John S. Farnam, president of Defensive Training International, is one of the top handgun instructors in the world. He has personally trained thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel, as well as non-police, in the serious use of firearms. In addition, he has authored four books on the subject –“The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning,” “The Street Smart Gun Book,” and “Guns & Warriors – DTI Quips Volume 1.”
John is a regular contributor to TACDA’s publication, the “Journal of Civil Defense”. Here are his thoughts about an incident which occurred close by in Draper, where the TACDA offices are located:
“Early Sunday morning, a veteran police sergeant was shot to death during a traffic stop in an upscale neighborhood (suburb of SLC). He stopped his beat-car near a vehicle that was parked on the side of the road in an awkward manor. A man and a woman were standing near the car. Without warning, the male produced a pistol and opened fire on the officer, still strapped in his seat.
The officer accelerated to get out of the line of fire, and tried to radio for help. He lost consciousness and crashed into a tree three blocks away. He was transported to a local hospital where he subsequently died.
Details on range, ammunition, number of shots fired, and impact point(s) were not disclosed. Church services were canceled, and residents were told to stay in their homes, as hundreds of officers, from multiple jurisdictions, swarmed the area in an effort to contain what some calculated could have been a shooting spree.
What was ultimately discovered was the couple, both shot, still near their car. The male suspect apparently shot the officer first, then the woman, and finally himself. Both the woman and the male suspect were seriously, but not fatally, injured. They are both currently hospitalized.
Of course, local politicians immediately held a news conference, with all the usual, hollow promises about those guilty of this crime being ‘brought to justice,’ ad nauseam.
Both suspects were described as ‘transients,’ with the usual, ‘routine’Â extensive criminal histories.”
Comment: These are the kind of unstable, ever-dangerous “habitual criminals ” who used to be confined to mental hospitals and prisons. Many are still in prisons (thank Heaven!), but many others, like these two, are currently at-large, and there is no fence between them and you!
The point is that we, police and non-police, need to continue to be extremely cautious about such “transients,” “homeless,” and “emotionally-disturbed.” They are all unstable and can be exceedingly dangerous, even homicidal, under the right circumstances, as we see.
Most look “harmless,” and most usually are, but you only need to be naively wrong once!
They need to be deliberately avoided. Approach, when necessary, must always take place with appropriate caution. There is much you’re not seeing!
When you don’t know everything, you really don’t know anything!
John S. Farnam