SC: Tragic Homeowner Shootings Can be Avoided

A police officer shot a homeowner who had confronted armed criminals  attempting a break in, just moments before.  The police say that they homeowner refused to drop his firearm.  From thestate.com:

A sheriff’s deputy responding to a home invasion shot the homeowner in the neck Thursday because he refused to drop his gun, authorities said.

Two deputies from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office encountered the man at the rear of his mobile home in Hollywood, South Carolina, after two other men fled on bicycles, Sheriff’s Maj. Eric Watson said in a news release.

The man was either leaving or standing at the back door of the house and was armed, Watson said. One of the two deputies shot him after he refused to drop his gun, he said.

This is not the first time an innocent homeowner has been shot by responding officers.   It will not be the last time.  There are, however, several things that a homeowner can do to minimize the chances of being shot.

First, if you can do so safely, stay on the phone.  If you have a phone that
at you can carry with you, such as a cell phone, keep 911 on the line.   Remember that everything heard by the phone will be recorded and can be used in court.

Second, let the dispatch know if you are armed, and give them a description of yourself.   Tell them your location.  It may stop an officer from shooting you.

Third, be aware that the police are coming.   If you have help, have them meet the police, unarmed, and help bring them into the situation.    Your helper can orient the police and tell them who you are:  “That’s Dave, the guy who called you.”

Fourth, do not turn toward the police with a gun in your hand.  You are the good guy.  You know that, but the police may not.   It is easy to make this mistake, and it can be deadly.   If the police order you to put down your gun, do so.  If you can safely holster or store your gun before the police arrive, do so.

Fifth,  do not assume that the police know what you told the dispatcher.  Much information is lost between dispatch and responding officers.  

Sixth, consider the situation from a responding officers viewpoint.  You have just called in, telling them that there is one or more armed bad guys at your address.  Do not present them with just what they have been keyed to address; an unknown, armed man at your address.    A later report shows that the homeowner realized his mistake.  From live5news.com:

“The officer did it but it was an accident,” Heyward says in the recording. “I should have put the gun down, but I didn’t,” he says a short time says in the recording.

According to the report, the deputy who fired the shots tried to help the homeowner as soon as he realized he was injured.

Police are the responding reinforcements coming to relieve your position.  Don’t get shot by friendly fire as they approach.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch