The rabbi is hard at work doing his usual post-incident analysis. We’ll share that video ASAP. Meanwhile, from my POV, the encounter illustrates a number of important points. For one thing, it’s amazing (but not entirely unexpected) that the perp, one Lamar Moore, considers the police desk cover rather than concealment. In other words, he shoots over it rather than through it. Mind you, he was shooting a 12-gauge loaded with buckshot. Anyway, from the defender’s point-of-view, genuine cover (a bullet resistant barrier) is always better than concealment (the bad guy can’t see you), anything is better than nothing—especially when the shooter considers nothing something . . .
“Two other sergeants were down that hallway returning fire at Moore,” Assistant Chief Chester Logan told reporters at Detroit Police HQ. ‘We believe this is the reason why he backs up.'”
Makes sense. It’s also worth noticing that only three cops out of the original four at the desks by the back of the room engage Moore. What happened to the fourth policemen to the right of the screen? In any case, Cmdr. Brian Davis, the main police combatant, gets into the fight.
Unfortunately, Davis puts his head up over the desk at roughly the same point two maybe three times. By not popping up in different places, Davis has revealed his location to Moore—with disastrous consequences.
Cop number two, Sgt. David Anderson, “gets it.” Ish. He fires three times (one or more may have hit the perp) and then gets the hell out of Dodge, retreating to the other desk closer to the camera.
When Davis first returns fire, he first shoots with two hands (:17). Clearly, it’s not an aimed shot. His second shot is one-handed (:21) and only slightly less wild. Davis’ third and perhaps fourth shots are also one handed, as he’s falling backwards.
This highlights two facts: you really have to aim to hit something and it’s a good idea to learn how to shoot off-balance, one-handed. When was the last/first time you did that?
After a point blank exchange, Davis attempts to throw a wastebasket at Moore (:41). Moore has shot the gun out of his hand, blowing off at least two of Davis’ fingers. It’s amazing that Davis continues aggressive action, rather than making an immediate strategic retreat. Adrenaline, testosterone, the will to live and the fighting spirit will do that to a guy. Well, some guys.
As the narrator indicates, Moore was mortally wounded for at least ten seconds before he went down. It’s a stark reminder that “stopping power” is a myth. It ain’t over ’til its over, even when you think it’s over.
“There are some tremendous acts of heroism in this video – to see officers perform in a spectacular way,” Police Chief Ralph Godbee told officer.com. “It’s important to understand what they were trained to do. They are trained first of all to cover, then to conceal, and then engage the target.”
If only it were that easy. More info as it becomes available.
What’s amazing to me is that someone could suddenly, and unannounced, open fire with a SHOTGUN and fail to kill anyone. He must have been a Three Gun sport shooter 😉
Amazing video. Most certainly illustrates why 11 rounds is not enough for self defense.
Wow, at that range and moving around the cover/concealment, it’s almost like a knife fight more than a gun fight. My knife doesn’t run out of rounds, but my potential-10-round-limited-by-law magazines sure would. I’d say higher-capacity 9mm handguns just got some promotion over low-capacity .45s. Suddenly I want one of those 33-rounders.
Reports indicated that Moore was shooting a 20 gauge. While catching load of birdshot in the chest will ruin your whole day, the police were lucky he wasn’t using a more powerful gun. As for the police “marksmanship,” it looks to me like they were spraying and praying. But I give ’em props for this much — they showed some guts.
They did show some guts but one or more of these guys could have easily shot one of their own or a civvy quite easily with the tactics they used. I am not saying I would be a John Rambo or anything but they looked at matched against this guy. They were lucky he did not have a 12 gauge or worse.
I know that these officers were under extreme pressure and that no one knows how they will react in a gun fight, but as Ralph pointed out it was all spray and pray. Even if they had the hi cap mags, they were just hoping for a hit without aiming. I’m not trying to say that I would have done any better, but after this video you’ve got a better chance of surviving it you can stand your ground and make that first shot count. If these officers had 45’s, any first shot hit would have ended this instantly. If they had 9mm then it could have taken multiple shots (as we all know 45’s have much greater instant stopping power than 9’s). I’m willing to bet that Massad Ayoob would have dropped this fool quickly, but he has the experiencce and skills that the rest of us lack. This video will make a great training tool for officers thru out the country, as they will hopefully learn some new tactics on how to handle a similar situation .
I just gotta know where did the officer who hid under the front desk go. I can understand cover and concealment, but this person’s tactics are unsatisfactory. I hope this officer has quit the department and is looking for a less dangerous job. I wouldnt want to partner up with this officer. It would end up being every man or woman for themselves. I especially dont wouldnt want this officer working the front desk anymore, the terminator might walk in and shoot the place up with this police protection at the desk. Im not trying to be mean or anything, but Im calling it like I see it.
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