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jmra wrote:In the early '90s before having any form of LTC and living in NOLA, my wife and I encountered a mob of people cheering a man beating a woman who I later discovered was his ex. This was also before cell phones were common so calling 911 wasn't really an option. I engaged the man long enough to draw his attention away from the woman at which time my wife was able to grab the woman and blend in with the crowd.
I related the story to a close friend who was a police officer and to my surprise received one of the worst dress downs of my life. He began to relate event after event of domestic situations where officers taking action against a spouse in the process of beating a woman being acted by the very woman they were trying to protect. He also related that often abused women would end up testifying against officers who had intervened in public domestic fights.
It was an eye opener for me at the time and since getting my carry license a number of years ago I often think how I would have responded if I had been armed.
As I've stated previously, I'm not into playing if games, but in your post you stated something to the effect if I had been armed when he turned I would have shot him.
Unfortunately, the headline I see in my head in that situation is "LTC shoots officer". Not being very trusting, I also wonder under those circumstances how the woman's story might have changed as my LEO friend claimed was the norm in those type of situations.
Hindsight is 20/20, but ultimately although shooting the officer may have been justified, given the now known outcome, it would have been unnecessary. This obviously would have been tried in the media long before the facts reached a court room.
Said all that to say this, given the same situation with the man claiming to be an officer I would not have fired on him once he turned away and I was no longer in the line of fire unless I believed he was about to use the weapon on the woman. What I would have done is positioned my self behind a vehicle for my protection while still having the option of a clear shot if the situation continued to escalate. Firing a weapon should always be a last resort, not our first response. Of course this is just MHO.