Gallstones wrote:Too little information to go with the video, but illustrative all the same.
Pretty good tactics. I saw a few errors.
First, notice that when he comes out of the building his head is up and constantly on a swivel. He's actively looking for threats and none are visible because the assailants are hiding out of sight around the corner.
His response when the carjacker pulls the gun could go either way. He was lucky that the carjacker hesitated to shoot him long enough for him to draw and fire. This adds weight to my previous claims about being able to draw and fire on an armed assailant before he can react. The carjacker, in my estimation, was intent on jacking the car, not killing the occupant, so he hesitated and tried to use his gun to gain compliance. That lead to a fatal delay on his part because he wasn't really thinking about shooting whereas the victim knew instantly when the gun appeared what he had to do and he didn't hesitate at all. Note that this is confirmed by what the carjacker did as soon as the threat was turned on him: he tried to flee. It's EITHER flight OR fight, not both. It takes substantial training to perform a tactical retreat while still engaging the enemy. Special Ops teams spend years learning to "peel." It takes a lot of guts too because the instinct is, as we see in the video, to turn your back and run. You cannot engage the target and thereby either terminate the threat or keep him worrying about dodging bullets if your back is to him, so you have to face the attacker, use aimed fire and retreat backwards slowly enough that you don't trip over something and fall down. It's way tougher that you might think.
His most egregious mistake was when he exited his car. He approached the suspect, which is a BIG no-no tactically. Standard practice in any situation where you have just been attacked and had to shoot someone is to find COVER immediately from which you can keep the perp under observation while having maximum possible protection and STAY THERE until the police arrive and secure the assailant.
As we saw in the video there were TWO carjackers, one in grey and the other in dark clothing who dodged back around the corner as soon as the shooting started. While it's unlikely, he COULD have simply stepped around the corner and stopped to wait for the victim to come out in the open where he could be shot, which is exactly what the victim did. He was lucky the other guy ran instead.
I would have immediately taken cover behind the engine of the SUV with my pistol trained on the downed perp, to whom I'd be yelling "Don't move or I'll shoot again." I'd call for help both with my voice and by cellphone if I have one, and I would WAIT right there till the police showed up. When the got there I'd be shouting to them to cover the man down and I'd set my gun aside and prone out in front of the SUV, where I'm STILL under cover and wait for the police to come handcuff me before trying to explain things.
Other than that it was a very well executed defensive gun use. I'm pretty impressed actually.
Addendum: I'd have parked differently. I'd have backed in (as I always do) and given myself more room by putting the driver's door away from the wall. Moving the car farther from the door and wall gives you a better sight line and a bit more time to react.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
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