Defensive shooting is used when someone is trying to do something to you that can cause death or serious bodily harm…
- Rape is considered serious bodily harm.
- The risks of disease also carry the possibility of death
- Stabbing can cause death.
- Shooting can cause death.
- etc.
SHOOT UNTIL THE PERSON STOPS TRYING TO DO WHATEVER IT WAS THAT THEY WERE DOING THAT CAUSED YOU TO HAVE TO SHOOT THEM.
If they fall to the ground dead, then they have stopped – but don’t assume they are dead. We talk about this in class.
If they run away, then the shooting accomplished the purpose.
If they are running away, there is most likely no more reason to keep shooting at them – unless there are other mitigating factors.
Call 911, and report it. Then call your attorney and say nothing until you have spoken with them.
I ran across this today. Here is a case where someone didn’t follow this advice. (The Mr. Bell in the story is not a relative of mine).
http://www.freep.com/article/20100604/NEWS01/6040313/Charges-in-stray-bullet-death
There are lessons to be learned here. He fired when he should not have. He blew it.
However, I do take exception to ONE aspect of the case that they are trying to make against him…
“I hope that this sends a clear message that firearms must be used with the utmost care at all times,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in issuing the charges.
and
Criminal defense lawyer Gail Benson said the charges against Bell are appropriate.“This is why we don’t allow vigilante justice,” Benson said. “It’s … dangerous for untrained people to start shooting at someone that far away.”
Now, read from this one…
http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_2dd02134-477f-11df-aba6-001cc4c002e0.html
Keep in mind that in the second incident, it was a trained police officer that fired on a fleeing subject that had already shot at him once (and had tried but failed once). Look at these statistics from this incident…
Jessop thought he’d fired seven or eight rounds into the fleeing vehicle.
It turned out he’d fired 14.
Six of those bullets hit Davis’ vehicle, including the one that drove through the passenger and driver’s seats and into Davis’ back.
After Davis’ vehicle struck a building and came to a stop, Jessop loaded his rifle and got in his car and moved closer.
Remember…
Officer Jessop stated at the time that he thought he fired 7 or 8 times.
He actually fired 14 times.
Of those 14, 6 hit the fleeing vehicle.
That means that 8 rounds potentially hit the three-year-old down the street or the lady cooking dinner in her kitchen.
What would have happened to Officer Jessop if his rounds had done as the rounds did in the first story?
One of those 6 hit and killed the perpetrator.
That means that 5 rounds could have potentially hit a passenger, sleeping child in the back seat, etc.
While the man in the first story blew it, even a highly-trained police officer has difficulty in this situation.
Nevertheless, the man in the first story should have stopped shooting after the threat to him was ended – unless there was still a threat to someone he had a duty to protect.
We discuss this in class, and use the second incident as an example of what NOT to say after a shooting incident, and some of the things that happen in a shooting incident.
The first incident is a clear illustration of when NOT to shoot. Only until the threat ends – however that end comes about.