Texas Cops can shoot

[SSChameleon]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/05...crazed-gunman/

Holding the reins of two horses with one hand, Austin Police Sgt. Adam Johnson raised his service pistol and fired a bullseye into the target some 312 feet away.
Down went Larry McQuilliams, and so ended his rampage through the streets of the Texas capital, where he’d fired more than 100 rounds from his AK-47 and .22-caliber rifles at buildings. The shot, from Johnson’s Smith & Wesson M&P .40 pistol, hit McQuilliams square in the chest and made the 15-year-veteran the toast of gun enthusiasts around the country.

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“At a minimum, it was extraordinary shot,” said Army Maj. John Plaster, a retired Special Forces operator, long-range shooting expert and author of “The Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers.”
It was not immediately clear if Johnson’s center-mass shot killed McQuilliams, or if the longtime criminal died from a self-inflicted shot a moment later. Results from an autopsy are pending, but there’s no disputing the improbably accurate bullet fired by Johnson brought a safe end to the Nov. 28 incident.

Johnson used a department issued Smith and Wesson M & P .40 pistol. (Smith and Wesson)


“It’s not impossible,” Plaster added. “Wild Bill Hickok shot bad guys from a hundred yards away with a handgun, but he was also a great shot.
“I would say what this officer did was phenomenal, especially if he didn’t brace his arm against anything.”
McQuilliams, 49, had multiple weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a map of 34 downtown buildings that likely were potential targets in his pre-dawn rampage the day after Thanksgiving, according to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. He’d already shot up the Mexican consulate, the federal courthouse and a downtown bank.
“For a guy to keep his composure and holding two horses with one hand and taking a one-hand shot with the other hand, it says a lot about the training and professionalism of our police department,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said to the Austin American-Statesman.
Johnson, who works with the Mounted Patrol Unit, was about to get off duty and stabling the horses when he heard shots and returned fire at 2:33 a.m.
On Friday, Johnson, who is on routine administrative leave following the incident, made his first public appearance at a holiday charity event.
The sharpshooter told a local radio host he thanked God for being at the "right place at the right time."

[Bunny]

That is one hell of a good shot!

[earplug]

This might be a record of some sort. The previous long range pistol stop was a MP shooting a 9MM on the US post.

[theGinsue]

This officer's shot was remarkable & definitely worthy of our praise & respect as citizens and as fellow shooters - particularly for stopping a potentially lethal shooter.

While very different, there are interesting similarities to an incident in 1994 at Fairchild AFB...

This might be a record of some sort. The previous long range pistol stop was a MP shooting a 9MM on the US post.

Yep, I believe you are referring to the Fairchild AFB Hospital event.

Meanwhile, Senior Airman Andrew P. Brown, age 25, with the 92nd Air Force Security Police Squadron, was patrolling the base’s housing areas on a bicycle when he received an emergency call on his two-way radio. He pedaled a quarter-mile to the scene and, while still some 70 yards away, spotted Mellberg shooting at scores of panic-stricken people in the parking lot.

Brown ditched his bicycle and ordered the gunman to drop his weapon. When Mellberg turned and shot at him, Brown dropped into a combat crouch and returned fire with his 9mm Beretta M9 semiautomatic pistol. He fired four rounds at Mellberg; two missed, one hit him in the shoulder and one struck him between the eyes, instantly ending his homicidal rampage. The drum magazine in Mellberg’s MAK-90 still held 19 rounds of ammunition.

Beretta M9's, in my experience, are not the most accurate firearm. It (in my opinion) takes an amazing shooter to consistently perform well with one of them. So, that, with the fact that this USAF Security Police (they were still "SP's", not "Security Forces" back then) had just ridden his patrol bicycle 1/4 mile to respond to the hospital, earns a huge amount of my respect.

ETA: Damn! Earplug beat me by 4 minutes. I took too long to type it up.

[HoneyBadger]

Holy smokes! That's a great shot from a bench, but standing while holding the reins of a couple of horses with your other hand? That's a helluva shot!

and I forget to mention... HE TOOK THAT SHOT IN THE DARK! It was 2:30am!

eta: what's the energy of that .40 round at 100yds? Apparently, enough to take a man down.

[asmo]

eta: what's the energy of that .40 round at 100yds? Apparently, enough to take a man down.

The table uses a 100 yard zero so ignore that part. But its still 290 for a 165g Hydrashok.

[Dave_L]

That can't be true. He used a .40. That round isn't even effective.

But seriously, color me impressed.

[Irving]

M&P 40 is worthless and not accurate.

[Duman]

M&P 40 is worthless and not accurate.

Really?

[hurley842002]

M&P 40 is worthless and not accurate.

Really?

Lol