Police say two bystanders were wounded during a police shooting on a crowded street in midtown Manhattan.
It happened just before 10 p.m. Saturday at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Police say officers saw a man on foot weaving erratically through traffic and sometimes blocking vehicles. After approaching him they say the man reached into his pocket as if grabbing a weapon, and two officers fired shots.
Police say they missed him, but a 54-year-old woman was struck in the knee, and a 35-year-old woman was grazed in the buttocks. Both were taken to a hospital, but police say neither had injuries considered life threatening.
Police say the man was subdued with a Taser and taken Bellevue Hospital.
In the city where it's simply too dangerous to allow good citizens to carry...
ReplyDelete"Officers fired three shots at 35-year-old Glenn Broadnax in the Saturday night confrontation a block west of the famous tourist district, hitting two women on a nearby corner in the process, a police statement said Sunday. Broadnax was walking into traffic in front of the Port Authority bus terminal, apparently trying to be hit by cars, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
ReplyDeleteHe dodged police who tried to take him into custody, then mimicked shooting a gun at officers, prompting the officers to return fire with real bullets, Kelly said.
Police shoot bystanders by mistake
"At some time he reached into his pocket, took out his hand and simulated as if he was shooting at them," Kelly told reporters late Saturday.
Two officers fired three shots before the unarmed Broadnax was brought down with a Taser, the NYPD said. He has been charged with menacing, obstructing governmental administration, riot, criminal possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, the NYPD said in a statement issued Sunday morning. Those charges may change once he goes to court, however."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/justice/times-square-police-shooting/index.html
And we also have the police getting increasingly quick on the trigger. This is unusual in that the officer has actually been charged.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/justice/north-carolina-police-shooting/index.html
A good deal of the accuracy problem could be improved by additional shooting practice if departments, especially the NYPD and some other notoriously bad shots, allocated more of their budgets for ammo for practice.
ReplyDeleteAnother improvement, for NYPD at least, would be going with the factory standard trigger weight. When you are under calm conditions on a range, you can shoot accurately with a stiff trigger, but when you are stressed out, or even practicing shooting quickly, your group will tend to spread as you pull or push the gun to one side or the other.
NYPD has increased the weight of the triggers on their weapons to try to reduce ND's by officers. Again, this is a problem better solved by more training and practice.
This is actually one reason people like Glocks so much--the factory standard trigger is short and light--not so much as a single action like a 1911, but lighter and much shorter than other double action only handguns (e.g. Kahrs) and the double action trigger pull on double/single handguns.
People may like Glocks for that reason, but isn't this part of the problem? Isn't this why reasonable gun owners like Texas Colt carry don't like them?
DeleteI agree the NY cops need more training.
Texas said he carries a 1911, a gun with an even better trigger than the standard Glock. The problem here, as I've shown you from sources, is that the NYPD gets less training and qualification testing typically in a year than I do in one afternoon at the range--that's not bragging or an exaggeration. It's just that the NYPD doesn't place a priority on firearms proficiency.
DeleteMike, the problem with the NYPDs accuracy is mostly in the gun itself, as well as a lack of continued training. The NYPD has set the trigger pull so heavy that it is next to impossible to stay on target while pulling the trigger.
DeleteThe reason I carry the 1911 is for the safety aspects while holstered, drop safe and the ability to keep the safety on until the need to fire.
Once the safety is off, the 1911 is no different than any other gun. It will go bang when the trigger is pulled.
The trigger pull on all my 1911s are short, crisp and light. I prefer this to a heavy trigger pull as the gun does not deflect from the target center as the trigger is pulled.
The NYPD, while trying to make the Glock safer, only makes things worse because of a lack of understanding of the gun itself. They really need to rethink what safe carry is and what the gun setup should be instead. Or what gun they should be carrying if they are not going to require constant training.
I practice constantly, so does my wife. We are very accurate as a result. Methods fade over time without constant practice, all methods that include holster and draw, accuracy and safe handling of the gun.
A police office, ANY police officer that carries and is expected to draw more than any other person should be REQUIRED to practice more that any other person. PERIOD, end of discussion. If they practice less than the average gun owner, you get this result. And the average gun owner does not own, and would not own a gun setup for the NYPD.
I can't remember everything Texas said, so I'll let him speak for himself regarding his reasons.
DeleteAs Greg noted, Texas has said he's a 1911 man, and Greg is correct that the single action 1911 has a shorter and lighter trigger than the standard Glock. In fact, 1911's I've shot had the shortest, lightest trigger pulls of any guns I have shot.
I'm curious if you would elaborate on your first sentence regarding the short trigger pull being part of the problem--do you mean this problem, or another?
Finally, regarding gun owners who like and don't like Glocks, everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and the reasons vary from aesthetics to feel in the hand, from functionality to features. I prefer to have an external safety and prefer double/single action handguns because of the extra layers of safety this gives, but as I've said before, these safeties can fail or be switched off by movement, so the real key is having a good holster that covers and protects the trigger and abiding by the 4 rules.
For these reasons, I'm not the biggest fan of Glocks, but I don't have a problem with people who choose to go with them.