VIDEO—Carjacking of Off-Duty Cop Leads to Shootout

The number of car jackings has been rising steadily for several years. Suspects in carjackings often use firearms and physical force and intimidation to take the vehicle. Another disturbing trend is that the average carjacking suspect is barely a teenager. It seems we are paying the price for a culture of self-first, moral relativism that rejects personal accountability and the moral law God written on the heart.

Officer Chapman Carjacked in Dallas, Texas Parking Lot—

Well, back to this August 9th carjacking of an off-duty cop in Dallas, Texas.

 

 

As reported by Dallas News 8 WFFA, three suspects carjacked an off-duty cop. The suspects pulled in and positioned their vehicle behind the victim, Officer Chapman, who was still inside his own car. Immediately, two armed suspects jumped out of their vehicle and surrounded him on both sides. The third suspect is the driver of the suspect vehicle and remains the car.

Compliance and Choosing the When to Go—

In the video, we see Chapman comply with the suspect's demands and exit the vehicle. We see him keep his hands up in a defensive position as he backs away, blading the left side of his body—where he carries a concealed handgun—away from the suspects. Chapman sees the two armed suspects momentarily focus their attention away from him. One of the suspect's attention gets diverted as he gets into Chapman's car, and the other suspect turns his back to Chapman when he heads back toward the suspect vehicle.

Even with the suspects' guns drawn, with their attention diverted, Chapman probably needs only a draw to first shot time of around 1.5 seconds to get shots on the suspects before they can react and return fire. Chapman uses this opportunity to engage the three of them.

How Far is a ‘Typical' Defensive Gun Use?

Look at out how far Chapman is from the suspects when he first engages, maybe around 7 feet from one and 15 from the other. Compare that distance to the distance of the final shots, around 25-30 feet. Do you know how you perform at these distances? How about further? Do you have any metrics or is it just a feeling? Do you train under any amount of stress, or do you think you'll just perform when the time comes?

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Shooting ‘Stance' vs. Shooting Platform—

Also look at Chapman's shooting “stance”. Is that the isosceles, the weaver or neither/combination? If you said neither/combination, you'd be right. There isn't anything wrong with understanding how to build a balanced foundation to shoot from. But if you haven't learned how to shoot on the move or in unconventional shooting positions, you should.

Once two of the three suspects open fire on Chapman—one of which looks like he possibly has an AR pistol—he moves to the closest and only piece of cover he can, a telephone pole. With the volume of fire coming from the suspects, Chapman determines the telephone pole isn't sufficient and uses it to cover his retreat, a good call.

Your EDC Gun's Capacity—

There is a lot of debate on what is the best capacity of an EDC gun. It's my opinion that the capacity of an (EDC) handgun—and I follow my own advice—should be as much as you can carry, and shouldn't be less than 10 rounds. I'm not talking about carrying a spare magazine, but the gun's capacity how you carry it.

I carry a gun with at least 15 round capacity and often get major push back on this. Most often, people tell me that if they aren't getting into firefights with the Taliban, and if they aren't likely to need over 3 rounds. So a 5-shot revolver is more than adequate. If you carry a 5-shot revolver, I'm happy for you and have no ill will. The likelihood of you needing to use your gun is rare, and even more rare that you need over 3 or 4 rounds.

But think about this scenario. Chapman takes on 2 armed men, and possibly a third. Imagine this happening in a parking garage where your escape was much harder. What if any of the men pursued him? Especially if, in fact, the one had an AR pistol. To be honest, I don't want to defend against a dude with an AR pistol, even with an EDC with a 15-round capacity. But I certainly wouldn't regret the added rounds at the moment.

How Often do You Carry Your Gun?

Finally, I don't know what kind of neighborhood this is, but I often hear—and have said—that we shouldn't visit dangerous places late at night. And that is certainly fantastic advice. But there are two things to consider. First, sometimes we live in or need to visit high-crime areas. We just don't have a choice. Second, violent crime can happen anywhere, even in the “safest” of areas.

Parting Questions to Ask Yourself—

• First, do you know the high-crime areas of town so you can avoid them?
• Second, do you carry every day, or just when you go to the “bad” part of town?
• Third, have you thought about why you carry the gun you do?
• Fourth, does your practice support the skills needed to give yourself the best chance of winning in a defensive gun use?
• Finally, do you have the proper mindset and mental preparation to protect yourself and make decisive decisions under stress?

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You probably gleaned additional points from the video. Feel free to share them in the comment section below.