Written by Greg Ellifritz

In Colorado last week, an active killer shot a police officer and then began to fire his shotgun at other targets in the crowded downtown area.  After running out of ammo, the killer then went to his vehicle and swapped his shotgun out for an AR-15 rifle and continued firing.

 

An armed citizen saw what was going on and intervened, shooting the cop killer.  The armed citizen closed distance on the down active killer and removed the rifle from the killer’s hands.  Other responding officers shot and killed the armed citizen, mistaking him for the active killer.

Hero who stopped Colorado gunman shot dead by police in case of mistaken identity

Colorado good ‘Samaritan’ who killed gunman fatally shot by cop while holding suspect’s rifle, police say

 

 

 

Here’s the statement from the local police chief:

 

“At 1:18 p.m., a call was received about a “suspicious person” in the Olde Town area by a teenager who said an older man made a noise and showed them a condom, police said. When Beesley arrived at the area, he parked in an alley and began walking. Troyke parked his truck in the same alley moments later.”

“The suspect got out of his truck with a 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun, ran after Officer Beesley and yelled at him,” police said. “Officer Beesley stopped, turned and immediately was shot twice by the suspect. Officer Beesley did not reach for his gun and takes no defensive action – he simply turns in response to the suspect who then shoots and kills him.”

Troyke then shot out the windows of police patrol cars in the area and into the air, police said. He walked back to the truck and retrieved an AR-15, police said.

“The suspect ran back towards the Olde Town Square with the long gun, where he was confronted by Mr. Hurley,” the timeline said. “Mr. Hurley then shot the suspect with a handgun.”

“A responding Arvada Police Officer then encountered Mr. Hurley, who was holding the suspect’s AR-15,” police wrote. “The officer shot him.”

 

I’ve written about the danger of being shot by responding officers after intervening in an active killer attack many times, but I’ve never given precise guidelines about how to handle the post-shooting procedures in order to reduce the chance of being mistakenly killed.  This article describes exactly what you should consider doing to keep from being killed by other first responders during an active killer attack.

 

• As you move to the scene, keep your gun holstered or hidden.  Remember, you may not be the only person hunting the killer.  Don’t confuse other CCW carriers, off duty cops, or uniformed officers.  Put your hand on your holstered gun and draw when you are certain you can make a hit.  Having the gun out before you can hit your target only places you in danger of being shot by another responder.

 

• After you shoot and the killer is neutralized, don’t keep pointing your gun at him.  Draw your gun back into a compressed ready position.  Hide it with your off hand.  Better yet, holster your gun.  Keep your hand on the gun if you think you may still need it, but you don’t want to be the guy pointing a gun around a pile of dead bodies when the cops arrive.

 

 

• If you think you need to cover the downed killer with your pistol, the killer probably needs to be shot again.  In an active killer situation, I’m going to shoot until the bad guy is no longer a threat.
  If you shoot him and he goes down, but keeps trying to shoot other people or access his weapons, HE NEEDS TO BE SHOT SOME MORE.  If he has already killed other people and is not obeying your commands to drop his weapon, HE NEEDS TO BE SHOT SOME MORE.  Solve the problem.  Make sure the killer is no longer a threat and then holster your pistol.

 

• Consider how you look to responding officers.  In order from most threatening to least threatening you could be:

 

-Aiming gun at the suspect

-At a low ready position

-At a high compressed ready (“chest ready”) or SUL position

-Gun holstered.  Hand on gun.

-Gun holstered.  Hands in the air.

-Gun on the ground.  Hands in the air.

 

You’ll ultimately have to decide which is the best position to adopt depending on your analysis of how dangerous the suspect remains or the presence of additional suspects.  Just realize that the higher up on the list you appear when the cops arrive, the greater the chance that you will be shot.

 

 

 

I personally like the idea of holstering your gun.  In a recent online discussion, my friend (and amazing shooter) Kirk Clark commented that knowing you can make fast and accurate first shots from the holster allows you the ability to keep the gun less visible and decreases your chance of being shot by responding police.

 

It’s comforting knowing that if the bad guy becomes animated again, you could shoot him with your holstered firearm in less than a second.  If you have superior drawing/shooting skills you can afford to take the time to holster your weapon so as to appear less of a threat to responding cops.

 

What’s your draw to first hit time with your CCW holster?  If it’s at or near two seconds or more, that may not be fast enough.

 

• Don’t approach the bad guy after you shoot.  He may be playing dead, trying to lure you closer.  He may have more than one gun.  He my have explosives.  There’s nothing to gain and a lot to lose by approaching the down suspect.  Stay away from him and keep other bystanders away as well.

 

• Don’t secure bad guy’s gun unless it’s an imminent danger to other people or you need to leave the downed attacker to confront other killers.  I can’t think of too many occasions where that would be likely.  The rules for handling the bad guy’s gun are the same for handling your own weapon.  Again, you don’t want to be the dude with a gun in his hand (no matter if it’s yours or his) standing over a bunch of dead bodies when the cops show up.There’s no need to secure the bad guy’s weapon if he is dead or unconscious.  If he’s not dead or unconscious and is still handling the weapon, HE NEEDS TO BE SHOT SOME MORE.  Shoot him again if he needs to be shot.

  There are no tactical advantages for disarming the killer if he is truly incapacitated, yet your efforts to disarm him may be what gets you shot by responding cops.  The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

  Think about this particular case.  Our CCW rescuer dramatically increased his chances of being shot by the cops while he had a long gun in his hands.  The responding cops don’t know that you are the good guy attempting to unload a murder weapon.

 

• Consider the “optics” of responding with a long gun.  I regularly hear folks talking about getting their “truck gun” before intervening.  Some folks carry folding stock AR-style “pistols” in sling bags while out in public.  I don’t think that’s a very good idea.
  While using a long gun gives you a tactical advantage as compared to responding using your concealed handgun, it also makes you much more likely to be shot by the cops.  Even amped up and poorly trained cops know that there are lots of “good guys” packing CCW pistols.  There are comparatively few CCW carriers who run around public areas with a long gun.  Like it or not, long gun in public = “bad guy” in most cops’ brains.

 

• Be ready for police.  The cops are coming and they are coming in fast.  Watch for them and be ready to be ordered to drop your gun and get down on the ground.  Do exactly what the officer tells you to do.  You’ll most likely be disarmed, handcuffed, and searched.  Keep as calm as you can.  Don’t argue, debate, or explain the facts to the responding cops.  Just do what they say.  You will be cuffed and treated like a criminal for a few minutes until the cops figure out what’s happening.If you are sure the killer is no longer a threat, it may be safer to place your gun on the ground instead of holstering it.  After you take care of business, put your gun on the ground.  Stand on it to keep it better secured.  Get your hands up and be ready to follow the responding cops’ orders.

 

• Find a better position.  After the shooting stops, look for a better position.  Ideally, you want a position that provides you with cover from both the down bad guy AND from likely avenues of police response.  Getting cover between you and the responding cops allows everyone a few more seconds to best evaluate the situation before acting.

 

• Manage the 911 call.  If there are other people in the area, some of them will be on the phone with police.  Instruct the callers to tell police that an armed CCW carrier is on the scene.  Have the callers give dispatch a good description of you and the fact that you are NOT the suspect.  Tell the caller to relay the fact that you are waiting for the cops and will comply with their orders when they arrive.

 

• If you have time, gather a “welcoming committee.”  Gather one or more bystanders.  Tell them what’s happening.  Instruct them to find responding officers, provide your description and tell them that you are a “good guy.”The “welcoming committee” watches your back and informs police about what happened while you keep your eyes on the killer. If you can find someone who is willing to physically place his/her own body between you and the likely avenue of police approach in order to intercept responding cops, your chance of being shot by the cops is dramatically reduced.

 

As cops are arriving on scene,  they are quickly trying to get “feel” for what’s going on.  They are comparing what they see to what dispatch has told them is happening.  They are quickly talking to people to find out where the suspect(s) and victim(s) are.  Doing all this while knowing you might be the next victim, makes many elements of this response sequence overwhelming for the responding cops.

The cops are operating on limited information and an intuition about what is happening.  They are primarily looking for suspects.  It’s in your best interest to not look like one.  Don’t stand there with a gun in hand.

Look like a “helper” instead.  Do what you can to provide assistance.  Instruct people to call 911.  Keep people away from the bad guy.  Move people to cover.  Get people away from potential threats.  Start providing medical care to the injured.   Looking like a “helper” and not looking like a “suspect” is what will minimize the chances of your being shot by either responding officers or another CCW carrier.

 

In a horrible event like an active killer scene, your gun will seem like the most important piece of life saving equipment you can hold on to. It is exactly that, until the cops arrive. At some point in the engagement, the gun will do more to put you in danger than it will to protect you against the killer(s). Recognize that fact and don’t be seen standing over a pile of dead bodies with your pistol out and at the ready.

 

ANALYSIS

Federal Bureau Of Incompetence: An Analysis Of The FBI’s Most Embarrassing Failures

Daily Caller: Top Left: Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images Middle: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Top Right: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images Bottom: APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images

America’s finest at the FBI last week added yet another screw up to what appears to be a growing laundry list of humiliating failures.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz released a report Wednesday in which he accused the bureau of failing to adequately respond to sexual abuse allegations against disgraced U.S. gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

“Failures by Indianapolis [FBI] officials contributed to a delay [in investigating Nassar] of over a year,” the report said, adding that FBI officials failed to respond to the “Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that the allegations deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and failed to notify state or local authorities of the allegations or take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat.”

The report also alleged that after receiving the first complaint against Nassar in 2015, the bureau neither notified state, nor local authorities that he was under investigation, nor did they notify agents in Lansing, Michigan, where Nassar was employed at the time by Michigan State University.

Justice Department Inspector General:

FBI agents disregarded allegations by Olympic gymnasts that they were sexually assaulted by former national team doctor Larry Nassar and later made false statements to cover their mistakes.
https://t.co/JQtueXKV59 pic.twitter.com/9dnDK7qk2h

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) July 14, 2021

Nassar would end up being accused of sexually assaulting at least 265 women, some of whom were famous U.S. gymnasts like Aly Raisman and Simone Biles, under the guise of medical treatment. He was sentenced in 2018 to 40-175 years in prison.

The sharp rebuke from the IG is another black eye for the bureau, the public missteps of which over the last few decades have come under increased bipartisan criticism.

Politically-motivated spying campaigns, being warned about earth-shattering tragedies before they occur, and refusing to bring actual criminals to justice are just some of the embarrassing failures the FBI has increasingly added to its record.

The bureau under the leadership of former Director James Comey and Acting Director Andrew McCabe drew the particular ire of former President Donald Trump and Republicans due to its handling of the Russia investigation in which the FBI would rely on false information and media leaks in order to investigate members of the Trump team.

In 2018, Horowitz released a report rebuking the FBI for using the unverified information in the salacious Steele Dossier to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, who they accused of working as a Russian agent. (RELATED: DOJ Watchdog Puts Final Nail In Steele Dossier’s Coffin)

The report found that FBI agents failed to verify any of the allegations from Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent whose primary sub-source for the dossier was previously investigated by the bureau as a Russian spy. Horowitz also detailed 17 examples of information that contradicted the dossier that were withheld when agents presented their case to the FISA court.

“Our review revealed instances in which factual assertions relied upon in the first application targeting Carter Page were inaccurate, incomplete, or unsupported by appropriate documentation, based upon information the FBI had in its possession at the time the application was filed,” the report said.

The FBI’s handling of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into several members of President Trump’s 2016 campaign for allegations of working with Russia would also be criticized by IG Horowitz for the bureau’s clear political bias against the former president, notably against his incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn’s identity was unmasked in intelligence reports of his calls with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the transition and FBI officials would attempt to go after him for a Logan Act violation, an obscure law that prevents American citizens from negotiating on behalf of the U.S.

Flynn would go on to plead guilty to making false statements to the FBI — but later retracted it, saying he was pressured into it by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team. He was later pardoned by Trump. (RELATED: The Biggest Disclosures In Michael Flynn’s Case)

The lead agent on the Flynn case would later cast doubt on the allegations made by the FBI’s sources about Flynn’s contacts with the Russians and later reports revealed that the bureau even offered money to Christopher Steele to dig up dirt on the 4-star Army general.

Further accusations of political bias against the Trump administration would go on to taint the reputation of the FBI.

Kevin Clinesmith, an FBI lawyer involved in both the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and special counsel’s probe, sent several anti-Trump text messages in 2016 to fellow FBI employees, one of which said “Viva le Resistance!” He would later be sentenced to probation and community service for his role in falsifying an email about Carter Page.

Peter Strzok, former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, would also come under heavy criticism from Republicans for anti-Trump text exchanges he had in 2016 with FBI lawyer and paramour Lisa Page, leading to his dismissal from the bureau.

“(Trump’s) not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Page wrote to Strzok. “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it,” Strzok, who was deeply involved in both Crossfire Hurricane and the special counsel’s probe, reportedly replied.

In addition to political bias that has tainted the bureau’s reputation, the FBI has also endured a series of failures to stop mass tragedies before they occur despite being warned.

The FBI had either been warned or tipped off to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooter, 2018 Parkland shooter, 2013 Boston bomber, and 2009 Fort Hood shooter, as well as the recent Boulder grocery store shooter and Nashville Christmas bomber.

In the case of the Pulse nightclub shooter, it would later be revealed that his father had been an FBI informant for over a decade prior to the shooting. (RELATED: The FBI Keeps Missing Mass Shooters Before It’s Too Late)

When the deadliest mass shooting in American history occurred in October 17 at a country music concert in Las Vegas, the FBI wrapped up its investigation without ever conclusively determining a motive for the shooter.

Perhaps the worst FBI misstep, however, was their decades-long failure to bring notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to justice.

In the four-hour Netflix special “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich,” painter Maria Farmer and her teenage sister Annie both said they contacted the FBI about being sexually abused by Epstein and his crony Ghislaine Maxwell in 1996.

Years later, in 2006, U.S. Attorneys would shut down a federal sex trafficking investigation into Epstein in Florida after he plead guilty to state prostitution charges despite the fact that the FBI suspected he was abusing girls in cities across the country and overseas.

“To say that the FBI was ignorant and just didn’t know, doesn’t really hold water,” Attorney Spencer Kuvin told the Daily Caller News Foundation in 2020 after the reports were revealed by the Miami Herald. “They would’ve had to have been so inept to think that this stopped at the gates of Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion.”

Recent documents in the Ghislaine Maxwell case also showed that the feds had once again deliberated pursuing charges against Epstein in 2016 after a lawyer for accuser Virginia Guiffre warned he was still abusing young girls.

The documents say that a New York prosecutor instructed an FBI chief to ask the Florida agents if they felt “justice had not been served” in the 2006 case but did not get a response. The prosecutor assumed that, by not responding, the “FBI agents in Florida did not express dissatisfaction,” according to the documents.

It would take until 2019 for Epstein to finally be arrested after extensive reporting on his sex crimes was done by the Miami Herald. He would later die of an apparent suicide in prison. Ghislaine Maxwell wouldn’t be arrested until June 2020.

Despite refusing to bring one of the most notorious sex criminals that have ever lived to justice, the FBI finds time to encourage Americans to spy on each other, seize legos from the homes of January 6 defendants, and send fifteen agents to investigate hate-crime allegations that turn out to be garage door pull chords.

Instead of investigating the alleged tip it received about Epstein’s abuse in 1996, the FBI was instead finding the time to funnel false information to journalists in order to smear 33-year-old Richard Jewell, the security guard who saved many lives by discovering a pipe bomb that had been placed in a crowded venue during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. (RELATED: Richard Jewell, Carter Page And The Illusion Of The FBI’s Power And Competence)

Just today, Buzzfeed News reported that FBI informants “had a hand in nearly every aspect starting with its inception” of the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in October of last year, which was reported at the time as being foiled by an undercover FBI agent. “The extent of their involvement raises questions as to whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them,” the report added.

All of these miserable failures and corrupt activities have led to a crisis of credibility at America’s principle law enforcement agency.

Given the state of the FBI, it might even be time to officially change its name to the Federal Bureau of Incompetence.