What kind of training is needed to know when to pull the trigger?

Story By: KSLA, Fred Childers…

A Bossier City police officer was faced with a very difficult decision on Thursday night, when 58-year-old Larry Allan Jerrils of Walker, Michigan was shot and killed. Bossier City Police say he had just robbed the Payless shoe store in the 2000 block of Airline just before 8 p.m. When officers arrived on the scene, they tried to stop him from fleeing.
Police say Jerrils was shot when he turned around and brandished a firearm at police.

Police officers go through specialized training to make sure when they pull that trigger they meet two criteria, a legal one, and a tactical one, according to retired Louisiana State Trooper and weapons instructor Doug Pierrelee.

Police officers and private citizens have to determine within a split second when it’s legal for them to shoot someone and when it’s safe for them and everyone around them.

Add distractions on top of that, and that calls for this type of tactical training, using a gun and simunition, which is basically lead free cartridges with less energy. Simunition is a training bullet that carries less of a charge in it and has no lead.

Pierrelee is now a weapons instructor for Sentinel Security and has taught officer survival training to police officers and troopers.

“Knowing when to shoot is just as important. If you shoot really accurately, but you screw up on who you shoot, you don’t get extra points for accuracy on the wrong target,” Pierrelee said.

Read more at KSLA.com