On 11 May 2021 Stockton Officer Jimmy Inn was KIA responding to a domestic violence call. After killing Officer Inn the shooter strangled his own 8 year old son. A good Samaritan tackled the shooter as Inn's partner rushed forward to kill the shooter.

Critical Incident Community Briefing - May 11, 2021 - YouTube

Action vs Reaction. Officer Inn was trapped in the kill zone. All gunfights are comprised of geometric angles: angles of attack and angles of exposure. Possibly if Officer Inn had positioned himself on the hinge side of the door he may have improved his chance of living. Also by waiting a scant couple of seconds for his partner to link up with him may have created confusion and hesitation in the shooter who obviously was either drugged, drunk, deranged or all of the above. His only other possible recourse was to create distance by moving quickly off the X. Sadly Officer Inn's hour glass ran out of time.

Let's put ourselves into Officer Inn's position. We will never have sufficient time to think about our response to a similar deadly threat. We will only have time to recognize and respond to the threat we have considered and visualized beforehand.

His partner laid down a heavy volume of suppressive fire, took cover and then attempted to deescalate by firing words instead of bullets. Remember a cool-headed adversary could be waiting until your blaster runs dry to launch his attack. To maintain your advantage you must practice quick reloads.

On the street there is only one rule for survival. One rule, which sometimes means the difference between walking away and being carried away. One rule, which goes deeply into combat strategy: don't stop hitting until they're incapable of hitting you. Gunfights are fast-paced and slow thinkers pay with their lives. Letting your emotions cloud your judgment would be as dangerous as going up against a gunman whacked out on speed. You must silence that inner voice that fills your mind with doubts and visions of your impending death.

Seeing the shooter was chocking his son to death the LEO could have broke cover sooner, rapidly close the distance and put accurate, well aimed bullets into the shooter.

As to his partner, it is critical we understand when we should stop shooting. Are we able to justify and articulate our decision to shoot? Did that hold true for the fourth and fifth shots? An inability to make a reasoned decision seldom leads to a favorable outcome. Clarity. We need clarity to survive a deadly threat without injury. Now is the time to hit the legal books, head to the range for trigger time and do some dry firing at home to hone your skills for when it inevitably will be your time in the kill zone.

The A.O.J. triad. Ability: the shooter had the ability to kill his son with his bare hands. Opportunity: the shooter had his hands around his son's throat while holding him in the air. Jeopardy: the son was slowly being strangled. The LEO was on solid legal grounds shooting in the "defense of others."

The LEO met all four factors to justify his use of force: the self defense was necessary since the threat was immediate and real; the person defended was not the aggressor; the force used was proportionate and he witnessed the attack on the third person.

We are observing a disturbing trend where way too many LEOs are being shot standing at the threshold of the door upon responding to critical incidents. Many law enforcement suits in command positions not only posses insurmountable narrow-mindless but exercise privilege without assuming attending responsibility and obligation to officer safety. These suits seem to be anesthetized by ignorance and inertia and are oblivious to the fact that their department/agency tactics and training must be overhauled. One example, killers are attacking with weapons that exceed the protection level of body armor. Portable ballistic shields have become necessities. One man response to Officer's Inn's critical incident must go the way of the police call box key.

The Street Fighter learned early in his profession everyone with a license can drive a car, yet only those few with skills hewn from years of dedicated training can win the Indy 500. Likewise, though all LEOs are issued a badge, only those few with the discipline to train can live through a blitz attack.

Officer Inn's death was preventable. His training failed him. His Chief did not have his 6.

"Excellence is of the few. Have the courage to stand by your convictions, even if that means going against the majority."...Bohdi Sanders

Semper Fi
Frank White