PA Bill Number: SB945
Title: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals.
Description: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals. ...
Last Action: Third consideration and final passage (199-0)
Last Action Date: Apr 17, 2024
Maryland Self-Defense: Crazed Man Attacking Deputy Soaks Up 12 Rounds Before He’s Stopped :: 02/08/2021
A crazed man’s rampage came to a not-so-sudden end Saturday morning in Montgomery County Maryland, and a bystander caught it all on video. After striking a lone deputy twice with a long stick, the attacker took a dozen rounds while still advancing on the officer.
It looked like the stuff of nightmares. The attacker looked more like a college professor with his sport coat and khaki pants than a would-be cop-killing lunatic. The wicked grin on his face added a freaky, horror-film feel as the man just kept advancing on the retreating deputy. That was after he broke a long piece of wood with a couple of blows over the deputy’s forearm.
The suspect, after absorbing eight rounds. Screencap by Boch via Streamable.
The story from WUSA says the man caused a couple of accidents by ramming other vehicles before the deputy arrived.
The incident happened around 8 a.m. Saturday. Montgomery County police received several 911 calls Saturday morning of a man driving erratically in the area. Police Chief Marcus Jones said two cars were struck by the driver before the deputy arrived on the scene.
When the deputy arrived, he saw the man approaching two people with a large wooden stick, according to Sheriff Darren Popkin. When the deputy intervened, the deputy and the man began fighting, and the man struck the deputy at least once with the piece of wood.
The deputy attempted to deploy his Taser, according to Popkin. When he wasn’t successful, the deputy shot the man, the sheriff said.
Here’s the video. It’s NSFW because of the violence and the language used in the color commentary by the man recording the incident from inside his car.
There are a lot of lessons here for those who carry a gun for personal defense.
First off, distance gives you time and time gives you options. Options often mean safety. This deputy faced an adversary with a very long stick and the willingness to use it as a weapon. The cop did the best he could given his mobility (or lack thereof) to create some distance. But let’s face it, this cop wasn’t going to out-backpedal his attacker.
If any of us find ourselves facing an attacker with an edged weapon or blunt-force instrument, your mind should be thinking distance and obstacles. Both with give you time to consider options. The Tueller drill is widely taught for a reason.
Secondly, the deputy showed good tactics by continuing to move while firing. Hence why all of us should “get off the X” and practice firing while moving. Not all ranges allow this, but if you are able to find locations or opportunities to shoot on the move in practice, do so. It might save you from death or great bodily injury someday.
Screencap by Boch via Streamable
Next, this surely looks like a “failure to stop” after being shot with the first few rounds. That may suggest the attacker had concealed body armor under his clothes. In these cases, one should hunt the head as a target of opportunity, but the pelvic region moves a lot slower. This one is shooter’s choice. In the end, the bad guy finally went down…after twelve(!) rounds. That’s a good thing, because Deputy Dog likely only had three or four left in the magazine.
Keep a link to this video on your phone. It should be played every time a gun control advocate or politician suggests that no one needs more than ten rounds in a magazine.
For those of us carrying single-stack 9mm or .380 pistols, or .38 revolvers, the attacker here would have probably gone hands-on with you after you exhausted your 5, 6 or 7 rounds. And it’s difficult to pull off a reload with someone’s pounding on your melon. Between missed shots and ineffective hits, you need to be prepared for what happens next if your snubbie or Ruger LCP runs dry before an attacker runs out of attack.
We all know there are a lot of crazy people wandering around society today. This deputy simply had the misfortune of running into one on a Saturday morning in February. Unlike the rest of us, the deputy couldn’t simply employ the Nike defense and run away. The unidentified deputy did, however, appear to exhaust every avenue of avoidance even at the risk of injury to himself before finally stopping the threat.
Lastly, the deputy made a couple of mistakes, but on the whole, he stood between the innocent people of his community and what appears to have been a crazed lunatic. This situation could have been a lot worse if Professor Longstick had attacked a mother and her infant or toddler as part of his rampage before one or more cops arrived. For that, we should all be thankful for that deputy’s actions.
