If I had it to do over again I'd likely do it your way. I spent the next year living in survival mode, never driving the same path twice, varying my routine and trying to be as unpredictable as possible.

Living in constant fear sucks.

Bear, I don't even say that much to the police without an attorney present. My first words to a police officer are "You will have to wait till my attorney is here so he can cover my ass before you screw it up"

Anyone that says "shoot to wound" is a fool that's never been under fire. Period. You aren't taught to shoot center mass to wound. It's the largest target with vital organs!

Absolutly right Super, if you are justified to shoot, you are justified to shoot at the point on the body that has the largest percentage of being hit and contains organs that are most likely to immediately stop the threat. Real life isn't the movies, when you are fighting for your life you do not have time to try to hit an extremity that just as likely as not will not stop the assailant if he is a goal oriented person. You also never fire warning shots when you are dealing with a life and death situation and if it isn't life and death, you have no business shooting in the first place.

Yeah that's what I was getting at is a lot of people, coming off an massive adrenaline dump like that usually says too much, being all wound up like that. I was advised to not say any more than absolutely necessary. That's the extent of what was recommended for me to say and no more. Basically you thought your life was in mortal danger and believed they were going to kill you. The less you say, the less it can be twisted around, but on the other hand, if you seem totally uncooperative, they might be more apt to think you have something to hide, and hold you. I could be wrong, if I am, I stand corrected, but a trial lawyer is the 1 that told me that.

Warning shots, in the air, ground, or beside them has no place in MY defensive plans, the same as trying to "just shoot them in the leg or something". If I have to shoot, I'm shooting to stop the threat as quick as possible.

I can prove this to you. How about the very 1st time you ever got in a serious fight at school? Remember that? If you talked at all, you likely rattled on being still very excited. And if you totally clammed up, they thought you was either automatically in the wrong, or had something to hide.

Honestly Bear, when it comes down to talking to police, I say absolutely NOTHING until I have an attorney present and accounted for. I could care less what they think. If they think I have something to hide, more power to them. There are way to many corrupt and flat out ignorant police officers for me to trust 99% of them to say a word without representation. It all comes down to covering your own ass. And I am, quite simply, going to "trust" my 600 dollar an hour Harvard Law graduate over a 40k a year beat cop to know what I should or shouldn't say in any given situation.

Actually Super, I worry more about the DA than the police officers. The police are in the same position if they use deadly force. The DA is the one who has to maintain a high profile for the next election and most of them have never been in a life and death situation. I also agree keep quiet until you have representation.

LOL Not in Chicago they aren't. Those "police officers" (and boy do I use that term loosely) get away with shooting old men (96) with tazers and killing them when they had 4 strapping young police officers to subdue the "dangerous" perp. Or shooting and killing a 14 year old kid with a knife (30 feet away) instead of using a tazer or some other non lethal. They get away with flat out murder there. That's just 2 of 100's of instances I can show. They have all these Barny's out there that are terrified and have absolutely NO business being on the job.

But in general I do see your point about the DA which is why I always say "I'll wait on my attorney thank you very much!" That way something that Barny put in the report can't come back and bite me in the butt!

That kind of stuff makes me think of Louisville Ky LMPD officers! They've gotten by with murder when shooting somebody attempting to flee but stuck fast in the mud, and shooting a person cuffed behind his back sitting in the back of a cruiser!