How Fast Does It Happen? The Joshua Coffey Incident

Joshua Coffey couldn’t believe his bad luck. On Monday, 7 July 2025, he was likely checking out a potential target for his chosen profession of burglary when a Berrien County Sheriff's Deputy stopped to check Coffey’s parked vehicle that had a broken window. As Coffey and an accompanying woman exited the private property Coffey was exploring, the Deputy asked Coffey for his identification. Coffey told the deputy that it might be inside the parked vehicle. As Coffey walked toward the vehicle, he undoubtedly realized that he faced a “felon possessing a firearm” felony charge so he suddenly took off running.

Body worn camera video shows Berrien County Sheriff's Deputy Landon pursue Coffey while holding a Taser. Coffey realized he was not going to outrun Deputy Landon so he stopped in a nearby park. Despite Deputy Landon’s repeated commands to show both hands and get on the ground, Coffey turned and raised his left hand exclaiming “no, no, no . . .” while blading his body and shielding his right hand from view. Coffey suddenly dropped to one knee, drew a pistol, and fired at the deputy. 

Joshua Coffey had a long criminal history with an arrest for felony theft in 2008, two arrests in 2019 for possession of methamphetamine, resisting law enforcement, drawing or using a deadly weapon, and a warrant from another agency. He continued his efforts in in late 2021 and 2022 with four arrests for burglary, resisting law enforcement, driving while suspended, and yet another warrant from another agency. In 2024 police arrested Coffey two times for burglary and resisting law enforcement. Given the timing of these arrests, Coffey must have spent little to no time in jail.

So how much time did it take for Coffey to draw and fire his pistol? His draw from the time he initiated the movement to the moment he fired at Deputy Landon was approximately 1.000 seconds. Coffey fired a second shot at Deputy Landon 0.570 seconds later. In the picture below, Coffey is blading to cover his draw.  On the right, is the first moment Coffey's pistol was visible to Deputy Landon (red circle). Deputy Landon still has his Taser in his left hand.

Coffey Blading to Cover his Draw                   Coffey's Pistol is Visible           

Multiple studies have shown that it takes an average of 0.335 to over 0.500 seconds to respond to a visual stimulus depending upon the circumstances.(1) From the moment the Landon could have first seen Coffey’s pistol until Coffey fired the first shot was 0.334 seconds (see picture below).

Coffey Fires His First Shot 

Deputy Landon drew and fired his service pistol in a very respectable 1.300 seconds given that he was likely drawing from a level three retention holster. Deputy Landon fired a second shot in 0.300 seconds and a third as he was falling backward in 0.270 seconds. Deputy Landon fired a fourth shot from the seated position approximately 0.260 seconds later as he rolled onto his back without shooting his legs or feet (below).

Coffey stood as Deputy Landon began returning fire. Coffey fired a third shot while Deputy Landon was lying on his back after he fell. As Deputy Landon was recovering from his fall, it appears that he cleared a pistol malfunction and then fired a fifth and final shot 0.95 seconds later while seated. 

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office has not released the distances involved in this gunfight. My rough estimate based upon a fence height of six feet is that during the initial exchange of gunfire, Coffey and Langdon were from six to eight feet apart. When Deputy Langdon fired his fifth shot, I estimate that he and Coffey were fifteen to twenty feet apart. I believe that Deputy Langdon’s first and fifth shots struck Coffey based upon Coffey’s movements during the exchange; however, these are my estimates and may not be accurate. In any event, responding paramedics determined Coffey was dead at the scene with the pistol in his hand and finger on the trigger.

The Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit provided a statement concerning Deputy Landon’s actions during this incident: "I'm amazed how well Deputy Landon performed under extremely stressful and dangerous circumstances, Deputy Landon's ability to quickly transition from his taser to his firearm allowed him to neutralize the threat to his life and others."

I wholeheartedly agree with Sheriff Heit. A 1.300 second draw from recognition to first shot is outstanding and reflects what you would expect to see from a skilled IDPA competitor.(2) It is very common to fall backward if you try to retreat straight back. However, there are tactics to “get off the x” and preclude falling backward that go beyond the scope of this article.(3)

If you enjoy reading these please subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. Your information will never be distributed.

If you have read this far, I would appreciate some feedback in the form of a comment as well. Although Blogger reports thousands of views and, from what I can tell, 99.9% of these views are humans accessing an article. However, I receive very little actual feedback. A thumbs up or a “!” will suffice.

(1) Time to Stop: Firearm Simulation Dynamics; Lon D. Bartel, Nicole M. Florisi, Von Kliem, Tom Cameron, Miranda Fuller and Jeff Knaup; Walsh Medical Media, Research Article - (2025) Volume 16, Issue 1; retrieved Oct 25, https://www.walshmedicalmedia.com/open-access/time-to-stop-firearm-simulation-dynamics-133483.html#1

(2) Get Your Hand on the Pistol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMbGWQB-QF0

(3) Angles of Movement in Gunfighting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FzQSewM3ps