Police Ready Challenge #5

July 20, 2009

You are chasing a suspect down the street after he has robbed a bank. You have not taken your gun out of your holster, but are thinking about reaching for it when the suspect suddenly stops about 30 feet from you and points his firearm directly at you.

What would you do in this situation?

1) Dive for cover if there was some available?
2) Unholster your weapon and fire straight and true?
3) Holler at the people on the street to duck?

Based on your selected option, here are brief descriptions that explains the outcome of each option.

1) This is likely your best option if there is cover close by. If not, your only other option is to retreat and call for help. This ensures everyone’s safety.
2) This is an option, however in the time it takes you to unholster your weapon, you could be dead.
3) This is also an option, but it may prompt the gunman to start firing at you and if he misses, he could harm innocent bystanders.

The gunman for some unknown reason spins away from you, grabs a nearby child and uses her as a shield as he is backing away from you.

What would you do in this situation?

1) Call for backup immediately, retreat and keep the man in your sight?
2) Try to get off a shot at the suspects head?
3) Try to negotiate with the man to let the hostage go?

Based on your selected option, here are brief descriptions that explains the outcome of each option.

1) This is actually your best option, as it would then remove the danger of anyone else, including you getting shot. It would allow the hostage negotiation team to arrive and/or a sniper to be put into place.
2) Shooting at that distance would only work if you knew for certain you would hit him. The idea in shooting would also be to disable, not kill the suspect if possible. However, under the stress of the situation, there is no guarantee that you will. In the time it would take for you to draw and fire, the suspect could kill the child.
3) While you could try to negotiate with the man, as you are retreating, it would be best to leave that sort of thing to an expert negotiator. You may upset the suspect, and trigger him to do something drastic.

Joshua Mok
Police Ready
www.PoliceReady.com