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 offi cer down: Ambiguous Deadly Force Decisions Under Stress: Josh Shemenski’s Second Shooting


grudge against cops looking for a fi ght, or even a terrorist following the offi cer into an awaiting ambush.


Absent any overt danger signs, this kind of situation doesn’t necessarily call for a high-profi le response, but it does require a response of some kind. If nothing else, it should raise your awareness level and prompt you to carefully scan for additional danger signs. Beyond that, the following options should be considered in light of the particular circumstances:  Call for backup to stop the vehicle.


T is isn’t always possible, especially in re- mote areas, and it may also be inadvisable when you are en route to a call that cannot be delayed. However, when possible, it is generally the safest option.  Stop and let the vehicle pass, and then stop it if the circumstances will allow. T is is the simplest solution, but it also has the serious shortcoming of making you vulner- able to gunfi re from the vehicle as it passes. T erefore, it is best done when you can turn into a parking lot, driveway or side street fi rst, and then stay low in your seat with your foot on the brake and transmis- sion still in gear as the vehicle passes. T is will make you a smaller target and enable you to immediately accelerate and maneu- ver out of the hot zone if you come under fi re. It also requires some thoughtful pre- planning and a careful choice of where to pull over.  Speed up and see if the motorist con- tinues to follow. If so, try to pull farther ahead of him and then fi nd a parking lot, intersection or other wide spot in the road where you can suddenly turn around, exit your cruiser, and confront him from be- hind cover. In most cases, this will call for confronting the motorist at gunpoint, but in some situations, taking cover with your gun at your side may suffi ce. Also, consider using roadside cover if possible to guard against being struck if the motorist tries to run you down or crash into your vehicle. In addition, many roadside objects are supe- rior to car bodies as cover. Again, preplan- ning and careful selection of the pull-over spot are essential here. Return to Question 2


39 The Police Marksman Sep-Oct 2014 Experience


As was the case in his earlier shooting, Deputy Shemenski immediately responded to Rusk’s attack with an aggressive counterattack, but more quickly and with greater accuracy than before. While other factors probably con- tributed to his success, his experience in the fi rst attack deserves a good deal of the credit. Our subconscious mind largely controls our response to danger, at least initially, and it is uniquely suited to that task because it de- tects, processes, and acts on visual and other input much more quickly than the conscious mind does. It takes in an incredible amount of data, sorts through it, assesses it, and then decides how to respond to it, all at lightning speed. T e reason it can do this so quickly is because it doesn’t take the time to mull over all the data and carefully consider various op- tions before making a decision like the con- scious mind does. Instead, it searches through its memory banks at hyper-speed, fi nds the memory of a previous event that is very simi- lar to the one currently confronting it, and uses that event as a pattern for its response. If it can’t fi nd the memory of an appropriate event to use as a guide, it either reverts to its instincts or hesitates while trying to fi gure out what to do next. In Shemenski’s case, however, his earlier shooting provided his subconscious mind with a highly appropriate memory of a very similar threat and an eff ective means for countering it. T e result was an incredibly short lag time, followed by a remarkably smooth and rapid draw from behind the wheel, and— though not accurate enough to score a hit—far more accurate gunfi re than before. Since the vast majority of offi cers are never involved in even one shooting, let alone two that are as similar to one another as Shemen- ski’s, we can’t count on real-life experience to provide us with the memories we need to deal with every threat we may encounter on the street. Fortunately, our amazing brains also have an answer to that problem: As illogical as it may sound, the subconscious mind doesn’t know the diff erence between the memory of a real event and one that is simulated. Nor does it know the diff erence between the memory of a real event and one that is only imagined. T erefore, our memory fi les don’t have to be fi lled with memories of real-life experiences in


order to be eff ective in preparing us for real- life threats. We can use imagined or simulated events to create the memories instead. T at’s why realistic mental imagery exercises and sce- nario-based training are such outstanding ways to train for real-life lethal encounters. Moreover, our subconscious minds don’t have to fi nd a memory of a past incident that parallels a current threat exactly in order to come up with an eff ective way to deal with it. As can be seen from facts in this case, the closer the memory parallels the current threat the bet- ter, but it doesn’t have to be an exact match. Also, the larger the number of similar memories on fi le—whether based upon real, imagined or simulated past events—the greater becomes the brain’s ability to quickly recognize, assess and respond to an ever wider variety of similar threats. T us, the more we use mental imag- ery and participate in scenario-based training, the shorter becomes our reaction time and the better we become at responding to dangerous situations. Take advantage of as much scenario- based training as you can and use mental imag- ery to gain further “experience” in responding to violent encounters. Return to Question 3


Mental Flexibility T ough it is easy to understand why Rusk’s father intervened in the shooting, there can be no question that it was a very dangerous thing to do. Fortunately, he didn’t add to his mistake by holding onto the shotgun too long or moving its muzzle toward Deputy Shem- enski, but his actions nevertheless put him at great risk. Shemenski was already under a lot of pressure as he approached Michael Rusk, and Mr. Rusk’s sudden appearance out of the corner of his eye startled and confused him. T en, before Shemenski could fully compre- hend what was going on, Mr. Rusk picked up the shotgun. It was a dangerous action that could have led to tragedy. If Mr. Rusk had hesitated before pitching the shotgun, for in- stance, Shemenski might have fi nished telling himself to pull the trigger before he realized what was actually happening. In that case, there wouldn’t have been time to change his mind and then stop his trigger pull before he shot Mr. Rusk. It takes time to detect changes in circumstances, decide what to do about


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