NYPD Sgt. Saves Own Life by Jamming Finger Into Trigger of Felon's Gun

Dup thread, I don't know which one will be locked... the other thread is not in tactics and there is a little Taurus bashing in it....


It will be interesting to see which one gets locked...

It just occured to me... what was the officer doing with his other hand? Why didn't the officer just clamp down on the cylinder? The first time the BG dropped the hammer on my finger would be the last time - that hurts!

I'd either clamp down on the cylinder with my other hand - hoping that my partner either dispathced or disarmed the BG, or I'd use my other hand to draw my weapon - at that point there would have been a Graves grave.
 
Saw the other thread after I posted...

At very least you would think he was pounding on him with the other hand.
I am sure the encounter was very fast and more dynamic then the news stories can relate. Probably was all over in a couple seconds.
 
there was a case, and I really don't remember ALL the details but a guy managed to get the web of his hand, the bit between the thumb and index finger, between the hammer and frame to prevent the gun firing.

I'm thinking it was a secret service agent stopping someone shooting at a president
 
If the bad guy already had the revolver cocked, grabbing the cylindar wouldn't help. Either way, its impressive to be able to manage to get your hand in that small gap under threat of being shot!
 
I'm thinking it was a secret service agent stopping someone shooting at a president

Sara Jane Moore shooting at Ford after Squeaky missed a few days before.

IIRC it was a marine and not SS.
 
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Bad reporting in this article.

In the title it says:
Saves Own Life by Jamming Finger Into Trigger of Felon's Gun

In the body of the article it says:
by jamming his ring finger under the hammer of the felon’s .38 revolver
and
wedging his right ring finger between the gun’s hammer and cylinder

So which is it the trigger or the hammer?

Well, regardless the officer took action which probably saved him from being shot or perhaps killed.
 
Lee H. Oswald

Curt 45,

Isn't that the way Oswald was apprehended in the movie theater without being able to get off a shot?

The arresting officer blocked the hammer with the web of his hand, if my memory serves me properly from many years ago on TV.

Rmocarsky
 
If you have time to stick you finger into a felon's gun, why not just take it away from him?

I guess maybe he had already grabbed it (wrongly) and just improvised.

Would be interesting to see his exact technique and the circumstances.

Deaf
 
Sounds to me that the LEO made a lucky grab more than a cognizant move to block the hammer from falling. Glad to hear his quick reactions saved his life and one more scumbag druggie is off the streets though.
 
Grabbed it wrongly? I'd be interested to know how many of the folks criticizing the officer have actually done much practice with disarms.

Let's see... I want to control a revolver; I don't want to put my hand or arm in front of the muzzle... and I don't want my body in front of the muzzle, either... what to do, what to do?

Oh, wait, I practice this quite a lot.

Step off the line and advance on an angle. Grab weapon hand or weapon, depending; if revolver, grabbing around cylinder may bind cylinder (assuming revolver NOT ALREADY COCKED!!!) but slipping finger or thumb under hammer VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES EVEN A COCKED REVOLVER CAN'T FIRE.

With hand grabbing weapon or weapon-hand, bend weapon up and toward BG's thumb; this may break his trigger finger, and/or wrench the weapon from his grasp, and/or aim the muzzle up into his chin or throat. Alternative might be to drop weight onto the gun hand, while pivoting, using body weight to corkscrew BG toward ground, before reversing with gun. With other hand, attack eyes of BG.

Legs can be used to sweep, or a stomp kick to the knee can be executed.

Note: All this stuff happens pretty much at once.

Note2: BG will tend to have his own ideas about how to proceed. It's quite possible that even if the officer didn't intend to put his digit under the hammer, that the BG could have twisted or pulled in such a way that that's where the officer's digit ended up.

Note3: In case anybody thinks I'm talking smack about practicing this stuff, feel free to ask Pax. We had a short workout with disarms (handgun and long gun) after Mas Ayoob's class at FAS. But I've been playing with weapon disarms (in various dojos) on a regular basis since 1996.
 
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I have a faint memory of years ago watching a program about a post office shooting where a man grabbed the shooters gun and the webbing og his thumb blocked the hammer. I rember him saying the shooter just kept pulling the trigger and trying to get the gun away. I rember him saying that it hurt like no tomorrow. He finaly did wrench the the gun loose. If I remeber correctly the shooter commited suicide while awaiting trial.
 
Ninja skills and a bit of luck. My guess is the officer intended to grab the gun and point the muzzle away from his body. He slipped, got his finger to block the hammer from falling, and managed to subdue the badguy amidst the confusion. Good story, but not exactly a tactic I'd strive to perfect.
 
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