I don't like to comment on POST LE SHOOTINGS, having not been there, BUT, in this case I was there.
As mentioned in the show, the guy had a bomb strapped to him so of course the Bomb Squad was on hand............I was the senior bomb tech.
There were some things on the show that made me think I was watching a completely different incident.
APD doesn't call there unit SWAT, its CRT, a minor point. CRT wanted to shoot the bandit from the git go thinking the bomb was a hoax. I talked to people who knew the bandit, and what I learned and what the bandit said about the device, convinced me that it was real.
Another point, there was no reason to shoot the guy. Sure he was getting in his vehicle, but he had a long driveway before he could get to the street. This was a semi rural area, not a trailer park per se. That drive way was blocked by police cars, He couldn't have gotten out in the vehicle.
I wont address Mew (who is now the Chief of APD), I'll address APD's CRT in general. They were taught that LE SNIPERS USE HEAD SHOTS, NOT BODY OR COM shots. Also from the git go they were taught synronized shots, only 'two shots at the same time" I know this because that's what I taught.
When Walker (CRT Cmdr) started the program, he went to the Army for rifle training. The Army sent him to the Guard as the Army at Ft Richardson use the AK NG Sniper Program. I was in the NG and was running the marksmanship program, including the sniper schools. My boss told Walker that they, the NG would support the training but the instructor would come from the Departments own............that be me. (side note: I got paid twice, once from the department, once from the Guard).
When I instructed the school (don't remember if Mew was one of the original CRT members or not) they had Mini 14s, which didn't work. They weren't capable of precision fire. I recommended they switch to M16a1s. (They could get for nothing via grants because of the switch over to the 'A2s) Walker wanted to stick with the Mini 14s. I believe and told him so, that the only reason he didn't want M16s is because the Troopers were using M16s.
The eventually did go to M16s and MP5s. But didn't practice enough to really give the guys confidence with their rifles. Most any good bolt gun is capable of head shots to 300 yards. The Rem. Varmint in 308 (which is really what they used) was certainly capable.
I wont go into details of the rifle training, but to say it certainly wasn't COM shooting in hostage situations.
Lessons learned from this incident: Listen to the bomb tech in dealing with bombs. If the road's blocked, the bandit isn't going to drive away. And most of all if you have any Sharpshooters in your department, PRACTICE, practice constantly until the shooter has total confidence with his rifle, zero, and ammo.
In my career in LE Sniping, and EOD I've studied a lot of Sniper VS. Bandits with bombs attached. Most have gone bad, there is a certain shot where they can be disabled and not trigger the device, but even then, some are set up like booby traps and nothing you can do will keep the device from going off.
In short, you can pretty much assume the device WILL go off if you shoot the bandit, make your decision accordingly.
However, the incident we are discussing was different. It had to be triggered by the bad guy. Three shots (I don't remember it taking three but could have) did not disable the bandit and he was allowed to set off the device, putting the hostage in danger (it was pure luck he got away) we certainly didn't save him. The way the device was triggered, a head shot in this case probably would have ending the situation without the device going off.
As it was we (the bomb squad) got to spend the rest of the afternoon and most of the night in post blast investigation with included police up itty bitty body parts that were scattered for a while.
Anyway, take these shows with a gain of salt, I couldn't swear to it before but in this case, having been there, I know what happens and whats put out in the show is as different as night and day. But what can you expect from the History Channel who at one time reported Franklin Roosevelt on Mount Rushmore.
