29 Oct 98

This just in from Africa:

“One (of our students) shot an attacker armed with a knife in the upper leg, breaking his femur with a 115gr COR-BON, dropping the guy immediately.” I don’t know if the leg shot was intentional or a trigger jerk. In any event, the fight was stopped quickly.

Just in from the Phillipeans:

“When the gang arrived at the immediate vicinity of their objective,
_______ saw their intent and took cover behind the concrete doorframe of
his house’s entrance. The bad guy unleashed a volley of fire in
_______’s direction. ________ reacted as he had been trained and from
cover, fired what he thought was a double tap at the hostile. He then
moved to another point of cover and waited for the gang to initiate
entry to his house. After a yet undetermined period of time, he heard
no signs of the gang and peeked at where the last known location of
the assailants was. The henchmen were gone and the boss lay dead on
the ground.

The deceased was on the order of battle of the local police district.
Apart from being investigated for his gambling activities, he had
outstanding warrants for the murders of three people – a cop, an
ex-cop and a civilian. No one in the neighborhood had the guts to go
against him, as he is a relative of some prominent local officials. He
was also feared because of the large automatic rifle that was his
trademark.

When _______ gathered the empty brass around his first point of cover,
he retrieved four shells. This surprised him as he recalled firing
only a double tap. Likewise, his vague recollection of the gunfight
was the mantra going in his head – index – target – squeeze – index –
target – squeeze. He faintly recalls the sound of bullets whizzing by.
All four rounds hit the suspect in the chest. The group measured
barely over 3 inches and the backside of the perp was split open.
Pistol was a 1911 pattern .45. Ammunition was 230 gr, copper washed
LRN. Distance from _______’s cover to the perp’s corpse was about 7-8
yards.

Lessons:

You do as you have trained. This sounds like a cliché these days, but
this incident has reinforced that for me at least. That mantra of
index-target-squeeze is a common trait of all the guys in the club. It
is ingrained from Day 1. Also, use of cover is something that is done
every time we train. Our policy is that you only stand in the open
when you are zeroing your gun or learning/polishing some skill before
shooting a scenario. Otherwise, all shots and instructions in training
scenarios are fired/carried out from behind cover or on the move, with
an instructor literally breathing down your neck and hurling very
disturbing comments at you.

Decisive marksmanship is far more impressive than sophisticated
weaponry. _______ was severely outgunned. I don’t think anyone will
argue that a 1911 against 6 automatic rifles is a favorable situation.
Yet _______ scored fatal hits on his target while the opposition sprayed
and prayed. Also, ______ had no extra magazines at hand. He was
relaxing in his house and had his pistol around for good measure, but
his spares were far away. Also, his ammo was not what many consider to
be ideal defensive ammunition. This got us to think, “What can we do
with just one load of ammunition.” Many of us are practicing harder
now. We won’t have spares strapped to our butts 24 hours a day.

Have a back-up plan or other options available. ______ was wise to
seek a second point of cover after the first exchange of gunfire. The
enemy had weapons that could defeat the front wall of his house. He
was smart to fall back to a second point where the enemy would have to
pass through a narrow door while carrying a long gun. David had,
knowingly or otherwise, created a kill zone in his favor, which gave
him and his gun the advantage. The door allowed the entry of only one
assailant at a time, and restricted the mobility of the long guns they
carried.

_______’s survival has reinforced the value of the training we receive
from the club’s management. The lessons learned from this encounter
are nothing new. They have been echoed in numerous classes and
magazine articles around the world. _____’s apparent heroism and valor
is apparently nothing more than a desire to survive coupled with a
competent grasp of the skills required to fulfill this goal. Sounds
simple enough, but is realized only after tons of hard work, and
proper instruction. Had _______ remained complacent with the meager
training that the city police provides, the outcome of this encounter
would very well be different.”

/John