They had already tried OC and it failed. From the linked article:
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The officers initially had tried to subdue the man with pepper spray as he brandished a knife and threatened people...
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And
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The officers tried to hit him with pepper spray, they did, no effect. He continued on and he kept escalating his actions.
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So OC hadn't worked. Why not try a little tincture of time? Lots of other cops on scene, so why not back off and wait? Here's why:
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But when he grabbed an elderly man...
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Okay, so you've got a violent person with a knife who has already shrugged off the pepper spray. And now knifeguy has just grabbed a bystander, so there's no time to futz around with lesser options: the creep has to be stopped
RIGHT NOW or the innocent person dies.
It's impossible to tell from the article whether the other cop was shot by a pass-through or by a miss, but given that the perpetrator was DRT and the elderly victim uninjured, I'm betting it was a pass through. Be interesting to see details on it, if they come out.
From the article:
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"They were in very close proximity," Weis said. "The officer who was hit in the vest had actually had hands on the individual trying to disarm him. The other officer, in fear of both his partner's life and the innocent victim, he used his weapon, striking both the offender and his partner officer."
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That sure sounds like a pass-through. (And like a wild rodeo...)
And here's the
tactics and training component: watch your backstop and your angles. You are responsible for
every round that leaves your firearm, not just the ones that hit your intended target. It would very much suck to kill someone you loved while trying to save the life of someone else you care about.
pax