by Will Andrews, Training Director at Wilshire Gun
Over the years, I have researched and studied thousands of shootings and use of force incidents. The only common thread among them is vagueness and confusion. None of them are black and white, clear cut affairs. Most of them have long ugly back stories of animosity between the parties, bad business dealings (often illegal business) and personal vendettas. I study these events in the attempt of learning something about violence, violent people, and the physicality of defense. Recently, there was a shooting in Texas that highlights all of these.
Two men, who had an ongoing disagreement involving one of their wives, exchanged gunfire in front of one of their homes. Nothing horribly unusual about that, after studying and analyzing shootings for years. As expected, police report that alcohol was involved in this event. Very few “events” involve sober people. What makes this one interesting, is the outcome and the hardware used.
The survivor of the event drove to the home of the deceased with a single shot .22 rifle in his vehicle. The rifle was loaded, and there was no additional ammunition either on his person, or in his vehicle. A verbal altercation began between the 2 men. The verbal altercation became a shooting affair at some point. The home owner, now deceased, utilized an AR type rifle, firing 15 rounds of .223 ammunition. He then transitioned to a .40 caliber handgun and fired another 12 rounds. He fired an amazing total of 37 rounds of ammo, scoring 13 hits on the survivor’s vehicle. The survivor retrieved his single shot .22 rifle and fired his single shot, killing the deceased.
Lessons in this story?
I can advise you to avoid trouble. I can counsel you to find a time you’re sober, the other guy is sober, and have a civil conversation regarding your differences. I can help you avoid situations like this. And I can also teach you to hit with your firearm! I think the greatest lesson in this story is that chance favors the trained marksman. Come get trained.
Visit us at www.WilshireGun.com to see what classes we have coming up this month.