver’s door was open so it seems to be a detective car or something. Something to keep in mind when it hits the fan.
WOW intense firefight. Glad the officers are “OKAY” hope for speedy recovery to the wounded officer. Hope for a lot of pain for the idiot in the truck before he died.
One thing I worried about: The house behind the target. This occurred in a residential area. Not sure of a better course of action. That “3000 lb ford” may have been a better course of action, except you close distance which gives the “bad guy” better odds with a “lucky” shot, depending what kind of weapon that glass won’t provide much protection.
Again You guys be safe and always be on the RIGHT side of stuff like this.
[...] posted a video of a thug who decided to shoot it out with the cops. He very quickly exited his truck after the stop and [...]