An Ugly New Wrinkle
By Mitch Berg
The shootings in Ferguson earlier this week were an ugly, new-ish wrinkle in the situation.
Among all the sturm und drang from the left about America’s gun laws and the sheer number of guns available in the US, the use of guns in demonstrations, even riots, is relatively rare. It happens, of course; my old colleague John MacDougall reported carrying a gun with him when he covered the riots in North Minneapolis in 1968; some rioters shot at police during the LA riots.
But for the number of guns available in the US, very few of them over come out during periods of unrest.
Now, I’m sure the shooters in the audience took note of this part of the story:
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said one officer was shot in the face, just below his right eye, with the bullet lodging behind his ear. The other officer was hit in the shoulder, and the bullet came out his back…Authorities believe the shots came from a handgun fired about 120 yards away. There were no suspects in custody.
120 yards? With a handgun?
Either there’s a rogue SAS trooper or Olympic marksman in Ferguson, or the “luckiest”, fluke-iest crook in the US, or two of the unluckiest cops – or someone was firing a pistol-caliber scoped carbine.
March 13th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
It strikes me that if indeed people are saying this in Ferguson and mean it, we have an issue with how we are, or are not, attracting smart people to the police force. In which case we would doubt not only the weapon, but also the range and position of the shooter(s), and any number of other factors related to putting the guilty in prison.
So we have either liars or fools there. Ouch.
March 13th, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Sounds like the DC sniper. Must have been windy otherwise the guy would be in the morgue.
March 13th, 2015 at 1:03 pm
“In amateur video accessed by the Associated Press, two shots ring out and a man is heard screaming out in pain.”
its too bad there is so little factual information in the press:
a) only 2 shots were heard, by who,where were they in the crowd
b) can the amateur video camera even pick up the sound of a gunshot at 100 yards, is it a omni directional mike on the camera
b) what caliber were the bullets
c) who was hit first, I have trouble believing the head shot was the second
d) why do they believe 120 yards, what evidence
frankly I think 20-30 yards from inside the crowd is far more likely than 2 hits with a handgun from 360 feet away
March 13th, 2015 at 1:09 pm
The Chief also described the shooting as an “ambush” which implies the officers were lead into a trap, when the story describes the police as having formed up in front of the station to protect it, implying skirmish lines. Even pot-shots are disturbing but describing this as a premeditated trap adds fuel to an already hot fire.
March 13th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
earlier reports said it wa s .45.
120 yards? With a handgun?
No… Freaking… Way… BB, it is both – liars AND fools.
March 13th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Bubba, as the unhappy veteran of way too many “police contacts” I can tell you that high IQ’s are not a prerequisite in municipal PD’s.
That’s not to say smart coppers are unicorns, more like white bufallos.
City coppers operate exactly like military units. They depend on reflexive compliance with their training. Their questioning and investigative techniques are scripted.
March 13th, 2015 at 2:59 pm
That being said, the quip about a handgun could be misinformation.
March 13th, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Or disinformation.
March 13th, 2015 at 3:17 pm
I wondered about that. 120 yards at night. Maybe a .22 rifle with a scope from a window. Aim at a pretty thick concentration of sitting duck, non-moving targets, allow for the bullet falling. .22 would make sense also because the cop who got shot in the face didn’t have his head blown off.
March 13th, 2015 at 4:51 pm
.45 ACP @ 120 yds? Depending on the brand of ammo the drop at that distance will be between 11” and 17″ – pretty lucky shooting, but not likely a spur of the moment occurrence. Also its fishy why just 2 shots there’s at leasts 6 more in the magazine.
March 13th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Called get em off and get gone, Kel
March 14th, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Feet, not yards. Probably a mis-speak or a typo. See map:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-shootings-20150312-story.html#page=1&lightbox=83042363
Layers and layers of fact checkers . . . blew it again. On the other hand, the\is cop doesn’t promote confidence:
“Shell casings were found near the site of the shooting, police said. “We feel like it’s a pistol or a handgun,” Belmar told reporters at a news conference.”
Feel? Don’t they watch CSI? The ballistics report only takes 11 minutes on TV.
March 14th, 2015 at 7:41 pm
“We feel like it’s a pistol or a handgun”
I feel like it’s a rifle or a long gun.
March 15th, 2015 at 9:02 am
So instead of head shots at 120 yards with a handgun, it’s at 40 yards.
Still a pretty good (or very lucky) shot, if it’s actually with a handgun.
March 16th, 2015 at 9:15 pm
Mitch:
Silly questions about the capture of the shooter since I haven’t heard them answered in the media.
What gun show did the shooter go to buy his gun?
Did he pass his back ground check?
Did he have a valid permit for the gun?
Mind you before you think I’m trying to embarrass the gun rights movement this sort of proves since they haven’t been widely broadcast that he got it illegally and Missouri’s gun laws didn’t do anything to stop him from being out on the street with a gun.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
March 16th, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Police are saying they recovered a 40 caliber handgun matching casings at the scene. http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/15/us/ferguson-police-shot-arrest/