The stress immediately after a shooting.

[ppkheat]

Back in December a Shreveport Louisiana police officer was working extra-duty at an apartment complex, and while questioning a subject he found that the man had a concealed handgun. They fought briefly over the gun and the officer shot the man in the process of defending himself. Dashboard camera and audio available below, though it's mostly audio.

My point in posting this is the reminder of the anxiety, adrenaline rush, hyperventilation, etc that you may experience after you've defended yourself in a life or death situation. I think it's evident in the officers voice, and I certainly don't see that as a weakness, he's human just like us. Any of us could face a similar situation, no doubt it's stressful.


Authorities release video of fatal shooting by Shreveport officer | Shreveporttimes | shreveporttimes.com

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Mattmann]

Wow! I was so nervous! Lol. Sounds like he did a GREAT job on warnings and stuff. I feel for him as far as getting over this incident.

[retsupt99]

This officer certainly was in a high stress situation. He appears to hold it together and he survived.
The dirtbag is no longer a 'repeat offender'...just a dead offender.

[Hiram25]

He did a good job, he got to go home at the end of his shift.

[jerp]

Just goes to show you, if he didnt try to lie, "yes i have a gun and a knife" he might still be alive, and might have even gone home! But too late now, hes in his new home 6' under

[claude clay]

we hope to never find out but--

a good indicator of how your body will be after the fact is how you have reacted following events which caused you stress.

auto 'accedents' are something we have all ( almost all) experienced as the driver or passenger.

well. how did you act immediatly after?
of course if you saw it comming ( SA helps you here) that would change how you acted after.
but you get the idea im asking, yes?

if you got all adrenilian, tunnel vision & the shakes...
perhaps some classes in MA would help you for the ( hope it never happens) next time.

observing, being proactive, awear and in control as much as you can be, goes a long way in minimizing the downside potential of the outcome.

[TaterSalad]

Claude Clay....

if you got all adrenilian, tunnel vision & the shakes...
perhaps some classes in MA would help you for the ( hope it never happens) next time.

First, what is MA? Secondly, have you ever been involved in a shooting or near shooting?

[JerryMac]

The end result, was justified, and he went home to his family..... hope I never have to find out how I will react, and think that is something you can never know untill it happens, and think a lot depends on the events leading up to this. This was an incident where a police officer was involved, who I would say is better trained than most, to deal with situations, or at least to expect them, as to where your common Joe, will most of the time be suprised and it brought on in a hurry, I would think. Your actions after the shooting if it ever happens, would be a hard one to guess on, I would think training could help, but intill you wear those shoes, you never know where your going to step. One thing I have been doing when I practice at home, have an outback range , is to clear the area, 360 degrees after engaging target in front of me, hope that will stick with me, if SHTF .... would hate to be blindsided by a thugs friend..... just food for thought.....

[mano3]

During my encounter (see: http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/carry-defensive-scenarios/134618-female-neighbor-invades-home.html) I was focused on my crazy neighbor and scanning my surroundings in case one of her cronies was trying to out-flank me. My wife said I looked like a SWAT guy on TV. Must have been the 'ol military training kicking in, as I did do some law enforcement and detention training in the USAF.

After I chased them off, then the stress and adrenaline hit me. I started shaking and it was very difficult to talk on the phone to the 911 dispatcher. Took awhile to calm down...

Looking back, I think; 1) I couldn't believe what just happened; 2) I almost shot and killed a woman in front of her kids; and 3) I was wondering if I was in trouble or not with the police.

The LEO's were very supportive and helped me calm down.

[kwoodford]

It's difficult to explain my feeling after my shooting...not that I am bothered by Post Traumatic stress syndrom but I had a myriad of emotions and thoughts.

The call from family...he has a gun and left in XXX type car. (paraphased)...Pulled the car over...out comes his gun out comes mine...he goes down and passes away.

My thoughts...is there anybody else coming to get me....god I hope nobody saw that...god I hope everybody saw that...god I'm gonna get fired...F*** now I'm gonna get sued... I think I called for back up and EMS about a million times- or so I though I did...

It's almost unexplainable what goes through your mind...then when you get read your miranda rights by the on call Sgt FYI it's policy and then I refused to answer and then they order you that way any admission cannot be used in court....yeah criminal crap goes through your mind too.

TV it aint!!

[Eaglebeak]

Been there in military combat and LE as well. Unless one is a psychotic, it happens to everyone regardless of how well some are able to hide it. Not a lot going on in mental depth during the actual event because you're running on adrenalin and alertly focused only on survival while being angry and scared to death at the same time.

It's usually not until it's all over that the shaky/weak-knees part starts when you've had time to assess what has just happened and coming down off the adrenalin rush.

Trust me, it doesn't matter how bad or despicable the enemy, BG or attacker was and/or what he/she was doing to deserve deadly force, taking a life will be with you for the rest of yours and you'll never forget the look on their face at the moment of impact.

Regardless of how emotionally tough anyone thinks they are, it's always advisable to get some professional psychological counseling after such an event to keep your mind straight - naturally, legal counseling will also be in order as well

[kelcarry]

I have never had an occasion where any kind of firearm altercation has ever happened so my words may be dismissed by many and I can understand their skeptical comment about what I want to say. Quite frankly I thought of this before I ever bought a firearm for personal and home defense and then made my decision to do so. Leaving aside the stress related with the actual situation as it is unfolding, when my life and that of my wife could be in danger, I can honestly say that after the fact, if I have been successful in my defense, my only concerns in my home would relate to replacing the door jam and carpet in my bedroom, and in the street would relate to how soon I can get back to doing whatever I was doing before I dispensed with the problem. Could not care less about the remaining garbage and would hope that law enforcement etal will dispose of same.

[lordofwyr]

No one knows how they will react to that kind of stress until it happens to them.

Here is my first recommendation to any person who has to use force or deadly force - When the police ask what happened, tell them your name, identifying information, and say that you want a Lawyer before making ANY statements about the shooting other than it was self defense and forced upon you. If the cop badgers you for details, tell them that your lawyer will provide them with your full statement. If they say that you can be arrested and or detained and or anything, tell them again that you will fully cooperate and give a full statement when you have your lawyer present. DO NOT GIVE IN AND TALK!!!

Why?

I am a cop, but I am one of the ones that wants your rights protected like I want my own children's rights protected. It is the first instinct of an innocent person to want to tell everything and be honest and be the good citizen.

Problem is that when in a hyper stressful situation, you will have had tunnel vision without extreme training, and training is not even a complete guard against that. Your brain under extreme stress may have a spotty memory, may have experienced time lag or time acceleration, may have noticed micro details of the Bad Guy's weapon but does not remember what color his/her hair was.

All of that may come blathering out, and to the cop arriving you may make statements that seem inconsistent with what they and witnesses saw, making you look deceitful.

Just cooperate, demand a lawyer, and expect them to take your weapon as evidence and that you may not get it back for months (hope you have another at home for if the Bad Guy's relatives come looking for vengeance later!)

The shooting may have taken seconds. The resulting investigation may take a year. Sucks, but is the reality of the situation.

A good set of videos to watch about talking to cops is attached, and I recommend them to everyone and anyone who might have to give any statement to a police officer as a suspect or possible suspect. The first is a lawyer and the second is a former cop. They are addressing a law school 3L class about why it is so important as a lawyer to get to their client before the police do.

Don't Talk to Cops, Part 1 - YouTube

Don't Talk to Cops, Part 2 - YouTube

[RonCo]

The Officer did a great job in my opinion. He was polite and cordial until his life was threatened, then he did what he had to.

Quite professional if you ask me.

[claude clay]

First, what is MA? Secondly, have you ever been involved in a shooting or near shooting?

Martial Arts

yes. now tell me why this is important to you TaterSalad.