Podcast 90 Study of a Phoenix Shooting

15 Years ago a CHL holder was in a deadly shootout. He won and survived, but the police office he was trying to protect didn’t make it. The bad guy went to jail for the rest of his life and the CHL holder was hailed a hero. He did a lot of things right a couple things he may have done better. This podcast is a study of that shooting and what we can learn from his experience.

Bullet Points on the Shooting:

From the book “Thank God I had a Gun” by Chris Bird

March 26, 1999

Intro

Rory Big Guy
6’1 300
Drives Kia Sephia
Looked and sounded like a cop
Armed Security Guard since 21
Security for real-estate-managemet company

Shooting

left his office w/ Beretta Bobcat
went back for Glock 31 left on seat next to him
Personal car to pick up patrol car
Smoking with window down
block from destination back streets
coming up to an intersection Lincoln Town car ran the stop sign and turned the corner
Rory kept driving just thinking jerk
Phoenix cop speeding along chasing the Lincoln
Lincoln stopped in the middle of the street a couple hundred feet ahead of him
1 man ran from the car
1 man exited the lincoln and was standing beside the driver’s door with a revolver
the cop approached and the man raised the revolver and took a 2 handed stance and opened fire at the police car as it approached. He kept shooting as the police car went by
Rory reached for the Glock
He rolled to a stop about 50’ behind the lincoln
watched horrified as the man fired at the police car
he didn’t hear the shots but say the revolver bucking in the man’s hand
He saw the officer slump down in the squad car
The police car slowed and veered off the street and ran into a utility pole snapping it in two
The man turned towards Rory with revolver in hand
didn’t know if the man fired at him or not buy the revolver was pointed at him
Passed the gun from his right to left hand to fire at the gunman
Unable to see the sights because he was too tall
saw a UPS truck parked baking him beyond the lincoln
Gunman jumped back in lincoln
Rory got out
there was a pause
Rory got out like a cop and took a position in the door way with the gun pointing through the door jam and fired several more rounds
Gunman retreated back into the car
the lincoln’s reverse lights came on
Rory jumped back into the kia
the lincoln hit his car a pushed it backwards
The windshield was pushed in and hit his gun hand
the cars stopped in an L position
Rory fired several more round and saw the Gunman flinch
Rory’s slide locked back he didn’t have an extra mag
Rory charged the gunman
stuffed his empty Glock into his waistband at his back
Rory ran into the Lincoln’s open door and found the gunman with his revolver in his left hand and was groping for something on the floor board with his right
The gunman brought up the revolver and stuck it in Rory’s face and pulled the trigger
There was a loud click
there was only 3 live rounds and 3 empty chambers
Rory grabbed the gun out of his hand and yanked him out of the car and threw him on the ground
Put a foot on him
Rory looked around and saw 2 men standing on the corner
Rory yelled for help and one came over to him
Handed the guy the bad guy’s gun and made him hold the guy
Rory ran to the cop
Marc was slumped on the computer and appeared to be dead
Rory ran back to the bad guy
The witness gave Rory gave the gun back and disappeared, police never found him
The cops showed up and Rory put the Revolver on the Lincoln roof
1st cops stopped well back and jumped out of the car
Rory told them the cop was hurt and needed help
The officers ran past him to Marc’s patrol car
More cops showed and Rory told them that the guy on the ground was the shooter and asked for someone to cuff him
1 cop cuffed the bad guy
another took the guns and put them into a cop car trunk
Rory was left standing there for about 10 minutes
Police searched the Lincoln and found a Ruger 9mm in the floorboards, a 12-gauge shotgun and cocaine packaged for sale
never any suggestion that Rory was a suspect
Rory’s phone was in the Kia and his mother couldn’t get ahold of him
Before the cops arrived Rory made 2 phone calls but didn’t remember
Rory stood on the street for about an hour in the rain
The chief showed up and introduced himself to Rory
Chief brought him into the command center van
Some time 4 or 5 hours after the shooting someone gave Rory a ride home

Before the Shooting

Cop Marc Atkinson following a lead
Drug dealing out of a White Lincoln in the parking lot of a local bar
He drove by the parking lot and saw a white lincoln in the parking lot
He ran the plate and found it suspended
Marc called for backup and returned with 2 officers as back up
As they drove into the parking lot,
3 hispanics ran from the car into the bar
Went after the 3 guys running into the bar
questioned the guys no problems
other 2 officers left Marc stayed
later 3 hispanics left in the lincoln
Marc followed and was going to pull them over when the Lincoln started to increase speed and started running in and out of traffic
Went by Rory’s vehicle

Immediate Afterwards

Rory couldn’t sleep
Guilty that he couldn’t save the officer
thought “what if I shot the cop”
He finally got to sleep at about 4:15am
at 6am the police asked him to police headquarters
He got to the police station an officer met him at the door
The cop was an old friend’s brother, but they had never met
Rory was relieved that at least he knew someone
Half a dozen officers where in the lobby and they all came over to him
Everyone shook his hand and thanked him for what he did
Second interview taped
They police only found 14 rounds from Rory’s gun
Rory was having magazine problems and downloaded his mags thinking there might be a problem with feeding and they believed him
all 14 rounds had hit the lincoln
Police Media Liaison wrote a statement and let Rory approve it before releasing it

Days After

Media bugged him at work had to have police officer escort them out
days and weeks after the shooting little details kept coming back
4 days after police union honored him at press conference
Union replaced his gun
April honored by the NRA at annual meeting in Denver just after Columbine shooting
After Columbine he was ignored by the press

Long Term

Police union arranged and paid for counseling
for a year nightmares 2-3 x per week of what could have happened
Dr wanted him on meds, he refused
6 years after the shooting only a nightmare every other month
Split with his long term Girl Friend
Rory thought he didn’t do enough to save Marc Atkinson’s life
damaged hearing and almost cost him a job with Homeland Security
At court hearings police gave him protection Rory wore a vest
4 months after Rory’s mother was threatened as she returned to the apartment wear both of them where living
Put his mother in a back room and guarded the door with a shotgun
Police remembered and where everywhere
2 weeks later the police union organized a security detail of off duty cops for Rory and his mom
2 weeks later the police moved him witness protection style
a month later Rory took a job in Memphis and took his family out of state
The shooting cost him his job he loved for 10 years
on Feb 20, 2002 Sentenced the gunman to prison for life without the possibility of parole. The gunman was 17 at the time of the shooting with no criminal record
- o The gunman admitted in open courts that he tried to kill Rory when he pulled the trigger and the gun didn’t fire
- o The gunman was just trying to get away and scare the police officer away, it escalated quickly

Reflections

Rory said it never occurred to him to not get involved
“I thought, that son-of-a-b is shooting at a cop, and he’s not getting away with that. That was the first thing that went through my mind. There’s no way in hell he’s getting away with that as long as I’m standing.”
Said he wasn’t scared or nervous while the shooting was going on
“I look back at it now and go: Wow, how did you just not freak out? There was a lot of anger. I remember being angry, and I remember wanting to just pick this guy up off the ground and beat the s–t out of him. And I never did . He was never hurt in any way except for where I shot him.”
“I had practiced point-and-shoot over the years a lot of times during our training. The only reason I felt comfortable firing the way I did was because I had practiced many times with my off [left] hand. I would never have done that if I had not practiced it before.”
years after Rory got more training
“I’m a lot better shot than I was back then.”
Rory doesn’t go anywhere without extra mags and a backup gun
out of the book “Coming to the aid of Officer Marc Atkinson cost Rory a lot in terms of post traumatic stress, a relationship, and his job at the time. As he put it, it cost him more than a magazine full of bullets. Would he do the same thing again? “Absolutely,” he says.”

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Stay Safe,

Ben

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