Las Vegas police released video of two of their officers engaged in their 13th gun battle of the year on July 24th. In the dramatic video, the officers trade shots with William Alfredo Chafoya, 37. In addition to hitting Chafoya, his female companion also caught a round in the wrist during the exchange. Officers then applied a tourniquet to Chafoya, saving his life after an apparent femoral artery hit.
The video released by the LVMPD shows the shootout from multiple angles. It also showed just how chaotic a gun battle can quickly become. In the end, the male suspect earned himself 19 fresh bullet holes.
Chafoya, police say, had fled from a traffic stop in a stolen Honda. After a brief chase, he crashed and police rolled up right behind him.
In the video, you can see how trying to apply a tourniquet can be difficult. Blood makes things slippery and it took at least two attempts before the officers could properly stop the bleed.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the story and the video:
A Metropolitan Police Department field training officer and his trainee fired 26 shots during a shootout in a North Las Vegas residential neighborhood.
William Alfredo Chafoya, 37, was struck by 19 shots fired by the officers in the Monday confrontation. Ashley Elizabeth Olivetti, 31, who was with Chafoya, was struck in the arm by an officer’s round during the crossfire, Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo said at a briefing Thursday. Initial reports said she was shot by Chafoya.
Fasulo said Chafoya fired five shots during the encounter — at least one into the air and then in the direction of the officers. …
Both suspects are in stable condition at University Medical Center and have been booked into the county jail in absentia, Fasulo said.
The incident began about 5 p.m., as officers Tyler Hebb, 35, and Brandon Foster, 22, were doing an investigative follow-up on a nonfatal shooting that occurred Sunday. In that case, a bicyclist was shot in the calf by someone in a stolen Honda.
Here’s the video. CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT AND LANGUAGE
One final takeaway from the story and video concerns tourniquets. The average civilian will never approach a bad guy to render life-saving aid. Especially when there’s any chance that the criminal may continue an earlier attack.
However, it might be a loved one or other innocent person who catches a round in a bad situation. Having a tourniquet on hand can make all the difference between life and death in the aftermath of a gun battle. [ED: Read Jon Wayne Taylor’s ‘Combat Medic: What to Do if Someone Else is Shot’ here and former EMT Nick Leghorn’s ‘3 First Aid Tools Every Shooter Should Have In Their Range Bag’ here.]
If you don’t have a tourniquet handy on a daily basis — on your person, in your backpack or in your vehicle —  it’s worth spending  a few bucks to change that.
Cops rendering first aid to a bad guy they just shot?
Don’t worry, this will be taken care of internally when the time is right. These cops will be quietly culled from the herd. The blue always self-heals.
In the mean time, the blue will virtue-signal to the non-blue folks this rare act of kindness towards a bad guy.
That first officer’s body camera was invaluable. (sarc)
Pretty amazing. Interesting place to keep his tourniquet. Does show how fast you pump out your blood with a femoral hit. This guy most certainly would not have made it to the hospital without the tourniquet. Very surprising too; most of the time, in my experience, the officers just cuff the perp and wait for the ambulance to arrive, rendering no aid at all.
Often times not letting an ambulance come because the scene isn’t secure.
Yeah, it’s startling how much volume & pressure comes from a compromised artery.
We were taught by a salty air-assault medic in CLS school that if the meat you’re tying-off doesn’t scream, you’re either not doing it right or he’s already in shock.
Also, that wipes aren’t just for barrels & butts; blood doesn’t just rinse away if it stops moving.
It was an enlightening course, even the powerpoints were lively with detailed anecdotes & field-expedient “training” footage.
20 hits out of 26 rounds, lit appears the LV police spend time at the range.
er I’m not sure the 1 that hit a non-target counts
Somebody got at least 1/2. If it weren’t a slug from thug’s gun, she likely barely slowed one if it landed on target anyways, from the looks of that tweaker physique.
Still, I wonder who got the high score there; oldcop, or newcop?
The NYPD would count it, even if it was the only hit. They call it their “objective competition rate.”
I’m not LEO, just a regular citizen. But I can guarantee that MY tourniquet will only be used on me, friend or family.
NOT someone I just shot in self defense. As long as they’re able to move they are a threat to me.
If they’re still a threat shouldn’t you still be shooting until they’re not?
There is always that one tough guy that has to tell himself this. Until you have some kid screaming for his mother in front of you because you put a bullet in him. If you are human you will help him whether he deserves it or not.
Not a chance if he attacked me, though if I have enough presence of mind I’ll toss the TQ to his mom while I get the hell out of there before calling 911.
Sounds like a pretty whacky scenario either way, though.
” Until you have some kid screaming for his mother in front of you because you put a bullet in him.”
Then a few more rounds in the mouthy little bastard should shut his trap for good… 🙂
(If you haven’t noticed, I don’t particularly like kids…)
Neither officer gloves up before getting his hands covered in the perps blood ?
Time for a battery of disease screenings for the perp and the officers.
Yeah, adrenaline spikes limit that sort of higher level thinking.
When this video surfaced on another website I was pretty surprised by it.
The cops around here only have a TQ for themselves or a fellow officer. Suspects and bystanders wait for EMS or use what they have and it’s self or buddy aid (Except suspects obviously. They’re handcuffed so no self-aid for them).
If I have to shoot a BG in self defense, I will only apply a tourniquet to him if he has a neck wound.
*Fist-Bump* 😉
Another snot rocket to wipe up…
My snot ejection bar is a lot higher
How many here think the cops would have used the tourniquet if the perp’s girlfriend wasn’t there?
Hit by 19 rounds and is in stable condition… just your friendly reminder that whatever caliber handgun you have, it sucks.
LV cops carry the deadly .9mm Glock. 🙂
I would have let him bleed out.
Have some pity for the poor taxpayers who are going to have to pay for his medical, incarceration and his anchor babies.
So 9mm from a Glock… Is that more deadly than 9mm from a Barreta, Colt, CZ, etc? Just curious.
Less actually. Glock 17 is 4.48 inch barrel while a CZ75 is 4.6 and M9 is 4.9. It will do more than a Colt duty gun because the only double stack 9mm they ever made was the Colt 2000 which didn’t work and couldn’t hit anything when it did.
As far as ems/ fire staging until the scene in secure , that came from the EMS side not Leo .
When I got hired on the FD many moons ago we never staged , I’ve been o/s before the cops tons of times, twice while the shooter ( killers) were still there .
The whole staged thing came from our s.o.g.
As an LT it’s still my call, if the scene looks safe , like outside , daylight , calm people , no active fights or weapon and so,on .
Any video of the cops letting Jose Guerena bleed out for an hour while physically restraining EMT’s trying to help him?
Lots of interesting observations to be made in this video:
Conflicting commands: “Freeze!” “Don’t Fucking Move!” “Get your hands up!”
Cop (driver) exits car, unholsters and promptly sweeps his partner as they both chase after perp.
Shooting to slide-lock, then fumbles up a tactical reload, rather than just doing a speed reload.
Noted above – getting perps blood all over hands, rather than gloving up first (if gloves available?)
All easy to armchair – but stuff happens in the midst of chaos.
He. Was. Running. Away!??!!!?? Wtf are you talking about?
“Im dying” screams the dumb shit who just ran and shot at the police.
19 hits and still alive, wow.
He chose poorly.
Of all the negative comments I’m reading I just gotta say I thought they did a good job, they neutralized the threat kept him alive and all the officers got to go home at the end of the day.
Yes Ryan, I agree. A broken clock is also right twice a day.
I too was impressed with the officers’ professionalism, not only for applying the tourniquet, but for hitting more often than not.
Wow.. i know you hear it all the time but DAMN the femoral artery is like a fire hose..
Props to the cops. This is the behavior we should expect.. i guess its sorta sad we are surprised by it.
Yeah, that dude wasn’t just leaking he was pouring out blood.
this seems like a good training point for my next cpr/1st aid class about the importance of getting a tourniquet on quickly and skillfully under duress.
I may have to find me an ankle carry tourniquet also.
That looked like a standard combat application tourniquet.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/02/foghorn/3-first-aid-tools-you-should-have-in-your-range-bag/
“Alfredo Chafoya”
Wasn’t that a Peckinpah movie?
19/26 on the shooting, then patching the guy up after he was down. Commendable on both counts.
19 hits and he still made it? What did they hit asides from one artery in the leg? 18 shots to his toe or what? It’s nice that 19 out of 26 shots hit, but shouldn’t a suspect be dead after 19 hits? At least some of them should have hit center mass or head…
Maybe they had .9mm guns
Well statistically speaking 80ish% of gun shot wounds are survived. So. No, I’m not surprised, and you shouldn’t be either or you’ll die of shock if you keep these preconceptions going into a gunfight…
They may have shot him a couple extra times while he was on the ground… but wow damn that guy is lucky. Good for the officer who provided the tourniquet he should get an award or commendation or something. You don’t see the police render aid often and on top of it this guy was gushing blood and the officer just wades in.
I am sure I will take flak for this.
Good to see they treated a citizen. After he has been disarmed and he is no longer a threat he should be treated like anyone else. It amazes me to see the cops leave a bleeding citizen on the ground. The military do not do this.
Watch the video of London cops shoot the Killers of Lee Rigsby. As soon as the suspects are down and are no longer a threat they bring out a trauma pack and administer first aid. If for no other reason you will want to interrorgate, opps I mean question them.
If you carry a gun you should know how to treat a GSW.
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