Bay County, FL man shot after firing rifle at deputy

[justken2u]

Dustin Garland remains at Bay Medical in stable condition
July 04, 2009 05:53:00 PM
By KARI BARLOW / Night City Editor
BAYOU GEORGE — Minutes before he was shot five times by a Bay County Sheriff's deputy early Friday, Dustin Garland yelled obscenities at officers and dared one to Tase him, according to an incident report released Saturday.

Deputy Anita Ward arrived at Garland's home at 5135 Berthe Nelson Road at about 5:30 a.m. in response to a medical call.

Cassie Garland told Ward her husband had come home and "just kept yelling and screaming" and that she believed he was drunk. Dustin Garland then walked out of the house and started yelling at Ward to leave, accused him of trespassing and ordered him to get off of his property, the report said.

Dustin Garland reportedly walked closer to the deputy, continued yelling obscenities and was warned that he would be Tased if he moved any closer. Dustin Garland responded, "Tase me, (expletive) you, I don't care!", according to the report.

Dustin Garland walked back into his home, and Ward was joined at the scene by two other deputies, Chad Vidrine and Josh Lanier.

According to the report, Vidrine and Ward walked to the front of the residence while Lanier went to the back. Ward knocked on the door, asking Dustin Garland to come out and talk, and he went to a kitchen window, opened the blinds and started yelling that the deputies needed to get off of his property.

As the deputies continued to talk with Dustin Garland, he "raised a rifle to the window," the report said.

Ward told Cassie Garland to take cover behind a truck that was parked in the carport, the report said.

While Lanier was retrieving a rifle from his car, Vidrine was "proceeding across the lawn in front of the porch" to take cover. Dustin Garland walked out onto the front porch and pointed the rifle towards Vidrine, the report said.

"I hollered, a couple of times, for Mr. Garland to drop the gun and then he fired a round. (Deputy) Vidrine returned fire, shooting 5 to 6 times, until Mr. Garland went down," the report said.

Dustin Garland was taken to Bay Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition late Saturday.

Sheriff's Office officials said Friday that Dustin Garland will be charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm.

Vidrine was put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an administrative review of the incident by the Bay County Sheriff's Office. The leave is standard procedure in officer involved shootings, officials said. Sheriff Frank McKeithen has also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the shooting.

COMMENTARY

In the online commentary that followed this story on the internet, someone going by the name of "littlefish09" wrote:

They should charge the Deputy with shooting the man. As he don't even know how many times he fired, five or six times, hitting the man five times. Once is all he needed to have fired, if he is no better shot than that he needs to go back into traninmg. The deputy could tell from what the mans wife said he was not in his right mind. The deputy was scared & didn't have the traning he needed to be firing at someone. Now the man is all shot up for what, so a deputy can have a name for his self for shooting someone that is not in there right mind. Thank you!! LOCK HIM UP>

[justken2u]

This is a classic uninformed response. According to Littlefish09, there is something askew with the officer not knowing how many rounds he fired, and he also believes that a single shot should end an encounter. Add to this his belief that shooting someone "not in his right mind" is somehow the wrong thing to do.

Myth: An officer should know how many rounds they fired in a gunfight.
Fact: Usually an impossibility. This is one of those weird myths that is actually perpetuated by well-intentioned yet uninformed rangemasters who actually ask their officers "how many rounds did you fire?" during realistic simulations. Officers are often made to feel bad when they don't have the correct answer, yet in reality this is not only virtually impossible during a gunfight, but also not tactically practical. It is important to note, however, that while attempting to count rounds is impractical, officers must be aware of the condition of their weapon system during a gunfight to ensure it is always ready to deliver additional rounds if necessary. This means ensuring it is loaded and in battery.

Myth: One shot is enough to stop a person
Fact: If shooting is the right thing to do, continue firing until the threatening activity that caused you to fire in the first place no longer exists. Shooting a single round and then attempting to assess that situation is tactically unsound. Unless you have a lucky instant incapacitation through neurological disruption, it takes a long time for an assailant to stop. There is plenty of science and literature on this subject. There is no magic place to shoot somebody with a single bullet to reliably incapacitate somebody. Small caliber (handgun) bullets are reliably unreliable. And if the officer in this story had hit the suspect in one of the few (and difficult) areas that could have immediately incapacitated him, he would be dead. So, Littlefish09, would you prefer that the person you seem to be so supportive of (the suspect) be dead, since the only way a single shot could have done the job of stopping him is to have killed him?

Myth: Crazy people who are trying to kill you should be treated differently than sane people who are trying to kill you.
Fact: Huh? Aren't all people who are trying to kill you classified as crazy? Shooting at a police officer is not a rational act. Doing anything except dropping a firearm when you are at gunpoint and it is a lawful order is, by definition, a little bit nuts. Just because somebody happens to be off their medications or impaired shouldn't get them some sort of special consideration when people are in harm's way. Is it tragic? Sure. But so is a police funeral. Adding the fact that the suspect in this case had a rifle makes the situation even more urgent. Bringing a pistol to a rifle fight puts you automatically behind the curve and stopping the person pointing (and in this case firing) that rifle is of immediate concern. His welfare is way down the list of priorities.

Myth: It is necessary to issue an order to drop a gun before you can shoot them
Fact: You can't talk and fight at the same time. There is no law that requires issuing a command prior to shooting someone when there is a threat of death or great bodily harm. Commands are a luxury that you can afford to issue if you have time, distance, cover and confidence in your ability to quickly terminate the threat if that command is not followed. You can shoot somebody in the back without issuing a command and be completely justified if the circumstances are such that there is no time, distance, cover or confidence and there is imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. The law is on your side, and your conscience should be clean.

Myth: Police officers shouldn't be scared during gunfights.
Fact: Everybody experiences fear in a gunfight. It is a natural reaction to high level danger. Most people confuse fear with anxiety. Fear is a mobilizing emotion, not a paralyzing emotion. Your body will exhibit a fear response before your mind has a chance to rationalize the situation. Once you begin the rationalization process, you will either begin experiencing anxiety (if you are unprepared to deal with the situation) or exhilaration (if you have the tools and the talent to deal with the situation). Anxiety will paralyze you.

Our analysis of this incident points to an excellent job on the part of the responding deputies. They showed good judgement by calling for additional units, restraint in the early part of the encounter and quickly stopped an extremely dangerous perpetrator who was attempting to gun down officers with a rifle.

Recommended Reading: In Defense of Self and Others by John C. Hall and Urey Patrick