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Ok couple of things, crowd if full of idiots who threw snow balls at a moving vehicle which could be dangerous (i.e. broken windshield), were I the driver I'd be pissed too, however I would not have drawn a weapon, were they throwing bricks or flaming bottles, ok, snowballs, not so much.
Now if you watch the complete video the responding uniformed officer has his gun drawn and only holsters it once he realizes the H2 driver is an off duty LEO. Which leads me to believe the call came in as an irate driver waving a gun, the H2 Driver does have a radio and may be calling in his presence however the responding uniformed officer's initial actions lead me to believe the information was either not up channeled or their dispatch is slow, I don't know if this guy identified himself, I didn't see a badge in the video, I did see a radio, either way the gun was unnecessary given the facts that I know currently, that doesn't mean there isn't more too it but from what I've read his H2 got hit with snow balls, he got out pissed and gun in hand, I'll be looking for the police report (if one was generated to see if there was more too it). Also given the crowds actions it would not appear to me they were terribly violent from what I saw, so again the gun was not warranted
Now if I happen to be there when this goes down and he is walking towards me and hasn't identified himself as LE, I'm going to first be looking for some sort of cover and moving towards said cover and away from the threat while thinking about drawing at the appropriate time, specifically because he has his gun out already, he is in a tactically superior position, the best thing would be to try not give away the element of surpise or to present yourself as a threat until you can gain the upper hand... specifically I'd be trying to wait for his attention to be divided/off me, if he's focused on me I'd try to deescalate verbally....however
If/when I had an appropriate opportunity and if I was in fear of my life or for the lives of others (which I think may have been appropriate in this situation) I'd likely have drawn my weapon and loudly issue verbal commands to drop the weapon while I was aimed center mass, if he raises his, he gets dropped... period.
There are many lessons here, first of which if you're going to step out and act like Billy Bad Ass while off duty, out of uniform, and driving your POV you better identify yourself and have credentials in hand (and you shouldn't have a gun out unless there's a specific threat, which a snow ball is not IMHO), otherwise you look like just another pissed off idiot with a gun in hand and as such are a threat subject to neutralization by an on duty LEO who doesn't know you, an off duty LEO who doesn't know you, or a sheepdog who happens to be in the mix.
Second you need to let dispatch/control know you are there, what you are wearing and what you intentions are, this can all be done very quickly, especially if they are still using codes.
Bottom line IMO if there was nothing else going on besides a snow ball fight this LEO was out of line to have gun drawn, and further needlessly risked his life and the lives of the public by having his weapon un-holstered. If there was a reason to intervene as an LEO he should have identified himself as LEO, with credentials i.e. badge clearly visible, if the situation was bad enough to require a fire arm be drawn I'd have radioed/called dispatch to let them know my location, the situation, and most importantly my description, that way I'm not mistaken for a threat, it would appear that none of that happened here. At least looking at the video.
DISCLAIMER!!!!! This could have gone very badly, many innocent bystanders around, had shots been fired many innocents could have been hurt/killed, if you're not sure how to handle something like this but happen to have a CCW be very careful, you could get yourself and the public killed. Even as a prior LEO this whole thing makes me very uneasy.
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