Be Prepared, or Be Dead

This post is a follow-on to the post of 11 Dec 2007 regarding Rachel Shabo and children who were murdered in Itamar. A Yossi Twito who lived nearby overheard the shooting, grabbed a weapon, and rushed to the house. I assume the weapon he took with him to the house was either a standard M-16A service rifle, or a "shortened" M-16A, this is where the Israelis take a standard M-16A and rebuild it to resemble the M-4. Not sure why they do this, maybe it is cheaper then buying M-4's. At any rate, he engaged the terrorist in the house, getting a number of shots fired, before he himself took several hits and was killed. You can find a link to this at:

http://www.shechem.org/itamar/eshabo.html

Unfortunately, details are sparse as to Twito's exact fate. And I am sure Twito did the best he could. But if we can draw some lessons from Twito's fate, his death will not have been in vain. With that in mind, I would like to offer some guidelines for people facing similar situations. Whether or not Twito employed proper tactics is something we will never know. But we should be prepared in case of such a situation. Here are some ideas which are not just mine, but are accepted tactics for entering a house containing a barricaded suspect. I will use the Shabo case as an illustration:

1. Approach the scene with weapon in ready position, keeping close to cover. There might be accomplices outside the house.
2. Once at the house entrance, establish a covered position outside at the side of the doorway.
3. Quickly peek around to try to establish the location of the suspect, then withdraw.
4. If suspect is not in sight, try to locate a position of cover to move to, and move in.
5. Make sure weapon is set to semi-automatic, not full auto.
6. Do not advance around a corner with weapon leading. Swing out from corner to advance.
7. If suspect comes into view, be ready to "double tap" that is two shots to center of mass, ie, chest area.
8. If suspect appears to have body armor, two shots to groin.
9. If suspect is still up, attempt shots to head and eyes.
10. At all times, if possible, try to maintain proper cover, or at least concealment. Try not to shoot out in the open.
11. If no body armor is present, but suspect does not go down immediately, keep firing shots to center of mass until suspect goes down.
12. With suspect down, reload if possible.
13. Maintain weapon ready in a covered position, out of reach of suspect, until help comes. Be prepared for the entry of accomplices.
14. Be prepared to carefully relinquish weapon when authorities arrive on scene. Move slowly, they do not know who you are.

It is important to be able to train for these scenarios, because, "you fight like you train". Unfortunately, training opportunities are few for civilians. Maybe civilian guards like Yossi can develop training protocols, such as going through mock scenarios with water pistol or paint ball guns.

Merely having possession of weapons, though an important first step, is not all that needs to be done. Even a small amount of training, even classroom training, can make the difference between life and death.