Officer Slips On Ice and Accidentally Shoots Suspect

aurora police discharge

Image courtesy of The Denver Post

Winter brings with it a number of dangers. Here in the mountains of Colorado not to far from my home I got a reminder when reading the local news. Earlier in December 2015 a police office with the Aurora Police Department was confronting a criminal when he slipped on some ice.

In the effort of trying to regain his balance he pulled the trigger. (Full story here from Denver Post).

When you are in a training situation outdoors most of us are careful to consider our backstop and the general region where we intend to train to be sure of the safe environment. How often do you look at your own footing? Make sure you have solid ground.

For life threatening emergencies this suggests a few things. When you draw your firearm the hand and the gun need to be a solid extension of your body that isn’t effected by other things happening to your body. Advanced military and federal law enforcement agents train this by doing drills in which one or more people attempt to knock over the agent holding the training weapon. It takes a lot of practice to maintain your grip and safe grip when you are trying to keep balance and even when you are trying to stop your descent when you begin to fall.

Watch out for that ice!

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