In the video, Wilks (in the right lane) attempted to speed pass the officer (who was in the left lane) on the officer’s right as both approached an area where the right lane was closed. In doing so, Wilks’s vehicle clipped the officer’s front right fender. Both individuals pulled over and stopped a moment later. Wilks exited his vehicle with his right hand in his hoodie pocket and verbally berated the officer as he was exiting his vehicle. It is unlikely that Wilks knew he was confronting a police officer. The officer walked in front of his vehicle and stepped up on the curb as Wilks followed.
Wilks suddenly drew a pistol from his hoodie pocket and struck the police officer in the face with the pistol (see lead picture above). Wilks then stepped away from the curb into the street between the vehicles as the officer begins to draw his pistol. From time Wilks withdraws his pistol from his hoodie until he strikes the officer is 0.400 secs; the officer’s draw takes 2.750 seconds from the time he is struck until the exchange of gunfire begins.
Wilks retreats to cover behind his car and fires the first shot at the off-duty officer who returns fire with his first shot 0.070 seconds later. Wilks fires his second shot in 0.220 seconds followed by the officer’s second shot 0.110 seconds later. Wilks trips and falls behind his car and the officer fires four additional shots while Wilks is out of the officer’s line of sight – one of which strikes Wilks’s car.
Wilks reappears at the front passenger fender seven seconds later appearing to use the car for cover. As Wilks rolls out from behind his car, the officer fires six additional shots at Wilks. The video’s resolution makes it difficult to determine precisely what Wilks has in his hand as he rolls out from behind his car; however, he does raise one hand toward the officer. Wilks then retreats behind the front of his vehicle as the officer begins giving commands for Wilks to stay on the ground, etc.
Whether Wilks was attempting to use his car for cover to continue firing or was trying to maneuver on the officer is unclear. However, anyone (police officer or private citizen) with training in defensive firearms use would reasonably conclude that Wilks was continuing the gunfight as he rolled out from behind his vehicle. The police officer’s six shots were fired at approximately 0.250 second intervals and he fired the sixth shot after Wilks retreated behind the front of his vehicle. The officer ceased firing after the sixth shot once Wilks was no longer a visible threat.
When Wilks withdrew his firearm, struck the officer in the face, and then stepped back out of reach, the officer could have reasonably believed that Wilks was about to fire on him. Defensive striking and then stepping out of reach is a tactic taught in many firearms training classes. Obviously, a subject can use this tactic offensively as well. Additionally, when Wilks struck the officer, at one point during the strike Wilks’s pistol was pointed directly at the officer’s face (Wilks’s finger was not on the trigger).
When the officer stepped up onto the curb, he looked down and away from Wilks who chose that moment to execute a surprise strike to the officer’s face. If the officer had continued looking at Wilks as he moved to the curb he would have been better prepared to react to Wilks’s attack. Wilks did not discernibly telegraph his intent to attack – he was laser focused on the officer until the moment he executed his movement.
Craig Douglas teaches a course titled Managing Unknown Contacts (or MUC) which outlines a strategy for – as you might imagine from the title, is about dealing with situation like the one discussed above. In an undercover capacity, he was robbed nine times and survived them all intact. Some of those experiences turned out Ok, and some not so much; however, it gave him a unique view into criminal tactics and how to deal with them successfully.
Many instructors teach a variation of his techniques. MUC represents a body of work and lessons learned during Craig’s 21-year law enforcement career and 23 years instructing under the brand Shivworks. You can find more information by clicking here.
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 down for that matter) will suffice.
