CAVEAT I am not a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). Good LEOs deserve all the respect we can give them.
Two robbers got into a gun battle with LEOs from several south Florida agencies.
The robbers are dead.
Unfortunately, so are two innocent victims.
UPDATE: Late in the day, a police spokesperson said the reason the cops fired so many bullets at the UPS truck — some of which hit the truck and its occupants — was because the LEOs feared the robbers would start shooting at nearby innocent civilians. Given they already shot a store clerk, the cops may have been justified in their belief.
IT ALL STARTED when the robbers burglarized a jewelry store in Coral Gables, a suburb of Miami.
A man was shot by the robbers. He survived and is recovering (as this is keyed) in a local hospital.
The robbers escaped in a stolen vehicle that soon was wrecked.
They then high jacked a UPS truck with its driver and led LEOs on a chase that extended over two counties.
A traffic jam on a major road at rush hour brought them to a stop and the LEOs caught up with the UPS truck.
Someone opened fire.
The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and all the departments involved in the chase are investigating.
In the gun fight, the UPS driver and a man in a nearby car were killed.
The question is: Whose bullets killed the driver and the innocent man?
The story was widely reported by local and national media, complete with videos of the shoot-out.
According to one report, “hundreds” of shots were fired.
From what I witnessed (via a local tv outlet) all the LEOs were firing semi-automatic side arms, pistols. I saw no rifles.
I know some people are very accurate with a semi-auto hand gun. My son-in-law can shred a target’s bulls eye. My first born, a LEO, always passes his marksmanship tests.
On the other hand, there are people (this scrivener included) who couldn’t hit the proverbial barn door from more than 20 yards (60 feet/18-plus meters) with my Taurus 926 revolver. The Taurus’ barrel, three inches, is as long as most LEOs handguns, and “size DOES make a difference.”
One of the first things a shooter learns is NEVER SHOOT INTO A CROWD.
That is not multiple choice or an admonishment that only applies “sometimes.” Never fire into a crowd.
There is ONE exception.
The exception is when a highly trained sharpshooter with a long gun — a rifle — with possibly a scope can get a clean shot; a shot that won’t go astray due to environmental conditions; one that the bullet will not go beyond the target to strike someone behind the target.
Most law enforcement departments have such people.
Since the robbers were immobilized — stuck in traffic — why couldn’t the LEOs on scene have waited for a sharpshooter?
What about a LEO with a rifle in his (or her) car? According to my son, not all cops are equipped with rifles and not all are sharpshooters.
Had they waited, instead of firing at the truck, perhaps — only perhaps — only the robbers would have died. Perhaps the robbers and the UPS driver if we can assume the robbers shot him, but not the man in the car.
Hind sight is a wonderful thing. We see all the things we “could’a, would’a, should’a” done. But hind sight also teaches us what to do if something similar happens again.
I have no idea if the bullet that killed the two innocent people came from a robber's gun or from a LEO’s weapon.
I have no problem with the cops “taking out” the robbers; when the robbers fired at the cops they signed their own death warrant. The could have exited the UPS vehicle with hands high and everyone might have lived.
What happened on a south Florida highway needs to be carefully examined and how to avoid a similar situation needs to be practiced.
No one knows how they will react in a crisis situation, but all LEOs should be aware of the options available to them.
Lesson learned, but at too high a price.
Sources
Local 10 (ABC) news: https://tinyurl.com/r7gfxyk (video_
NBC news: https://tinyurl.com/ufkx2xj (video)
Miami Herald: https://tinyurl.com/ud3sjn2
US News: https://tinyurl.com/wxvhg3j
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