Newhall Shooting - A Tactical Analysis. Michael E. Wood
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Название: Newhall Shooting - A Tactical Analysis
Автор: Michael E. Wood
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
Серия: Concealed Carry Series
isbn: 9781440235917
isbn:
Officer Gore ordered Davis to spread his legs, place his hands on top of the Pontiac, and lean on the car. When Davis assumed the directed search position, Officer Gore advanced the short distance between them (about 10 to 15 feet) to search the suspect. (Fig. 10) Witnesses reported that Officer Gore holstered his revolver to conduct the search. The time was just prior to 23:55.
Meanwhile, Officer Frago abandoned his covering position at the front of the Polara and approached the passenger side of the Gran Prix with the shotgun in a “port arms” position. Nearing the vehicle, he reportedly shifted the butt of the shotgun to his right hip and held the firearm with the muzzle in the air with his right hand only, as he reached for the door handle of the Pontiac with his left hand to remove the noncompliant passenger, Twining (Refer again to Fig. 10)10
As Officer Frago reached for the door handle, Twining suddenly opened the door and spun to face Officer Frago with a four-inch Smith & Wesson Model 28 .357 Magnum revolver in his hand.11 Officer Frago was reported to have yelled “Hold it!” before Twining fired twice with the revolver, striking him in the left armpit area with both shots. The bullets from the Western-brand .357 Magnum cartridges traversed Officer Frago’s upper chest, killing him instantly, and he fell where he stood. (Fig. 11)12
Twining quickly exited the vehicle and turned to fire two shots at Officer Gore, who was near Davis on the other side of the vehicle. In his haste, Twining triggered both shots low, into the right rear side of the Pontiac’s body and roof as he tracked the gun upward towards Officer Gore. (Fig. 12) As this happened, Officer Gore turned away from Davis, drew his revolver, and fired a single round of Remington-Peters .357 Magnum ammunition at Twining across the deck lid of the car. The shot went wide and missed Twining, striking the right rear window of a Ford Mustang parked in the restaurant parking lot and exiting out that car’s rear window. (Refer again to Fig. 12.)
With Officer Gore focused on the threat across the car from him, Davis had the opportunity to push back from the car, spin to his right, and pull a two-inch Smith & Wesson Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight .38 Special revolver from his waistband (the same gun he had used to threaten the Tidwells with earlier). Davis shot the distracted officer twice in the chest at arm’s length, the bullets traveling from left front to right back. Like his hapless partner, academy classmate, and childhood friend, Officer Frago, Officer Gore was dead before he hit the ground. (Fig. 13)
The time was 23:56. The Pontiac had stopped just a little more than one minute earlier, and help had just arrived.
CHAPTER 4
The Second Unit Arrives
As Officer Gore fell, mortally wounded, Unit 78-12 was pulling into position roughly parallel and to the north of Unit 78-8. The nose of 78-12 was ahead of 78-8 by about half a car length and angled slightly towards 78-8, and the two cruisers were separated by just eight to 10 feet. The newly arriving patrol car was caught in the same chokepoint as the previous vehicle, only slightly more than a car’s length behind the Pontiac. (Fig. 14)
Officers Pence and Alleyn had driven into an ambush and came under immediate fire from Davis and Twining, who had moved to the front of the car for cover. Davis placed his left hand on the hood of the car for support and triggered the remaining three rounds in the Model 38 revolver from an outstretched right arm, and Twining shot the remaining two rounds in the Model 28 revolver at the responding officers as their car approached (Fig. 15)13
At 23:56, Officer Pence grabbed the radio microphone and broadcast an urgent message to Newhall Dispatch in an excited voice. Using the CHP brevity code for “Officer Needs Help,” Officer Pence broadcast: “11-99! Standard Station at J’s! Shots fired!”14
As Officer Pence was sending the desperate call for help, Davis and Twining reentered the Pontiac from the passenger side and armed themselves with new weapons from the back seat. Davis selected a 12-gauge pump shotgun with a sawed-off barrel and stock (loaded with six rounds of Remington-Peters 00 Buckshot), and Twining selected a Remington-Rand 1911A1 .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol loaded with a full magazine of seven, 230-grain FMJ cartridges and an eighth round in the chamber. (Fig. 16)15
As Officers Pence and Alleyn prepared to exit their patrol car, Davis moved to the front of the Pontiac and fired a shot from the shotgun, which raked pellets across the hood of the vehicle from a point near the center of the right fender and extending across the hood to the center of the windshield.16 Simultaneously, Twining attempted to fire, from a position near the driver’s side door of the Pontiac, a single shot from his pistol at the officers. The pistol failed to fire, and Twining ejected a live round from the pistol to clear it. In doing so, another live round jammed in the pistol and prevented the slide from going into battery. The malfunction prevented Twining from firing the gun, and he ditched it in the rear of the Pontiac on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat. (Fig. 17)17
After making the 11-99 radio call, Officer Pence exited the CHP cruiser, drew his six-inch .357 Magnum Colt Python revolver from its crossdraw holster, and began to fire at Davis and/or Twining, using the patrol vehicle’s open door as cover. (Fig. 18)
Just prior to this, as Officer Pence was bringing the vehicle to a halt and making the 11-99 call, Officer Alleyn was deploying the car’s Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun from the Lektro-Lok cradle. As Officer Pence exited the driver’s side and began to fire, Officer Alleyn exited the passenger side of the vehicle, with his issued hat securely in place, and pumped a round into the chamber of the shotgun as he made his way aft in the narrow channel between the two patrol cars.18 He rounded the back of Unit 78-8 and took up a position on the right side, behind СКАЧАТЬ