Gunfight Analysis: The Elijah Wilks Incident

Milwaukee Police released a video on October 9, 2025 of an off-duty officer involved shooting with Milwaukee resident Elijah Wilks. The officer’s personally owned dash camera captured a video of much of the incident.

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.

Wednesday Wisdom - 29 October 2025

 

A compilation of valuable information and insights for the citizen defender that I plan to update weekly. These posts will contain links to my writing as well as posts that I believe are worth the time and trouble to read. They will cover the entire gamut of personal security, electronic security, self defense, firearms, equipment, and more.

________________________________ 

Don't Get Shot: Dealing With Police During a Traffic Stop

 Something people often misunderstand is that the law does not require us to make perfect decisions in a self-defense incident nor does it demand that the threat against which we defend ourselves be an actual threat. The law demands that you must have a reasonably objective belief that you are responding to an imminent deadly threat. 

________________________________ 

 “Priority of Scan” – An Officer Survival Necessity

The priorities of scan discussed in this article apply equally to the citizen defender who is dealing with an unknown contact. 

________________________________ 

Useless OPSEC Measure: Vary Your Routes

As the author points out, unless you live in a high terrorist threat environment, it is extremely doubtful that the benefit conferred from varying your routes is an increase in security, and certainly not an increase in security that is equal to or greater than the effort expended. 

________________________________ 

How to Make Sure You’re Not Accidentally Sharing Your Location

Your devices and the apps on them really want to know where you are—whether it's to update you on traffic issues, recommend some a place to get new tires, or to target you for advertising. Even if you think you have turned off all location sharing, your device or apps still might be able to track you. Worse yet, if an ex-turned stalker has ever had access to your device, it may be providing them the history of all your movements. This article discusses how to make sure you are only sharing your location with entities you intend to share it with. 

________________________________ 

How (and Why) To Degoogle Your Life and Protect Your Privacy

Speaking of sharing your location. THE GOOGLE is collecting every bit of data about you that it can. Understandable since selling your information to advertisers is their business model. Google tracks your search queries, monitors your interactions with online products and services, and even keeps tabs on your physical movements while using Google Maps. Each data point adds to your user profile, which Google then uses to strategically present ads. Google is free because YOU are the product. 

________________________________ 

Doubts Raised About Certain Reaction-Time Police Training Exercises

I always ensure that students in my firearms training classes walk away from class with some type of positive success. However, you do students a disservice when you slow down an exercise to allow them to build artificial self confidence. 

________________________________ 

Threatening Deadly Force: Musings on Brandishing and Warning Shots

A good summary busting many Internet myths floating around concerning brandishing and warning shots.

________________________________ 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I think it has well and truly arrived. In the last four years, the United States changed more than I would have ever believed was possible in my lifetime—much less in a short four years. The Universities are always a good meter to measure against how society is going. And as a man was being assaulted and his constitutional rights clearly being violated America has laughed at it.

________________________________ 

The Mother of All Muzzleloaders

If exploding a nuclear bomb in a hole was cool, then turning it into a big honking gun would be even cooler. Yeah, but can you carry it AIW?

 ________________________________

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.

 

Gunfight Analysis: 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

The Texas Department of Public Safety Qualification Target

I recently attended a Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas state police or DPS) three-day class. During the class, we used qualification target that the Troopers teaching the class described as their “new” qualification target. You can see the target in the picture on the right and below.

The new TXDPS target has two distinct areas, cardboard brown inner scoring area which earns two points and a dark green outer silhouette area that earns zero points (i.e. anything outside of the inner area is a miss). The inner bottle provides a reasonably generous approximately 238 square inches of scoring area and shots that cut the bottle's outer border are scored with two points.

The target also has an area in the head that approximates the eye box and another area in the chest that approximates the heart’s location. These boxes measure 3x2 inches and 4x3 inches respectively. I asked one of the instructors if the DPS used these boxes in any of their qualifications and he replied that they do not—the boxes are just for reference.

The target you see in the upper right picture is my results from shooting the DPS low light qualification. Distances from fifteen to three yards with 50 rounds in the course of fire. DPS requires their trooper recruits to score 80% and their instructors to score 90% on their low light qualification. Out of twelve instructors in my class, only two scored 100% (myself and another gentleman). Most failed to score the required 90% and some scored considerably lower.

A challenge most shooters have outside of the military or a law enforcement agency is the scarcity of locations where you can train under low or no light conditions. The fifty-round DPS course of fire requires shooters to fire eighteen of those rounds at seven yards using ambient light only. Shooters fired six rounds with both hands, six rounds right hand only, fired six rounds left hand only. We had very little ambient light that evening and target acquisition was difficult. Most shooters (and I suspect instructors) find point shooting at seven yards a demanding task in daylight and I imagine that this stage is where most shooters failed to earn points.

I believe it is a shame that the DPS does not use the center chest box during their qualifications. Having been there and done that through literally hundreds of qualifications, I suspect the smart recruits and troopers quickly learn to aim for the area on the target that provides the largest scoring area. On 6”2” tall me, the center of that area lands roughly four inches above my navel. 

If we look at shots one and two on the target below, these shots likely would have a very high probability of stopping the threat, whereas shot number three might just hit a fat roll. Yet they are scored the same. This scoring ignores the location of vital zones where a bullet strike will likely lead to rapid incapacitation and is not optimal for stopping someone threatening or using unlawful deadly force.*

 

The Texas Department of Public Safety instructors that taught the class were consummate professionals and clearly passionate about their work. I believe Texas is fortunate to have these dedicated troopers protecting our citizens.

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

* For more information on tactical anatomy and shooting to stop, see the following link: https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2024/06/tactical-anatomys-shooting-with-x-ray.html

Do Steel Challenge Matches Improve Your Tactical Shooting Skills?

Does participating in Steel Challenge competitions improve your tactical shooting skills? I believe it does. The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting competition that currently consists of eight standardized stages. Steel Challenge scores competitors solely by the time it takes them to complete each stage and the match winner is the competitor with the lowest overall time.

Webster’s dictionary defines tactics as: “the art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end.” Shooting “tactics” are simply procedures designed to position you to make an effective shot. Your tactics can be outstanding; however, they are wasted if you cannot quickly and accurately hit your target when you get in position.

So how does Steel Challenge improve tactical performance? If you are going to do well in Steel Challenge, you must be able to rapidly perform several critical shooting skills. Among these are:

    -- Maintain your sight alignment. Steel Challenge uses three targets: a 10-inch plate, a 12-inch plate, and a 24 x 36-inch square or gong. These targets are placed at distances ranging from seven to thirty-five yards. As a result, you absolutely must be able to maintain sight alignment as you fire the shot or you will miss the target.

    -- Call your shots. Depending upon where you hit it, Steel Challenge targets typically ring when they are struck. However, if you wait to hear your shot’s “ring” before you move on to the next target, you will never be particularly fast in Steel Challenge stages. You must cultivate your ability to call your shots and see what you need to see as the shot breaks so you can move on.

    -- Rapid and precise transitions between targets. Steel Challenge stages typically require four to fifteen feet transitions between targets. Any over or under transition will eat time as you try to reset for a make-up shot.

Steel Challenge scoring is unforgiving; you either hit the target or you do not. There are no “points down” like in IDPA matches nor are there any points earned for almost hitting the “A” or “B” zone like you find in USPSA scoring. The clock is ticking from the moment the timer starts until you fire the last shot that hits the stop plate.

There were three members of a local police department’s SWAT team on my squad for a recent Steel Challenge match. I always appreciate having police officers in any type of competition match. Their participation demonstrates a commitment to improving marksmanship skills beyond what their agency typically requires. One of SWAT officers remarked before the match that they expected to get “smoked” by a bunch of old guys pushing baby strollers around.* Although they shot fairly well – that was pretty much the case.

The officers all shot the match with their duty pistols in level three retention holsters. Two officers had authorized, personally purchased Staccato P 2011 pistols in 9mm while the other officer used his issue Glock 17 9mm with modifications. All pistols had Trijicon RMR dot optics and lights installed.

I asked the officers why they were participating in the Steel Challenge match.  All responded that they were interested in improving their duty pistols shooting skills because they were preparing for the 2025 Texas Tactical Police Officer's Association SWAT team competition. 

These three SWAT officers did well in the match with one turning in a solid “B” classification for the match and the other two turning in mid-level “C” performances. By way of comparison, B class in Steel Challenge is the general equivalent to a solid high Expert in IDPA and C class would be a very high IDPA Sharpshooter. 

This performance is much better than the typical police officers that I have observed shooting in competition over the years and I suspect well above the average patrol officer’s skill level. Great job guys and I hope you do well in the SWAT team competition.

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

* Most regular competitors use collapsible wagons or used Bob jogging strollers (or similar brands) modified to haul their firearms and ammunition between stages during a match.

Maintain Your Carry Pistol

I recently took what is becoming my primary carry pistol (a SIG P365) to the SSD Short Range Match. I periodically use my carry pistols in matches to ensure that they function correctly, that they have maintained zero, and remind myself how carry ammo feels when fired. I had not shot this pistol in a while because we’ve had bad luck with weather cancelling several of the Short Range matches and I have been concentrating on improving my performance in Steel Challenge.

I have been carrying the SIG P365 as my primary every day carry pistol in the very humid south-central Texas summer heat. I always wipe down the pistol to remove perspiration when I take it out of the holster; however, I do not unload it. Instead, I immediately place a trigger guard holster or cover over the trigger guard (I’ll abbreviate it TGH). See more on this topic below.

When I arrived at the match, I proceeded to unload the P365 (all local matches that I am aware of require cold ranges). I was unpleasantly surprised when I discovered that the pistol required considerable force to retract the slide to the rear. As mentioned above, since I do not load/unload the pistol in my normal carry routine I had not noticed that some rust had started to appear inside the pistol slide rails.

A quick lubrication solved the problem and the pistol functioned perfectly during the match. A lesson learned. Even though I was not shooting the pistol, I still needed to periodically check the pistol and ensure that no hidden corrosion was present.

I mentioned that I normally do not unload my EDC pistols when I remove them from the holster for the evening. Administratively loading and unloading your pistol requires periodically rotating your ammunition in the magazine to prevent bullet set-back.

If I am unholstering my EDC for the evening, I attach the TGH and then place the pistol on the nightstand. All members of my household are responsible adults so having a loaded pistol on the nightstand is no issue. Your circumstances may be different. If children were present, I would not keep a loaded pistol accessible on my nightstand.

If I am holstering the pistol for carry, I remove the TGH and place the pistol in the holster. Using the TGH is a deliberate act that encourages you to pay closer attention to what you are doing and you are less likely to inadvertently touch the trigger.

A Sampling of Trigger Guard Holsters

I added a glow-in-the-dark paracord lanyard to one of my TGHs (you can buy the paracord online). The glowing paracord enables me to determine the pistol’s location in the dark and it retains enough glow that it is visible throughout the night. In the event that something wakes me and I must grab my pistol, the TGH prevents me from inadvertently touching the trigger. The glowing paracord tells me exactly where the pistol is located and where to grab the cord if I do need to expose the trigger. 

Glow in the Dark Paracord

When placing the TGH on the pistol, always come straight up from the bottom of the trigger guard—never from front to back. Although a properly designed TGH does not touch the trigger, coming straight up when placing it on the pistol makes inadvertently pulling the trigger when placing the TGH almost impossible. When removing the TGH, simply pull straight down. These techniques for placing and removing the TGH also ensure that your hand does not stray in front of the pistol’s muzzle.

If you enjoy reading these please subscribe. The link is on the upper right side of the page. All that will happen is that you will receive an e-mail when I post an article. Your information will never be distributed.