OK and TX Officer Involved Shootings Show A Pattern

Before I go any further I want to be clear that I support law enforcement and the job they have to perform. The large majority of officers serve proudly and with honor.

And I'm not trying to pass judgment on any of the cops that were involved in the incidents I'm about to retell, but I do want to focus on what we CAN LEARN from 2 RECENT INCIDENTS in which police officers have fired on INNOCENT homeowners.

First: June 2019 in Greenville South Carolina:

Image taken from officer's bodycam

Officers respond to a home where a panic alarm had been triggered shortly before midnight. When they arrive they see though a vertical window next to the front door someone walking in the home with a firearm in hand.

One of the officers fires into the home at the armed man. You know where this is going right? The armed man was the homeowner and had NOT done anything wrong.

Second: August 26th, 2019 in Oklahoma City:

Image courtesy KFOR.com

Oklahoma City police were called to a home on an alarm check (sound familiar?). When officers arrived, they SAW someone from inside the home with a gun in hand.

The officer's report and the homeowner disagree on the details but regardless of whose story you believe it is clear the officer began to fire into the home toward the homeowner who had NOT done anything wrong.

Lesson 1: Good Lighting Goes A Long Way

Especially in the incident in OK, circumstances may have been improved if the home had good lighting on the front porch. Consider utilizing motion detection to turn on lights at night or just leave the light on all night.

Lights are a deterrent to criminals and help you to identify who may be on your front step. Also having good lighting on the front porch makes it harder for anyone standing there to see into your dark home.

Lesson 2: Eliminate the Ability of People to See Into Your Home Especially At the Front Door

I feel like a broken record on this to some degree but PLEASE cover-up windows or coat them with some sort of frost or something such that when someone is standing on your front porch they cannot see into your home.

There is not a single good thing that comes from those windows next to the door or integrated into the door.

I talk about that some in our “Door Ambush” program which is a video training that in less than one hour focuses in on HOW TO fight off a dangerous attack at your home's entry point.

An ambush is the single greatest concern I have as an armed citizen because by definition it comes suddenly and violently. When it happens at your front door, and 85% of criminals enter through the front door, you should absolutely have the knowledge, tactics, and skills to STOP the threat.

Plus, if you purchase our Door Ambush program right now, you will get both the DVD mailed to you AND immediate access to stream the entire video program on your computer and phone.

Click here to learn more about our Door Ambush training.

About Jacob Paulsen

Jacob S. Paulsen is the President of ConcealedCarry.com. ConcealedCarry.com provides in-person and online firearm training for American gun owners. The Company is currently teaching in-person classes in 25+ states with a team of more than 55 instructors. Jacob is a NRA certified instructor & Range Safety Officer, USCCA certified instructor and training counselor, Utah BCI instructor, Affiliate instructor for Next Level Training, Graduate and certified instructor for The Law of Self Defense, and a Glock and Sig Sauer Certified Armorer. He resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with his wife and children.

4 Comments

  1. ROBERT GOINGS on September 24, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    As a retired LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER I have over 30 years experience. I would never fire into a house with knowing who it is!
    Also NETHER officer were THREATENED at time only saw A PERSON WALKING THE HOUSE. I
    IN MY EXPERIENCE HE WAS WRONG

  2. John Lawrence on September 26, 2019 at 5:15 am

    Lights will not prevent an officer who fires his weapon at shadows, ghost or homeowners. Scared people will fire at anything, and police will fire first and without warning. I am not saying this as an attack on police, their duty is hard enough, but frightened people will react and the heighten awareness, as in unknown situations can result in wrongful deaths.There are better methods to advance control in unknown situations than opening fire on anyone with a gun, until police are better trained and use better tactics in unknown situations, we will all pay a price for being afraid of police with weapons and how they will react when confronted by lawful citizens with the same weapons, in situations where the home owner isn’t doing anything wrong, except being shot by a frighten police officer.

  3. Keith R. lynch on September 26, 2019 at 9:37 pm

    You are absolutely right about exterior lighting. My home is surrounded by motion detection lighting. I have cleared large shrubs that could mask anyone attempting to enter thru a door or window.. My front door is a solid panel steel door . the storm doors are kept locked at all times. In addition. ADT has installed a security system. I FEEL THE SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE THING A HOME OWNER CAN DO IS INSTALL PROPER LIGHTING.

  4. Anthony Mack on December 17, 2019 at 2:17 am

    I agree with the points made in this article, but I feel that police should be trained to react differently in situations like this. I believe that a person should always be aware of what they are shooting at. In October 2019 in Fort Worth, TX, a woman was killed while playing video games with her nephew. A concerned neighbor called the police because their front door had been open for several hours. The call was supposed to be a welfare check. A police officer looked through the window and saw a firearm lying on a table. The woman was licensed to carry a concealed weapon. As soon as he saw the weapon, he fired through the window, killing the woman in front of her nephew. The officer was later arrested and charged with murder. Perhaps this would not have happened if the windows had curtains that were closed. And the officer should have had the training to react differently to seeing a firearm sitting on a table.

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