Law Enforcement Questions For John O'Neil

if you legally carry a pistol, you need to practice to keep up your skills.  cant get to the range, you can practice at home using the bullite system.

laserammo

make sure your children and you have a chance against some of the scum of the earth.  Pedophiles, rapists, and your average creep.  

this personal alarm system has been featured on news programs because it works.

alarmwear 

Want to attend one of our seminars?  Send us an e-mail letting us know.  We will contact you with the information.

Use this contact form: contact

John O'Neil

Question # 3

I would like to know what a person should do if they had to shoot another person who was trying to harm them?  Should they stay and help the person?  Should they just leave them and drive to the nearest police department to report what happened?  This is something I would like to know.  Thank you,  Debra Manning, Florida

Answer 

This type of question is the reason I think it is important that some classroom training on subjects like this should be mandatory.  This is not saying anything against you Debra, it is showing that this subject should be included in CCW training.  This subject is important for every person who carries a lethal weapon.

I want to go over this subject so that everyone can understand what I am saying. I will use a numbered list to do it properly.

1. Make sure the person you shot cannot harm you.  Move their weapon away from them or take control of it.  If a crowd has begun to gatherer, pick-up their weapon and keep it under your control.  If someone in the crowd steals the weapon, you cannot substantiate your story that the other person had a weapon. I have seen this happen on the streets of Florida.
2. Take a good accounting of the scene, what time of day, sunny, cloudy,  things that can help you with your story.  What did the person do to make you shoot them?
3. Make sure there is no other person around that might be with the person you shot.  Scan around the scene and make sure you are safe from others. Keep you weapon out until you know you are safe from the attacker or others.
4. If there are any other people who saw what happened, try and get their names and ask them if they will stay until police arrive.  A good witness can help you a lot if they can collaborate your story.
5. Call the police on your cell phone or ask some person at the scene if they will contact the authorities.  
6. Unless you hold a 9th degree black belt, don't try and help the person you shot.  If they are not hurt bad, they will still have some fight in them and will try and hurt you.
7. If an innocent person has been hurt by your shooting, you should do what you can do to help them until the authorities arrive.
8. When the police arrive on the scene, make sure your weapon is holstered and NOT in your hand.  Also, make sure you do not have any item in you hand that is shiny that might make the officers think you are holding something that could harm them.
9. Tell the officers what happened.  I am told by attorneys that the person should not speak to the police at all.  They have their job, and the officer has their job to do.  I have been though more shooting incidents than most officers will ever see during their carrier in law enforcement.  I always wanted to know what happened.  I would stay with the victim even if they went to the hospital.  I wanted to make sure they were the victim, and not the aggressor.  A police officer wants to know what happened do make one person shoot another person.  Was it self-defense or was it a drug deal gone bad.  Most officers will help a victim during this difficult time but, they only want to know what happened so they can do their job.   Yes, they will enter what you say on the incident report but, the average officer will be on your side if it is a true self-defense incident. 

   ---