To shoot when you mean it

Learning to shoot for your life

Cops must assess danger and act quickly


AUGUSTA, Ga. — Imagine you're a deputy sent to investigate a shouting match between a husband and wife. When you walk into the couple's living room, the husband is standing three feet from his wife holding a steak knife.


Do you shoot him?


Now imagine you're startled awake in the dead of night by the sound of breaking glass and you see a stranger in your hallway. Or what if that stranger walks through an unlocked door in the middle of the day?


Do you shoot him?


In either instance, Georgia and South Carolina law would probably support your decision to shoot. But that split-second decision - shoot or don't shoot - will either alter your life forever or possibly become the last decision you ever make.


In the past few weeks, Augusta has seen two instances of what appear to be lethal self -defense. On Aug. 20, Superior Court Judge Carlisle Overstreet shot and killed a man investigators say was breaking into Overstreet's house. On Sept. 6, a deputy shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at him outside a Washington Road restaurant, investigators say.


Georgia law gives law enforcement and civilians equal rights to protect themselves with deadly force. The difference can be in the amount of training behind that decision.


A parking lot mugging or a late-night burglar is a lethal situation that a citizen might find himself in someday. A deputy, though, starts every shift with the real possibility he will make a life-or-death decision.


It's impossible to fully prepare for that fateful moment, but firearms instructors such as Lt. Mike Riley with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, have several training tools to save deputies' lives.


"We don't go 50/50 in a gunfight," Riley said.


A deputy has to be able to instantly judge a situation and decide when to shoot in a split-second. Deputies train to make fast decisions at the gun range by firing at steel pop-up targets. The targets are either circle- or octagon-shaped and the deputies have to decide which one to shoot based on prior instruction.


The true test, though, comes when you're staring down the barrel of a gun and the adrenaline starts pumping.


Marc "Animal" MacYoung is a self-described street fighter who grew up on the streets of Los Angeles. He uses his life experiences to teach others how to avoid dangerous situations and methods of self-defense if they are attacked.


He also speaks from personal experience about the physical and emotional responses that follow killing someone.


"Quite frankly, people will be terrified of you," he said.


MacYoung said in a life-or-death situation, time and space are distorted. There's a "hyper-focus" on the threat and someone who is 10 feet away might seem within inches of you. Time slows down and the brain fails to pick up on almost anything but the threat.

We used to call this "tunnel vision", it is involved in other things besides shootings and can get you killed...keep looking.

That can lead to inconsistencies in your story when you're questioned immediately after the death and give the appearance of lying, MacYoung said. Immediately after killing someone, there are shakes, sometimes vomiting and even feelings of euphoria that you survived the situation.


Weeks, months, or even years later, people will flash back to that moment and often wrestle with guilt and doubt. It's also a moment that others will define you by, said MacYoung, who points to Wyatt Earp as an example. The famed lawman died an old man but his entire life is remembered for 30 seconds at the OK Corral.


MacYoung would rather live with his demons, though, than not live at all.


Teaching people to pull the trigger is Aaron Rote's job as a National Rifle Association firearms instructor. Many people'sreactions at the prospect of killing someone are self-doubt and revulsion, he said.


But place someone in a situation where they have to protect the family, and the feelings change,


The "mama bear" mentality comes out with women, he said.

Someone recently asked me about purchasing a gun for self defense.  I made some suggestions on a type of weapon and I also told this person to get to a range for training, etc.  But one thing I emphasied was there was no "shot them in the leg" or "shoot to wound".  Use of deadly force is exactly that, deadly.  Get over the fact you may kill someone if you shoot them. 

But there were some great quotes from this article:

Guns don't kill people, proper sight alignment, grip, trigger squeeze, breathing, and practice kill people. If your not training with your weapon more then the department or state mandate then you might as well throw rocks when the moment counts. All ways train like it's real and train like your life depends on it... because one day it will!

Well said.

I shoot to go home at night, and stop the threat. Two in the chest and one in the head.

when in doubt empty the mag!

As the old saying goes, "Better judged by 12 than carried  by 6"