Police shoot Eagle River robbery suspect
Published Thursday, October 22, 2009
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Stumble It!EAGLE RIVER, Alaska (AP) - An Anchorage police officer shot a robbery suspect in Eagle River.
Police say the officer had responded to an alarm about 1 a.m. Thursday and found the man coming out the back door wearing a mask and carrying a crowbar and a pistol.
Lt. Dave Parker told KTUU the officer shot the man when he refused to drop his weapon.
Twenty-five-year-old Matthew Sanchez of Eagle River was taken to Alaska Regional Medical Center where he underwent surgery for a chest wound.
The officer has been placed on paid leave for the shooting investigation.
Community Discussion
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Hopefully one less thief in our state. I don't normally say this but well done officer.
Did his gun jam?
Center mass, way to go!!!!!!!!!
10 points.
Maybe he needs a bigger gun!
Hopefully the thief has been placed on leave from his job as well.
just curious if the suspect really needed to be shot?did he fire his weapon? and was wondering if maybe a shot in the knee would've been more appropriate?all that being questioned i'm glad the officer wasn't shot and injured
Knee? Deadman6, would you give an intruder in your home the first shot and them shoot him in the knee? You might as well give the local perps your address and pile your stuff on the front step.
the only mistake the officer made was not shooting the criminal dead. that would of eliminated a trial medical bills and all the other costs plus criminals would of got the message.
Deadman6, you're funny. You *were* joking, weren't you?
This man was committing a crime.
He was armed.
He refused to drop the weapon.
Pretty straight-forward to me. The officer had not just a right, but a responsibility to shoot; who knows who this criminal may have killed had he fired his own weapon.
Way to go, APD!
A knee shot would have been better,since he'll be on his knees in prison quite often.
Excellent job by the officer!!! This does shine a light on training short commings. 1st of all any one worth shooting once is worth shooting twice (double tap). 2nd get away from the 9mm, the 45acp would have been better. 3rd the Glock holds 13 rounds use them, I do not mind my tax dollars being spent on ammo.
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Ha Mackie!
And bravo to APD. When a cop tells you to drop your weapon, they're not joking. Better one dead criminal than a dead cop. In fact, better one hundred dead criminals than one dead cop.
Chest wound? Surgery? There is something wrong with that picture. Must have been a 9 with ball ammo.
Rule 35 of first aid: Chest wound on bad guy, perform CPR until ambulance arrives, request ambulance via
United States Postal Service
Samm - chest wounds are by no means usually fatal, regardless of the caliber, unless left untended for a long time. The chest is a large area, much of which has nothing immediately vital if hit.
Although I generally disapprove of 'shoot to kill' reflex training, in this case, with the guy refusing to drop his weapon, and [apparently] not in flight, it could probably be reasonably considered to be a risk to the officer's life to 'shoot to stop' only.
I think it was safest and most reasonable of the officer to *ensure* the guy was encapacitated. Wouldn't want to lose a good officer!
Chest wound not usually fatal???? Are you serious???? I would suggest you immediately forward this info and your credentials to every law enforcement office and military training sight in THE WORLD. "Chest Shots" are the main focus during any sort of training. For years people have been foolishly led to believe that would be a perfect target, large and full of cool things like heart and lungs and lots of that useless blood. OMG the hunting world wont be the same either, please enlighten us.
dinya -
suggest you put down the LE manuals and pick up some medical sources. Expertise on the subject.
People live for YEARS breathing with 1 lung, blood vessels are pretty small, compared to the size of the entire chest, and only found in specific locations, and the heart really does not take up that much room. I have probably tx'ed more chest wounds than you have read about, and have seen chest wounds that didn't hit ANY of the above.
Pearl: You seem to know a lot about chest wounds. You haven't been out shootin' crooks, have ya?
TAC - nah, my aim with a hypodermic is *much* better than my aim with a firearm!!
"another one bites the dust" one less dirtbag up here
The officer did the right thing...the guy had the gun and a second weapon in his hands. Guy didn't drop them after I imagine repeated commands and he took him down. Plus law enforcement is not trained to wound they are trained to stop a dangerous person.
Tonka -
policy in that regard depends on the LE depart.
Troopers are trained 'to shoot to kill, 3 shots standard practice'
Juneau PD are trained to 'shoot to stop', ie, a non lethal wound if possible
Don't know what APD's policy is, but I'd agree this officer made the right call in this situation.
Pearl, as usual when you talk about the criminal justice system, you have erred. LEO's in this state are trained to shoot center mass of largest target presented. This is usually the chest. They are to shoot a minimum standard response of two shots, not three. Juneau PD and everyone else in the state have basically the same firearms training, heck AST trains Juneau's officers in Sitka! Nobody is trained to 'shoot to kill', that's a movie title, not a policy. Cops don't wanna kill anyone, they want to stop the threat, and that is what they are trained to do. Might wanna talk about what you know about, rather than what you guess.
But I'm all behind you on the chest wound thing. Not always fatal, lots of through and through shots that cause no significant damage if treated quickly. Hole in a lung can be a real bleeder, though.
Pearl,
You are ignorant. You have no idea what your talking about and you paint our honorable law enforcement officers in a bad light to those who don't know anything better.
Fact is every law enforcement officer in this state is trained to "STOP THE THREAT" not Shoot to kill as you claim.
Know the facts before you speak.
I think we should all call our local PD and Trooper Offices and thank them for putting their lives on the line.
We're quick to give the military all the support in the world - but not the police who are protecting you at the local level.
Wake up people and stop being ignorant about the evil that really goes on in the world and the fact the cops protect you from it.
Pearl,
You are ignorant. You have no idea what your talking about and you paint our honorable law enforcement officers in a bad light to those who don't know anything better.
Fact is every law enforcement officer in this state is trained to "STOP THE THREAT" not Shoot to kill as you claim.
Know the facts before you speak.
I think we should all call our local PD and Trooper Offices and thank them for putting their lives on the line.
We're quick to give the military all the support in the world - but not the police who are protecting you at the local level.
Wake up people and start being ignorant about the evil that really goes on in the world and the fact the cops protect you from it.
woodburner and tired - suggest you [re]check PD policy statements, for the depts in question.
Makes me wonder how many billions have been wasted on bullet proof vests and body armor when all this time a chest wound is really no big deal, wonderful insight Pearl.
didn't say it was not big deal, said it wasn't necessarily fatal or *always* even that serious.
If you have no other medical access, get a "Gray's Anatomy" and LOOK at what's in the chest, even where the lungs are, when inflated [inhaling] vs deflated [exhaling].
Don't get brave just because you're part of a crowd, get educated.
I'm trying to agree with you, I am allowing you to educate me. As a matter of fact I just called my father and expressed my displeasure with him for leading me astray when he taught me to hunt all those years ago. Crazy old man always said shoot them right behind the shoulder blade and "into the chest cavity". Well now he's mad at my grandfather for teaching him that garbage but now we all have the question, What is the best high percentage shot? What is the biggest part of the body I can shoot an animal and do the most damage? By all means educate us.
I hope all of the folks on here are smart enough to realize that Pearl knows very little actual facts about law enforcement in the state. Troopers are trained to stop the threat and the minimum standard response is 2 shots. They are trained to shoot the largest target presented which is not always the chest. This is to assist in rounds hitting the intended target. And as previously stated Juneau PD and many other PD's across the state send their officer to the Trooper Academy to be trained. I doubt Pearl has even read any department policies as she suggests and if she has copies of the Trooper and Juneau policies that state other than I have suggested then I think she should post them. If you read her a posts she is always lambasting law enforcement and obviously has a grudge. Every thing she says on the topic of LEOs should be taken with a grain of salt. Shoot Pearl, if you think you are so much better why don't you apply for the Troopers and make a difference.
amitaf- you don't have to go far, if you read my initial post on this thread you'll be able to see your error.
dinya - in a quadraped, fairly high behind the shoulder blades, puts you into the heart or the major vessels, or the spine depending on how high. Obviously, the anatomy of bipedal animals is slightly different , and there's a whole bunch of chest in either, that's not "behind the shoulder blades". Again, I recommend accurate factual sources [for the correct species]
Anyone interested can find *policy statements* from the Troopers, FPD, and JPD, [regarding the use and intent of firearms in an emergent situation] in the DNM archives. I don't remember seeing such a policy statement from the APD published, but I might have missed it.
Actually, the "minimum standard response" is a bit obsolete. Now the general standard is to continue firing until the assailant is no longer a threat. If one round is enough, you can quit shooting (stay alert, though - he may have buddies). If 2 isn't enough go for the central nervous system, and if that doesn't do the job keep fighting.
Structures in the thorax include the heart, lungs, major vessels (aorta, superior and inferior vena cava, &c), lungs, airways and the thoracic spine protecting the spinal cord - injury to any of these structures is life threatening and some result in nearly immediate exsanguination.
As noted by others, LEOs are trained to stop the threat, and the surest large target to achieve that goal is the center of mass - the thorax. When the adrenalin is flowing in a life threatening situation even the most accurate marksman is likely to miss a small target such as a knee.
The officer involved had every reason to fear for his life so long as the suspect had a potentially lethal weapon in his hand. It didn't have to be a gun - it could be a club, a knife, a crowbar, anything capable of delivering a life-threatening injury. Assuming the limited details in this article are accurate (and that is an assumption only) he actually went beyond the call of duty by ordering him to drop the firearm rather than simply opening fire.
Firearms and use of force training is extensive and intensive for law enforcement officers in Alaska. The goal is to train the cops so thoroughly that even when their own central nervous systems are flooded with adrenalin that logical thought is impossible (due the effects of epinephrine on the corpus collosum), the officer will nonetheless react to the threat to save his own life or the lives of bystanders.
In other words, they aren't trained to "shoot the guy in the knee" or the hand or the arse or anything other than the target they are most likely to hit, even if their hands are shaking, their brain frozen or their vision obscured.
If you want to test how thoroughly they are trained, go ahead and invite them to a gun fight. <BG> I would be willing to bet cash money on who will go home and who will leave this earthly realm.
New Rule for Criminals - if a police officer orders you to drop the gun - drop the stinkin' gun!!! It's better to be busted than buried.
So Congrats to the police officer for taking control of the situation...guess the fairbanks super 8 motel shooters needed to have a weapon in BOTH hands before an arrest would be considered. They were committing numerous crimes and were armed (as evidenced by their own GSW!)
I am glad to see the support for the LEO.... He probably wasn't happy having to do what he did. God bless him and his family or her and her family. What a pucker factor for both of them and I am glad APD won! Good job APD officer???
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