gut;1765905 wrote:I don't think a guy laying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds is a threat justifying more shots....ESPECIALLY when his weapon is only something like a knife.
But more than a few cops seem to do this, so either it's being taught or something that happens in the heat of the moment. You can't really train self-control in a situation like that without practicing, well, actually shooting someone.
I am not sure how many of the shots were actually on the ground, but it definitely is related to the high stress/heat of the moment. I am sure you can find the studies, but there is definitely a delay from the time it takes to make the conscious decision to start/stop shooting and when you actually pull the trigger. Plus add in the high stress of the situation and the delay can probably be longer.
Its also actually pretty easy to shoot off a full magazine in a few seconds. Police are moving away from single or double shots during training. the problem is, in these high stress situations, cops fall back on their training and only fire one or two shots, when more were needed. they get used to shooting on a range with no real threat. back when cops used revolvers, they found situations where after a shootout, the cops would have the spent brass in their pockets instead of just letting them fall to the ground and reloading quicker. they fell back to their training when at the shooting range, the cops would collect their brass to make for easier clean up.
