Just-released police footage from a December 18 of 2018 altercation shows just how quickly a police officer may have to react when surprised with a gun.
This video was shot in Noble, Oklahoma, during a traffic stop conducted by Sgt. Joshua Lester. The suspect, 37-year-old Layland Lewis Jr. of Norman, OK, pulled into a driveway, exited his vehicle, and initially complied with the officer before suddenly spinning around and pointing a gun straight into Sgt. Lester’s face.
With impressive reflexes, Lester was able to deflect the handgun and shoot the suspect three times. The suspect survived and is now facing felony charges.
Here’s the body camera as well as the dash camera footage that was just released (warning: graphic and NSFW):
Also for the record, here is the full 8-minute dashcam video released by Video Leak Police (the shooting takes place at about the 6:35 mark).
https://youtu.be/7mDJXomaxXU
The officer was clearly noticed the perp moving his hands to his jacket. That level of alertness may very well have saved his life.
I’m no expert but to me this is a good shoot. Glad the officer is ok and I hope the perp survives to stand trial.
Looked like a GREAT shoot, with an extra self-control bonus for not shooting the hapless kid that was running up to him way too soon afterward.
Holy Cow! You are not kidding. When I saw the kid running toward the cop, I was absolutely certain that the cop was going to shoot him. Kudos to the policeman for not shooting the kid!
The guy pulled a gun on the cop. 100% good shooting.
The cop had very good instincts. He saw the guy reaching in his jacket and the cop instantly had his hand on his gun as a precaution. Very smart and that moved saved him a 1/4 second but it was probably a significant 1/4 second.
Kinda disappointed it wasn’t a head shot to save the prison costs. The shooter is clearly a worthless POS.
Then that just causes the tax payers a hole lot more money.
Generally speaking, death is cheaper, as likability goes. That’s just a matter of adding up the lost lifetime earmings (not much, in a lowlife’s case), add a few bucks for loss companionship, if any, and possibly some punitive money.
With a grave injury, it’s all of the above, plus a lifetime of medical expenses. They’re apt to get it all, too, because the injured can show up for court, unlike the deceased.
that cop’s [likely] training and instinctive behavior probably saved his life…had he stood one step further back and just out of reach it might have resulted in an entirely different outcome…considering how much time had transpired some back-up would have been nice..
Noble OK is a suburb of a suburb of OKC. If there are 6 officers on duty at any given moment, I’d be surprised.
Dude on the porch behind the motorcycle should thank his guardian angel that he wasn’t perforated, as well. That officer acted with amazing awareness and speed… impressive.
Most impressive part of the whole incident – and that’s saying a lot, as the officer’s decisions and actions here were outstanding – is the officer’s presence of mind in not shooting the guy running at him immediately after shooting the perp.
And WTF was the idiot thinking? In the midst of gunfire, he just starts running toward the cop and presents an excellent target.
Definitely a good shooting. Too bad the dirt bag didn’t die on scene. Now the good folks of the state will have to pay all medical costs, court costs and incarceration costs.
Better that than let the dirt bag run around loose harming innocent people.
I just finished a book with the title, The Red Dot Club, by retired LASD investigator Robert Rangel. It’s a compilation of recollections by Los Angeles area police officers (many LASD and LAPD) of incidents during which they were shot and wounded by suspects. The first story is Rangel’s own shooting. Most of them left me with the impression that the bad guys’ primary goal was to kill the cops with escape an afterthought.
Rangel’s views on sentencing and firearms ownership would be popular here. Lock the most violent criminals up for a long time to deprive them of access to victims. Private citizens need guns to protect themselves because cops rarely can respond soon enough.
Yup, just look at the Steinle murder in San Francisco. People there are extremely pro illegal alien. This POS was guilty of numerous felonies including at least manslaughter. The jurors could have cared less about the crimes committed, just that the POS was a down trodden immigrant. This POS illegal is now wandering the street free because of the city and state sanctuary status.
Wow, fantastic situational awareness, reactions, and composure by LEO there! Brilliant job.
Seriously, that cop did everything exactly right.
Wow. The officer shot that bag guy so hard that he pixilated the dood’s face.
That is funny!
You, sir, win the Intertubez today!
Text book
Wonder what color?
No I don’t. Just kidding.
You wonder what color what? What color the three white people in the video were? They were white.
Now what?
Don’t you understand, Swarf? It’s okay to be raped and murdered so long as a white person is doing it. It only becomes bad if a non white is doing it. Duh.
Goodguys w/guns win again!
Always watch the hands.
This ∆
Sharp cop. Staying alert, watching suspects hands and staying close saved his life.
Layland f@#$ed up and paid for a valuable lesson.
Glad cop is ok and doesn’t have to work through justified killing. Glad Layland shot but alive. Glad the dumbass running toward the action wasn’t shot.
Wow. That happened fast!
Rick, think about that again, Wow, that happened fast. So many of these incidents do really happen that fast. And yet most of the comments from this site just bad mouth the cops. I, for one, are getting really tired of it.
Marty, been a while since we spoke. You know how it is. Unless there at least three videos. Two eye witnesses. One of which should be the cop hater’s mother. Oh, the cop should die too because he deserved it. It was unjustified. We’re undertrained buffons whose only desire is to take their guns. I’m beginning to think it’s sour grapes. We were paid to carry firearms every day and they couldn’t/wouldn’t do it. No shame in that. It’s not for everyone.
PMAC, I never thought about it like that. Trouble is, the vast majority of the law enforcement community are very pro gun, for all legal citizens. It’s only the political appointments (chiefs), and certainly not all of them, who are not. I could count on two hands the officers from my dept of 2000 who were anti gun, and most of the chiefs I worked under in the 31 years I was there, were also pro gun. For the few years I worked in patrol, I can’t even remember how many folks I came into contact with that were illegally in possession of a firearm who I cut loose with a warning the next cop they come across may not be so understanding. But, if it really is some king of jealousy, why in the hell don’t they bite the bullet and become law enforcement officers. I realize it really takes a certain kind of person who is willing to put up with the shitty hours, working holidays away from family, court on days off and victims of violent crime that tears your heart out. Not to mention incidents just like this. But my feelings are, put up or shut up.
True, not for everyone. Some people like to make money.
Yup, there is that, however many more are not making your kind of money? And, for those a regular pay check with good benefits is something to look forward to.
i agree with both of you and i wish there were a lot more honest cops here in australia. Most of the good ones are leaving the force now simply because they have had enough of the corruption and they dont want to enforce laws that are unlawful as well as seeing genuine criminals being let go because of cultural differences etc. the standards for entry into the police force have been lowered to where even with a fairly recent criminal history they will let you in…. yet they wont allow a civy to carry a gun to defend themselves with. most of our cops now are highly anti gun at least in the hands of civilians yet they want the latest and greatest for themselves.
If there was not the corruption that is in our force i would consider joining but the way it is there is no way i could plug along as many of the few honest cops left do just to reach retirement. I would feel duty bound to expose the corruption no matter my rank and i would collect evidence till i had enough to bust it wide open from the top down. there have been cops killed by other cops (with someone else, usually a small time crim, blamed) for doing exactly what i would do. One of those was Collin Winchester and he was on the verge of blowing one of the largest drug rings ever seen in australia which was run by cops. An uncle of mine was a federal cop and he knew the truth of what happened and it was not just him but also his wife and kids that were threatened if he spoke up.
Good cops i respect and have a lot of time for, bad cops i would not think twice about hanging from the highest tree i could find
Toni, sorry to hear how corrupt it is there. I totally agree, there should be zero tolerance for corruption in law enforcement. My department went a little overboard with the zero tolerance. The Internal affairs Unit would send sgts. in uniform to the 7-11 stores and see if they were offered free cups of coffee. Did the same thing to restaurants to see if they received discounted meals. They would warn the businesses to knock it off or they would put them on the lists where officers could no longer frequent. America has now seen how corrupt our upper echelon in federal law enforcement and intelligence have become. What a disappointment.
But I thought all cops were murderous dirtbags? That’s what some of TTAG’s finest told me anyways.
In all seriousness, well done officer!
Exactly, Matthew, thank you for pointing this out – that contingent seems to be awfully quiet today. While no single officer (or individual for that matter) will be perfect on any given day (though this officer is pretty much textbook), the notion that there is some far-ranging conspiracy by a wide swath of law enforcement to intentionally deprive us of 2A rights is off base.
Like any other cross-section of our workforce, there have been, are now and will be individual bad cops. And there are undoubtedly departments or agencies that are severely misguided politically or policy-wise, a terrible consequence of the left’s current influence on public policy; let’s make sure to place the blame where it properly lies.
Let’s not forget also that this cop’s actions in this instance were absolutely exemplary. He literally did nothing that could be criticized!
When has that ever slowed down the peanut gallery?
@jwm honestly, I can’t remember such a clear-cut case of “good cop” being reported on this site. There’s almost always something to nitpick.
This should be incorporated into training films to show recruits how it should be done. He did everything right and showed amazing self control.
Officer had just enough time to direct the perp to “keep your hands out of your pockets for me” (at least that’s what I think I heard), before the perp turned with pocket pistol in hand.
I also liked the officer’s presence after the shoot. He had two unknowns in or around the house, so he backed away, using the pickup as cover. Then approached and moved the perp’s gun, and retreated to a point where he could keep an eye on the whole scene. Very well done, as far as I can see.
‘
This is textbook situational awareness… A+ reaction time, and like folks have said above, he gets a gold star for not shooting the young man who ran up on him (i.e., he may well have been cleared of that, being run up on like he was).
If you managed to watch the whole video, you can see the cop subtley put his hand on his pistol, ready to draw, whenever either of the two mens’ hands disappear into something, or make a motion, or they go in and out of the door– he never dropped his alertness, despite apparently being calm and friendly.
Who knows why the man suddenly decided to do the unbelievably dumb thing of drawing on the police? But he got what he deserved, and even generously escaped with his life. Why the cop was there in the first place… well, who knows.
But, if anyone doesn’t think this is a “good shoot,” they’re just myopic and rationalizing some applied prejudice.
Do not draw on, or shoot, police. Be safe.
The POS had a warrant for armed robbery out of Cleveland county already. This guy was a definite danger to society. He wasn’t going to be taken in if possible. The young POS that ran up on the cop and almost got a retroactive abortion was the older POS’s son. A few days later he and his white trash sister were on the local news claiming their dad was shot unnecessarily and were claiming excessive force by the officer. Listening to their side of the story has you wishing the officer had cleaned out the whole nest of scum.
http://www.news9.com/story/39671949/suspects-family-speaks-out-after-noble-officerinvolved-shooting
“Why the cop was there in the first place… well, who knows.”
At the 10 second spot, you can see the motorcycle enter the intersection. Can’t tell if he made a right turn onto the road or was traveling through the intersection. OK has a helmet law for under 18-year-olds so that may have prompted the stop. Just a guess. But he saw something as the motorcycle passed that made him decide to wait for an opportunity to do a u-turn and follow.
Thanks both for your input… I guess we know now, that he had an outstanding warrant (and thus was probably known to local cops… the cop did stand talking to him for quite a bit). But, suddenly drawing on the officer is consistent with the behavior of a wanted man who knows he is going to be pinched if the cop calls it in. I have seen people react like nutjobs instantly, only to find out later that is was the immediate fear of being discovered, arrested, and the having to be processed (with all the time & expense & sacrifices like lost jobs etc., that go with it…). Makes sense that the guy gathered his nerve and gave it a try, if indeed he was wanted.
The family and “excessive force” claim… utterly ludicrous. But, families often stand behind their idiot family members in such times, blind to the obvious… seems that way. “What’d’ya have to shoot him for?!” Well, because he pulled a gun and… “But he was my dad!” And so on.
This cop, may he remember this, and never let his guard down. Good stuff. Thanks, fellas.
Play the youtube video at .25 speed using the gear icon, very clear the officer uses his experience to get the drop on the guy and the fake name.
This video makes an interesting case for open carry. Here is why:
With concealed carry, you need both hands for the fastest possible draw. (One hand to move your cover garment out of the way and the other hand to draw.) That means you do NOT have a hand available to block or deflect a thrust (of a fist, boot, knife, or handgun) from your attacker.
With open carry, you can draw with one hand at the fastest possible speed AND have your other hand available to block/deflect your attacker, as we saw in this video.
No it doesn’t. Yes the cop did pretty good. And it goes in the face of everything you’ve typed in some of your recent posts on “all it takes in a self defense situation”. This is why there is more to self defense than just shooting. If that cop tried to draw and shoot, they both would’ve been shot. The cop did a simple parry to get the perps gun off his centerline and was able to draw and return fire.
If this was with a concealed carry garment. There would’ve simply been some punches thrown after the gun was parried off to the side. Parry with the left hand, right cross to the face, while moving to the outside of the peeps shooting arm drawing and shooting on the move. Or some would’ve opted for a disarm after the gun was off target. Depends on the skill base of the cop/ccw person.
uncommon_sense said “the fastest possible draw”; what you describe is far from that. He didn’t say that concealed carry was completely unworkable.
He said it makes an interesting case for open carry…..no it doesn’t. He doesn’t know his ass from his elbow regarding gunfighting. Read some of his posts.
Oh-kay… you’re triggered by uncommon_sense for some reason so I’ll just leave this alone.
Good shoot, 100%. I’m honestly surprised he kept letting the kid go in and out of the house though.
Wonder where the shots landed? First I’d say we’re leg or pelvis the way it dumped the guy, not to mention the angle of the gun. Cop started firing the minute the muzzle cleared the holster.
Stupidly brazen move to just flat-out reach for a gun while the cops watching you. Shame the guy survived. I’m sure he’s a stand-up citizen about to make a breakthrough in his cancer research.
We’ll just file that one under play stupid games/win stupid prizes.
That draw and shot by the cop were lightning fast
The cop may have known the perps history and that put him on higher alert. He had three fingers on that gun the whole time he was talking to him. The deflection move was perfect. If he was further away it would have gone the other way as the perps did draw first.
Scary situation really, from beginning to end.
Definitely lucky to escape injury there.
The perp had two good chances to shoot the officer – but didn’t.
First – instead of firing as soon as his gun was indexed towards the officer, the perp extended the gun into the reach of the officer. If he had fired before he extended, or taken a step backward while extending, he could’ve gotten the first hits in.
Second – after the officer deflected the muzzle, and had control of it, he released it to grip his own gun two-handed. In the interim, perp was unfettered, still with control of his gun, the muzzle oriented to the officer, when the officer began shooting.
Makes me wonder if the perp’s gun was operational.
Lessons here – don’t extend your weapon into another’s control area, and if you have control of your adversary’s muzzle, don’t give it up until he gives it up.
Excellent point. In my day it was called a speed rock. Pistol fired from waist level. Strong foot slightly to rear. (To maintain center of balance.) Lean to rear to elevate muzzle so impact is in vitals. Spoken from the officer’s point of view. Sounds complicated, but it’s a simple ballet. All has to be performed simultaneously. Just practice. Don’t release the bad guys weapon, but don’t have your weak hand out there when you practice. “For training purposes only.. At combat speed.” For you guys with porting. Get ready for a face full of muzzle blast.
Wunder 9? Neutralized threat but just.
From what I saw the perp dropped like a sack of shit. I’d say he was stopped very effectively.
Good training and reaction by the young officer. I am all for concealed carry, but this guy makes we law abiding citizens look bad. Good shot officer.
A guy with a warrant out on him for armed robbery who pulls a weapon on a police officer is, by definition, not a law-abiding citizen.
Very cool. I especially liked the other asshole’s reaction when the cop pointed his gun on him.
It was his son. That would be a normal reaction for a son. I doubt his kids new he was wanted for armed robbery.
And this is why body/dash cams are important for cops as well. This video is excellent evidence that this is an open and shut good shoot.
maybe hell get staph or mrsa or pneumonia in the hospital or something good like that
Looked like the bad guy had him but something Fcked up with the gun, the cop really didn’t slap the gun away. The cops hand was not on the bad guys weapon when the bad guy tried to pull the trigger. It may haven been an airsoft? Don’t know but that cop was cool man cool.
righteous shoot, and good shooting too.
but I think there is a pajama boy writer at “ask men” who would have advised the cop stop using “obsolete skills” and instead to “mediate”, or “meditate”, or whatever.
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