Category: Hostage

Police Taser man who took hostages on tram

Police in Australia recently stopped a man who had taken the passengers of a tram hostage while armed with a knife.

When police arrived it started with a contain and negotiate strategy, until the offender stated that he was going to kill people on the tram and grabbed a woman, pointing the knife at her.

With the imminent threat to the life of the woman, Members of the Critical Incident Response Team entered the train armed with a Taser and rifle, a combination of lethal and less-lethal force which is an important detail here.

The first discharge of the Taser did fail, probably due to the thick jacket the offender was wearing.

Luckily this Taser model has two cartidges that can be fired in succession, and the second shot was effective at achieving neuromuscular incapacitation.

Being in a confined space like this with someone who is armed with a knife is extremely dangerous, watch my video about police in knife vs gun scenarios to understand more.

If the Taser failed as they often do, using the rifle was extremely risky, as there were multiple members of the public behind the offender and any shots fired can miss, pass through the offender or ricochet and potentionally harm or kill the victims. Going hands-on could potentially result in the police getting killed themselves.

They were faced with an extremely dynamic and unpredictable scenario with no perfect options and potential negative outcomes no matter what they did.

This could have gone horribly wrong but it didn’t, well done to these police who managed to achieve the best outcome.

Man overdoses and is revived by firefighter, kills the firefighter, uses female bystander as shield, is shot by police

A strong case for handcuffing and searching people who have overdosed before reviving them. Background info:

When the bus arrived at transit center, a bus passenger believed Houston was having a seizure and called 911 for help. Lundgaard arrived with other firefighters and began providing aid to Houston.

Houston regained consciousness after responders determined he likely had suffered a drug overdose and gave him two doses of Narcan.

Houston told responders he had taken some of his wife’s morphine. Houston got off the bus on his own, even as responders were encouraging him to seek additional medical care, but he refused.

“They wanted to make sure he got that help,” Tempelis said.

Houston drew a small handgun from a small case at his waist, Tempelis said. He stood back and fired twice, hitting Lundgaard in the upper back and Christensen in the upper leg.

Almost simultaneously, Christensen drew his handgun and fired once, striking Houston in the abdomen. Houston ran toward where bystander Brittany Schowalter was and used her as a shield, the district attorney said.

Christensen and Biese both fired multiple times at Houston, also likely striking Schowalter, although Tempelis said it’s impossible to know for sure who shot her. She suffered an injury to her leg and to her head, with a bullet grazing her skull, Tempelis said.

Houston eventually went to the ground, which allowed officers equipped with a ballistic shield to arrest him. The officers found Houston’s gun under him, Tempelis said.

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Police officer shot twice on door entry and is trapped, colleagues free him

A police officer kicks down a door, enters and is immediately shot twice. His body cam falls to the ground and he is trapped inside, moving to the garage where he is later freed by his colleagues.

  • Forced entry without gun drawn
  • Immediate entry failed, preferably the room could be partially cleared by carefully pie-ing the door from outside
  • A single officer entered even though multiple officers were available

Moments after the first police officer was shot, a second officer standing outside behind a tree is hit in the hand.

  • Police standing in daylight outside are at a disadvantage to the suspect who shoots from the dark inside the house

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. – Henry County police have released chilling body camera footage of the moments officers entered a home on a “trouble unknown” call Thursday and the suspect began to fire at them. Officers Keegan Merritt and Taylor Webb were both shot and are now recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital. Police said Merritt and Webb went to the home after family members reported seeing a woman unresponsive in the garage. The shootings kicked-off a 17-hour-long standoff with the suspect. Police later found the gunman, a pregnant woman and her teenage son dead inside the home. Sandra White, 39, and her son Arkeyvion, 16, were identified as the victims. Police said the gunman, Anthony Bailey, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Merritt was shot in the hand and Webb was shot in the torso and hip, police said.

San Diego cop shoots hostage taker in the face at close range

Hostage taker had already shot 4 people including his ex wife, her parents, and her grandfather. Both of her parents were killed in the shooting. In this video he is holding his injured ex wife hostage.

Risky action by the police offer as he shot at a target barely inches from the hostage’s head, however at this stage a contain and negotiate approach would most likely have only caused the situation to deteriorate.