offi cer down: Ambiguous Deadly Force Decisions Under Stress: Josh Shemenski’s Second Shooting
voice absent of any hint of hostility or regret, “I wanted to die.”
THE AFTERMATH
Shemenski later determined that the older man in the pickup truck was Rusk’s father. He had been summoned to the scene to by his son’s family to help calm him, and had fallen in behind Shemenski’s cruiser by sheer coincidence. Later, when he witnessed the shooting, he had understandably believed that his son had been shot and feared Shem- enski would shoot him again if he reached for the shotgun. Reacting out of fear for his son’s life that overrode his good sense, he had thoughtlessly intervened to disarm him. It had nearly gotten him shot, but the in- stinct to protect our children can trump even our survival instinct. Rusk was later convicted of brandishing a
fi rearm and assaulting an offi cer, and given a suspended sentence with fi ve years’ probation. Several months after the shooting, Deputy Shemenski stopped Rusk for a minor traf- fi c violation. T ough Shemenski didn’t rec- ognize the man at fi rst, Rusk immediately recognized him and struck up a cordial con- versation in which he said he was an Iraqi war veteran suff ering from PTSD. He confi rmed that he had intended to commit suicide that night, and indicated that he fully understood why Shemenski had fi red at him. When Sh- emenski asked him why he had gone down so hard despite not having taken any rounds, he explained that that he had felt a bullet whiz past his head, jerked back out of the way and lost his balance. Shemenski’s near miss had been a lucky break for both him and Rusk. Rusk had been saved from taking his own life, and Shemenski had been saved from the pain of having to take the life of a veteran suff er- ing from an unfortunate consequence of his service to his country.
DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS What is especially remarkable about this shooting is the fact that it was the second time Deputy Shemenski had been compelled to shoot through his windshield (see “Offi - cer Down: Vehicle Ambush!” in our Jul/Aug
37 The Police Marksman Sep-Oct 2014
2014 issue). Few offi cers are ever put into that position, yet it happened to Shemenski twice in 18 months. T is once again proves that anything can happen in police work, and dramatically highlights the importance of practicing this vital shooting technique. However, the topic of shooting through windshields was already discussed in detail in our analysis of Deputy Shemenski’s fi rst shooting. T erefore, we will use this oppor- tunity to examine another crucial learning point related to this case—the importance of mental fl exibility, especially as it pertains to making ambiguous deadly force decisions under stress. It’s often hard enough to make correct use-of-force decisions in the heat of a violent encounter, but it’s even tougher when the circumstances suddenly change. And when the changing circumstances de- mand a quick life-or-death decision about an ambiguous deadly force encounter, our mental fl exibility can be stressed to the limit of human capabilities. T erefore, it is very important to do as much as we can to im- prove our mental fl exibility. T e following analysis will address this point in greater detail, as well as a number of other crucial lessons from this incident—les- sons that can save lives. Before you read the analysis, however, please review the follow- ing discussion questions and work through your own answers. Stay safe.
ANALYSIS
Distractions and Focus As in his fi rst shooting, Deputy Shemenski was caught off guard by the sudden appear- ance of a man wielding a shotgun as he ar- rived on the scene, though not to as great an extent and for diff erent reasons. In the fi rst shooting, he had fallen into the common trap of focusing so much on apprehending a fl eeing off ender that he was distracted from thinking about offi cer safety, but this time he was distracted by two separate matters, neither of which is very common to police work. T e fi rst was the more common of the two—he was having trouble fi nding his des- tination. Since he didn’t patrol that particu-
lar beat very often and had seldom responded to any calls in that particular subdivision, he wasn’t as sure of where he was going as he would otherwise have been. T en, as he drove down the unfamiliar streets trying to determine exactly where to make his next turn, he was further sidetracked by a much less common distraction—the pickup truck riding his bumper. With his attention now split between these two distractions, he came out of the curve to suddenly fi nd the distur- bance rapidly unfolding into an armed con- frontation directly in front of him. It took a few milliseconds for his brain to make sense out of all that was happening, and by then it was too late to weigh his various options before engaging Rusk. While things like confusion about the exact location of a call or a tailgater may not appear to be especially relevant to your safety upon arrival on the scene, this case shows how dangerous any distraction can be. Focus is essential to proper mental preparation and threat assessment, and even a minor distrac- tion can lead to surprise, a missed danger sign, hesitation, or other dangerous delay in responding to an attack. Fortunately, Deputy Shemenski was sharp enough to overcome these distractions and aggressively counterattack before Rusk could open fi re, but there is a lesson here for all of us: Always do your best to eliminate distractions and stay focused on safety as your fi rst priority. Psych yourself up to be ready for anything, no matter how routine the situation may ap- pear to be. Deputy Shemenski’s lack of familiarity with the subdivision also highlights the im- portance of becoming familiar with not only your own beat, but every other beat you may be required to patrol. T is is particularly dif- fi cult to do in agencies like sheriff ’s depart- ments in large rural counties with too few patrol deputies to provide adequate cover- age. Deputies in these venues are often as- signed to cover beats other than their own, and the beats often cover expansive areas with numerous remote locations that are sel- dom patrolled. While it may not always be possible to become thoroughly familiar with
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