7 out of 10 for shot placement.  As far as shooting him in the back, he was spinning to his left, looked like he could be attempting to engage, probably he was trying to surrender or something but too late.

Unit 138--Armstrong definitely has the best view of what happened.

There are lots of missed shots here, if the first few shots had connected to center of mass he wouldn't have lasted long enough to turn his back to them.  On the other hand, the cops placement is decent, so when the shit hits the fan they don't hit each other, although neither one of them had a good backstop, what can you do?

BOTTOM LINE:  If it was ME, as a peace officer, in that exact situation, I would shoot.  I would engage the target center of mass when he attempted to disarm me (see the stills on Balzac's post), and I would continue to shoot until he went down.  When I engage the target, I'm focusing on my front sight, my ears are ringing because I've got no plugs in, and my view of the target is obstructed by the recoil and blast of the gun, plus the fact that he is moving and I am moving.  Also, my adrenaline is pumping like a 7th grader in his first real fistfight, also I've just finished chasing this guy through traffic in a densely populated area with a 4,500 pound police cruiser that handles like shit, so he's already forced me to endanger my own life and others (how many cops and innocents die in chases each year?  Enough that Kali is considering banning them altogether).  So, once I engage, I can probably only tell one thing about the target: whether he is still standing or whether he is on the ground.  If he spins around real fast, well maybe its because I've hit him or my partner has hit him, but that doesn't mean he's been incapacitated.  I'm shooting until it registers in my brain that the target has been incapacitated.

Better to be judged by twelve (and judged by a bunch of chairborne rangers like myself, here on the internet sipping diet coke and watching a man take multiple gunshot wounds while I eat macaroni and cheese) than carried by six because I just wasn't sure of my backstop and gee, is that silver thing really a gun or a phone or maybe a replica or BAM THUNK ow...

10/10

I'm discussing these vids with a friend of mine (The_Flashlight) over messenger right now, and as I watch them over and over two things have occurred to me:

[b]1.[/b] cops are yelling instructions to perp, which he ignores, turn up your sound and you can hear them.  This is worth something in court.

[b]2.[/b]  I will call the cop who points the gun at perp's head cop 1, and the cop who fires the final volley into perp's back cop 2.  This is the sequence of events as I see them, using the vid from unit 170 as a time marker:

57 seconds:  perp struggles with cop 1, probably an attempt to get away but possibly an attempt to disarm.  Cop 1 has a gun to perp's head, perp pushes it away and begins to walk away.

58 seconds: perp gains maybe 3 yards distance from cop 1 and turns to cop 2 with object in hand pointing at cop 2 for just a moment.

59 seconds:  cop 2 fires two shots, both are clean missses to the left of the target, passing in front of perp as he shuffles away from cop 1.

59-60 seconds:  watch this over and over again.  Perp has had two shots fired at him from a cop he is looking right at, which have passed right in front of his face, and he DOES NOT FLINCH.  He does not crouch or cringe or jump back, but fluidly continues to walk towards the direction of the miss, to cop 2's left.  If cop 2 had continued to unload the magazine, perp would have walked right through the line of fire, slowly and deliberately.

Now that you know exactly when cop 2 fires the first two shots, watch the sequence again from the perspective of unit 185, Hawthorn.  At 48 seconds (the time on the video does not match up) in the unit 185 video you can hear verbal instructions being yelled by cop 2, but I can't tell what they are.  Cop 2 fires at exactly 52 seconds, and you can watch perp continue to walk, not reacting at all.

Now, I don't have the benefit of an adrenaline-rushed experience to draw from, but there have been a couple of times at the range when I've been talking with someone or not had hearing protection on, and a 3rd person shooting a handgun close by has made my ears ring.  Maybe this perp is much more used to gunfire than I am (not very likely, heh), but every time that's happened I've practically jumped out of my boots!


[b]BOTTOM LINE:[/b]  I'll bet $100 that perp was high on drugs or under the influence of alcohol.  The lack of response to being shot at, plus his inexplicable behavior in general (if a cop pointed a gun at your head point blank would you struggle with him?), leads me to believe the guy was high as a kite.  I don't know if the cops knew of this before hand, but it certainly adds another factor to the situation, doesn't it?

[b]3.[/b]  From a marksmanship performance standpoint, I can count a total of thirteen rounds expended before perp goes down.  I think cop 1, who held the gun to perp's head, may miss entirely and not get a hit in at all.  Of course you can't tell immediately if someone has been hit, especially with a 9mm, but cop 1 does fire five shots after perp twists to his left, at 56 seconds on the 185/Hawthorn video, to no effect.  Cop 2, shooting left handed only, his weak hand dangling to his side, fires 6 shots at 57 seconds into the video.  At shot 3 in cop 2's volley the perp drops real fast, probably a central nervous system shot?  Thirteen shots at a range of less than two yards, from two shooters, and the perp, who was not exactly trying to dodge the shots and was not shooting back, only goes down after ten rounds have been expended.  Hmmmmmm...

Next time you are plinking at 25 yards from a bench with your carry pistol, you might want to consider that THIS is what the majority of real world engagements look like in terms of range and how many shots to stop.

Looks legit to me.

Ok I've looked at this even more.  What can I say, its 1:30 am and I'm morbidly fascinated.  I'm watching unit 185/Hawthorn.  The final volley begins with cop 1 shooting at 55 seconds. Perp takes 3 steps without showing any affects of being shot.  At the end of his third step, his head goes down.  Someone has scored a hit, and I think its cop 2, who has just started firing his final volley as cop 1 stops firing.  I think cop 1 gets off 5 shots without perp reacting bodily, thus I think cop 1 misses entirely.  Perp plants his right foot for step number four, wavering for just long enough to do it, and then the lightswitch is turned off.  His left foot underneath him, he goes down hard and fast.  I'm guessing a CNS hit from cop 2, possibly a headshot or spinal shot, at a distance of somewhat less than three feet.  Cop 2 continues to crouch and dodge as he fires, moving erratically.  Survival instinct at work there I think, you can see that part better from 138/Armstrong's point of view.

Further conclusions about accuracy or stopping power?  

EDIT:  Dave_A, I agree with you, but even if you had a death wish for suicide by cop, you'd have to be in some sort of altered mental state not to bodily react to being shot at, that close.  Just cause you're suicidal doesn't mean you don't cringe as you see the gun go off...does it?

EDIT AGAIN:  Dammit when will I stop posting about this?  ARRRGH!

Cop 2's first two shots are easily explained.  Go to 170/Ramsey, at 54 seconds cop 2 pulls up with his door already open.  He gets out, looking at perp, who has not yet begun to struggle with cop 1 and is still in his faux isoceles stance.  Cop 2 immediately takes cover behind his vehicle, he ducks down behind the door, at the 56 second mark.  When he comes back up he's shooting as soon as he gets a sight picture, the decision to engage has already been made when he saw that silver phone and ducked behind the door.  This also shows that cop 2 did not have "eyes on" the perp through the entire engagement, and thus had even LESS time to evaluate what the silver object in perp's hand was.  Cop 1, having just physically wrestled with perp, now cannot see  what is in perp's hands because perp has his back to cop 1.  When cop 2 fires, cop 1 must assume that its a good shot and cop 2 has reason to fire.  

I wish these guys would hire me to be their lawyer, I think I'd probably do right by them in court... I hope.