“At about 4:30, police responded to reports of two suspicious vehicles in the area of Hixon St. On King St. just west of Mountain St., one of the suspect vehicles drove toward a uniform officer who was out of his vehicle to continue the investigation,” the wellandtribune.ca reports. “The officer fired his gun as the vehicle drove at him. The suspect was then immediately taken into custody.” Well of course the vehicle drove at him. Otherwise the officer would have held his fire, right? ‘Cause firing a gun at a fleeing vehicle would endanger public safety; it’s not easy to hit a moving object with a bullet at night in a residential neighborhood . . .
Police said in a news release the suspect had minor cuts caused by broken glass, and no officers were hurt.
Further investigation revealed that the vehicle was a stolen 2002 red Chevrolet Blazer.
Charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, driving while disqualified and possession of stolen property is 21-year-old Domenic Rodgers, of Hamilton.
Hold on; the officer missed. So where did those bullets go? And if the Blazer was blazing a trail towards the cop in question, why didn’t the police charge Mr. Rodgers with attempted homicide? Odd.
Anyway, readers interested in self-defense strategy can take a lesson from this encounter: MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!
Moving makes you less of a target than standing still. It’s easier and faster than drawing and firing a weapon—which you should do while you move, if you’re going to do it. In fact, moving is so important for armed self-defense that I would never fire a weapon at a gun range again without moving if I could. Why train yourself to be a target?
Perhaps this cop was moving and shooting. Still, what made him think he could stop a vehicle by shooting the driver? He might stand still a lot, but Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry had it right: a man’s gotta know his limitations.
