I read a good number of these and am sorry that I haven't read them all. I have been in a number of situations where I could have justifiably shot someone. For those of you that have seen combat and actually shot someone this is probably a whole different ball game. Also, I have not shot anyone in the line of duty.

The scenario as follows:

I was responding to a "shots fired" call, with only one call. Usually real gun shots will get several calls or no calls. Also people often mistake fire works, back firing cars, loud crashes, etc for gun shots. However, I make it a point to not be complacent.

I was the first officer to arrive in the area with two more coming. The car I was driving was an older car that had an older style gun rack and therefore my AR15 was in my trunk (cruiser ready-full magazine, no round in the chamber). I pulled into the neighborhood and thought to myself that I am going to a "shots fired" call so I stopped, popped the trunk, pulled the AR out, put a round in the chamber, and put it in the seat next to me. I then pulled onto the street that the house was on that I was going to. I blacked out and as I am getting ready to park several houses away to try and sneak up on the house I see a figure run across the street. I see two more figures also running across the street behind the first one, leaving from the house where I was going to. I then turned my headlights back on, and put my spotlight on the two figures that were running after the first one.

This happened so fast that I did not have time to grab my rifle, I hopped out and, drew my gun, and started yelling at the three people. The first person, who was missing a shirt, covered completely in blood, and had major head trauma laid down first. The other two males, wearing all black, going after the guy started coming towards me. I yelled again for them to get on the ground and I started moving back and left, still have the closest guy at gunpoint and trying to watch the other two. The closest guy was about 5-7 yards from me, and I wanted to create a little distance. I thought to myself that these guys are going to stop and i put my finger on the trigger and was getting ready to shoot. I yelled again to get on the ground and they complied. I was prepared to fire on him immediately after that third verbal command, but as I was yelling he was getting on the ground. The other guy that was with him got on the ground as well.

I was alone here for about 15-20 seconds, in my mind, could have been more, could have been less, I will never know. My partner showed up and we held the three at gun point until other officers arrived to help. Of the two guys in black, the first guy had brass knuckles, pepper spray, and a knife on him, the second guy had a taser and pepper spray that we pulled off of him. The gun they used and failed in using to kill the first guy they ditched and we found it later.

That is the gist of it really. Like I said, not the first time and it wont certainly be the last time, but it sticks out the most to me. I thought of when I just had a CCW before I was an officer if I could have handled that situation as calmly as I did, ready and prepared to shoot, and I am not sure that I would have. Sad to say, the more times this happens the easier it is to handle and work through.