Surveillance video of the Crossroads Mall stabbing attack and the successful response by Jason Falconer, the firearms instructor and part time police officer, has revealed many previously unknown details of the event. They show that a determined attacker can absorb many hits before they are finally stopped.
The attacker used two kitchen knives. The have blades of about five inches. Given their design, I wouldn’t be surprised to find cuts on the attackers hands from his own blades.
A practical response at the Northwoods Candy Emporium illustrates the effectiveness of barriers against attackers with contact weapons. An unnamed, quick-thinking defender pulled down the gate to the store, denying the attacker access only moments before he would have gained entry. That portion of the video is very blurry, but the defender goes into a back room and comes out with something in his right hand. It might be a personal defensive weapon.
We’ve also learned that Jason Falconer was approached by the attacker, knives in hand, and asked if he was a Muslim. The attacker then came at him, and Falconer produced his weapon. The attacker then fled, with Falconer in pursuit.
Falconer is seen running after the attacker in a Macy’s store. The attacker turns down an aisle, then stops, and gets down on the floor. He then jumps up and charges at Falconer. Falconer fires and retreats, backing up at right angles to the attacker. Just after Falconer fires another shot, and the attacker goes down, Falconer trips going backward, and falls down himself, eerily similar to Kim Woodman falling backward while firing on a charging brown bear earlier this year.
It isn’t over yet. Falconer gets back up, and displays his badge. The attacker manages to regain his feet. The two engage in a cat and mouse dance among the displays. It looks as if Falconer is expecting the attacker to go back down, but he keeps on moving. Then in a grotesque, Monty Pythonesque attack, he comes at Falconer again.
Falconer is forced to backpedal as the attacker comes at him. The attacker spins around and comes at Falconer by fast walking backward at him. Falconer is forced to shoot at least twice more. It is easy to see how defenders may end up shooting attackers in the back. This video is likely to be used in court in many future shooting defenses.
If you only look at stills from that sequence, it appears as if Falconer is pursuing the attacker and shooting him as he runs away. In fact, the opposite is happening. The attacker is advancing backward with Falconer retreating as he fires. It is a good example of how images can fool the eye.
We’re told that Falconer hit the attacker a total of six times. The attacker finally died of exsanguination (bleeding out). The caliber, make and model of Falconer’s pistol hasn’t been made available yet, but from the blurry shots we’ve seen it looks very GLOCKish.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Gun Watch
Im just glad he’s dead.
Glad he’s dead.
Intense. And that fall illustrates a good case for a new york reload. What if such a fall jars your primary loose and you can’t recover it quickly?
This why you need to train to deal with moving targets and think on your feet!
Anybody got the link to the video without the DA and news interspersed?
I’ve heard ISIS has been known to drug their soldiers before combat. That could complicate things, like expecting them to drop and die when shot…
That’s why you take out the control center.
I was told by some 03’s that during the insurgency in Iraq they saw quite a bit of amphetamine use by insurgents.
I can’t personally attest that this is true. It’s just what I heard. If it is true, ISIS doing the same thing wouldn’t surprise me.
Not as hard to stop as a subject on PCP (they’re superhuman and feel no pain), but even a few lines of decent blow and it becomes very difficult to drop someone with bullets alone. Cocaine is a very effective pain killer.
Yeah, the people who’s religion calls for eradicating all who do not submit to the will of “Allah” (you know, us) have no problem with hookers and blow when they’re doing it to deceive the Infidel – the Quran says it’s all good.
Old news. Many attackers in Black Hawk Down – Battle of Mogadishu were chewing khat as a stimulant. Where do you think meth or uh Nazi cold crank came from – Battle of the Bulge. The Moro of the Philipines (original reason for the .45 A.C.P.) may have used cannabis or opiates for battle (unsubstantiated). The attackers at Beslan autopsies showed they were heavy users of morphine.
Correct, except the morphine metabolite found in the Breslan attackers was due to Russian forces’ use of a narcotic gas to incapacitate everyone. It’s widely thought they used sufentanil(the same stuff that’s killing addicts as the standard narcan doses don’t have the efficacy it does for other opiates). It resulted in many of the hostages losing their lives as they couldn’t revive them.
Large amounts of a type of meth were recovered from the dead ISIS combatants during the battle for Kobane in Syria.
Large amounts of a type of meth…”
Adderall perhaps?
http://theinfluence.org/neuroscientist-meth-is-virtually-identical-to-adderall-this-is-how-i-found-out/
(horrible reference source, but still valid…)
I’m really starting to hate TV media. “The attorney’s office says Falconer was justified”.
Who the fuck needs to be told that this was justified? Is there seriously anyone out there with two brain cells to rub together that thinks that it’s not justified to shoot some haji that’s stabbing people randomly and attacking the shooter?
That’s exactly what I was thinking when I watched the video. If Falconer wasn’t justified in using deadly force against a man who was doing his dead level best to kill him with a knife (after having already stabbed multiple other people) then no one’s ever hoing to be justified in using deadly force. My God, has the society completely lost its mind?
well, the same people who will question if this was justified are the same ones who pop the “why didn’t they just shoot him in the leg” bit. And we all know there are lots of those, if Black Lives Matter is any indication.
Yes it has
Exactly. The attacker was using lethal weapons. He presented a reasonable threat of death and great bodily harm.
At that point, he’s fair game for lethal response.
Of course, I have a better idea: Let’s put some people from the DA’s office (including the DA) out in front when these jihadis attack. Then let’s hear them type up an amicus brief while they’re running for their lives…
Not that there isn’t reason enough to hate the media or that they don’t always give you a new reason, but I that’s not how I interpreted that part of the report.
To me, it wasn’t a matter of “the attorney’s office”, which I’m sure meant the District Attorney’s office, declaring for the sake of deciding for us that the defender acted in self defense. Rather, I think they were simply reporting that the D.A.’s office had made a determination for themselves, which is their proper and legal mandate, that this man acted in self defense and presumably will not be indicted. To me it was just a routine comment on that particular stage of the legal process.
Yes, it’s abundantly clear that he acted in self defense. given the evidence, that wasn’t in doubt. That’s given the evidence, though, which must be examined and a determination made.
Not only was he justified, he earned a cigar and whiskey, in my book.
It is pretty much standard operating procedure for the district attorney to review all police shootings to determine whether the shooting was justified. Sometimes it isn’t.
Falconer is a hero who saved many lives that day.
And that should be our takeaway! Could have been anyone, he was not on duty. He did what was necessary, and, apparently, was not overly enthusiastic, or he would have shot the dipshit repeatedly until he was dead, right away. A reluctant hero, bless his heart.
Wow, an in your face statement about how having a gun can be a life or death choice. Very graphic.
It’s good to see the store owner had a plan. Even in a GFZ one should have an idea of something they can use as a weapon. Something as mundane as a 2-3 foot section of shelving rail or a mop handle can be the difference between life or death with a knife attack.
Not arm-chair QB’ing here….one bit of Corps training still sticks in my brain bucket is to continue firing when the killer is down and keep firing until no movement is detected. Qualify that action by saying if it’s a muzzie going nuts, motivation is entirely different from a criminal wanting a payday.
“….one bit of Corps training still sticks in my brain bucket is to continue firing when the killer is down and keep firing until no movement is detected.”
In an environment where there *may* be multiple attackers, it may not be wise to run your weapon dry…
…not to mention what a DA might do to a person who shot a guy who was on the ground, and “obviously” no longer a thread (as long as he was on the ground, where he didn’t stay for long).
And then you have to factor-in that Falconer was a police officer. Shooting a guy who is armed with a contact weapon again after he falls, as a cop? Good way to be hung out to dry by your own department.
By the way, did anyone else notice anything strange at time 1:20 on the recording? On the right, Falconer has his gun up, and when the perp enters the frame on the left side, he is advancing toward Falconer BY BACKING UP. It looks like he was trying to walk/jog backwards, toward the cop.
Was this an attempt to have any new gunshot wounds enter from his back, to make it appear later like he had been “shot in the back by a cop”?
Never mind. I see it was addressed in the story and in the comments, below.
Even then, a knife is most certainly still deadly against someone with a firearm.
This guy is a great example of such: https://www.full30.com/video/9030f86490b70a13d01f3244842a91c2?ref=ASMDSS
Ok, watched the video, really didn’t want to. We’re making too much of the backwards advance thing. The bad guy was by that point wounded, not 100 percent. He get up facing backward, not thinking, and takes steps toward the good guy, while still facing backward, getting ready to rotate and strike again. Not strategy, not a tactic, just struggling to get to the good guy the best he can. My take.
Sadly the tried and true response of “I fired until I felt the threat was removed” is no longer aneed option. Thino back to the cop a few months ago who hopped onto the hood of a suspects car who was attempting to ram him. The officer then proceeded to mag dimple into the suspect through the windshield The car was stuck and he had no visible weapons(equivalent to an already shot suspect laying down I would say) and that officer was accused of excessive force. Not saying I don’t agree but in the current climate sadly those sorts of things might cross your mind in a situation like that. Also police officers aren’t trained to “shoot to kill” the shoot to gain compliance. If a suspect is incapacitated and the officer keeps shooting then regardless of the situation leading to the shooting that is excessive force. I will quote from my own LE training “only that force reasonably necessary to compelling compliance will be used.” Once you have compliance which includes an incapacitated subject you MUST stop using force.
Same reason that if you shoother someone and they are still alive and the scene is secure you have to work on them until ems arrives. Unless there are other people who need your attention of course. LE is a whole different animal from combat. Not saying it’s right just saying that’s policy.
There is no requirement to provide medical attention to someone who tried to maim or kill you
He kept attacking even after he was shot 6 times. And we are told all we would ever need is 10. Add one more knife attacker to that scenario and you can see the problem of only having 10 rounds. I’ll keep my 14 round CZ. Plus spare mag.
I agree. I’d go one further and suggest that the relationship between rounds required and number of attackers is not linear, but highly nonlinear. That is, if it take six to subdue one attacker, combining number of hits and misses, then it probably will take more than just twelve to subdue two attackers. The reason, or more like my hypothesis, being is that there’s more action and movement and misses when you’re defending against two attackers. So your hit ratio falls.
Not that one’s right to the magazine of your choice depends on such practical considerations, of course. Mag limits are unconstitutional infringements in my opinion. Still, it’s good to be able to make whatever arguments we can in support of liberty and personal safety.
17 + 1 Ruger SR9C–18 to go with a 17 reload
I’ll see your 35 rounds and raise that. Glock 17 (17 +1) and two 17 round mags on left hip along with Glock 43 (6 + 1) in pocket as back up. And if it is 50 degrees or less out, I have a Glock 26 in my jacket with more spare mags.
Did not mention the LC9S backup with 9 +1–LCP for deep cover
Thirteen rounds in the XDm, and two spare mags of 18 each, for a total of 49.
“We’re told that Falconer hit the attacker a total of six times…”
You revolver guys and gals would have been bone dry or found wanting dealing with just one knife wielding wacko. The single stack folks wouldn’t have been far behind, either. And that assumes all the rounds hit the target.
I don’t care if I’m being a “mall ninja”, I’ll take my G19 and sixteen rounds, all day, everyday.
“The attacker finally died of exsanguination (bleeding out).”
There’s the rub. Welcome to the wonderful world of pistols. It’s all just poking holes, so aim for the heart and/or brain.
Generally speaking the way that gunshots of all types kill is exsanguination.
Rifles just open up a bigger would cavity which causes the blood loss to be faster. Hydrostatic shock may knock the person unconscious but bleeding out is the actual killer.
Blood loss, sucking chest wounds, obstructed airways, know all that good jazz, I’ve had medical training.
Like I said, and you said, it’s all poking holes, rifles just make bigger ones.
“You revolver guys and gals would have been bone dry or found wanting dealing with just one knife wielding wacko.”
BS. One in the T-box or center mass with a bigger round would have ended the fight and the knife jihadist would have been DRT.
Falconer was being nice. I wouldn’t be.
You don’t need a billion rounds if you actually learn to shoot.
You think you could’ve domed that dude zig-zagging and flopping around with one round, then by all means, brother.
I guess, I’m not that good, so I’ll aim high center mass, and keep sending them, until the BG hits the deck and stop fighting.
You semi guys would have been ok. Provided your mag didn’t malf. Or your ammo was good. Or your weapon wasn’t pushed out of battery. Or you didn’t have a double feed. Or in your moment of truth you didn’t grip the weapon wrong and dump your mag on the floor(I’ve seen this happen at range sessions where there was no stress). My makarov was a stone reliable gun til one day the recoil spring went weak and the gun stopped working til a replacement spring arrived.
Shall I continue?
Where I live i’m restricted to 11 total rounds in the gun. Carry what you want of whatever caliber you want.
But if you’re serious about this type of oh shit moment you’ll carry 2.
Anything can go down for the count.
I had a wheel gun which locked up and went down hard, never to work right, again.
But, when it comes to bullets, I always want more rather than less, which why I don’t carry them as a primary anymore.
Every word correct.
However, that’s reality. However you roll, there are reasonable scenarios where you would have a very bad day. You do what you can to be prudent, prepared and competent. And prayed up.
The “walking backwards towards the officer” bit of video is going to be seen again and again in the future.
This POS was clearly planning for the DA to use forensic evidence against the guy taking him down.
Knife boy was a Somali. I doubt if he knew anything about forensics. He probably couldn’t even spell it.
In Rio Arriba County, NM they had a law that you couldn’t shoot someone in the back for any reason.
Criminals who broke into homes would advance on the homeowner backwards, often with a knife. Finally a off duty Sheriff’s deputy shot a guy in the back who was walking backwards towards him with a kitchen knife. Somewhere around 4′ the deputy plugged the guy.
He was taken to court, lost his job and generally got fucked for shooting the guy but the meth-head died and the law was changed so I guess he took one for the team.
Point of this story: many people believe it’s illegal to shoot them in the back (sometimes it is) and thing that this will prevent them from getting shot, allowing them to close distance and get within the effective range of their blade. Fuck that. Shoot them regardless of the law.
If the perp is posing bodily harm to yourself or others & a clear shot in the back is the best option, it is usually considered legal–join the USCCA & watch their excellent training videos–also get their insurance so that a top 2A attorney handles everything–Falconer was in fact a USCCA member
(Walking backwards toward LE)
“This POS was clearly planning for the DA to use forensic evidence against the guy taking him down.”
Yep. Why I still think all LE need body cams…
In this case a simple gun seemed to work just fine… LOL!
Agreed
That’s true, but without this store video, we’d be operating on the forensic evidence and the testimony of Mr. Falconer.
I think that as more video evidence of the jihadis gets out, lots of training doctrines will change in response. ISIS has put out the word to launch attacks like this “everywhere” – ie, knife attacks in soft target areas.
“Death Ray” requirements for ISIS flunkies ! Hopefully, the 2nd amendment would cover that ! Wait, didn’t this kind of”stopping power issue” crop up in the late 19th/early 20th century during the US occupation in the Philippines–fighting the drugged up, religious frenzied, muslim tribal HUKs…Because the .38 long, and,the Krag-Jorgensen rifle were ineffective at stopping the Barong marauding tribesmen. So, the US army brought back the the Single action .45 colt….
In the end, when the knife guy is fast walking backwards towards Falconer?!?
Yeah he should have holes in his back. And falconer would be darn glad there is video.
Well the takeaway for me was I have no interest in tiny 380LCP type guns. 12 or more rounds of 9mm or better…
Ruger ARX ammo made by Polycase is the way to go, especially in .380 ACP–go to Real Guns & read the review of the new Ruger LCP II; it has an ammo test with video to show the difference between ARX ammo & even quality HP ammo–in 9MM the ARX ammo was even better (my testing in this case) than the Speer Law Enforcement GDHP 124 gr +P loads that I use–kind of shocking what new technology can do
I’ve had the chance to test out the arx in 9mm+p, 380, 38 spc and 357 mag. Out of carry pistols, everything came to the proper depths in my super unscientific water jug test. In my full size px4, the 9mm went a bit deeper than I would’ve wanted. Regardless, good groups + less felt recoil + doing well in my own testing makes me feel really good about what polycase is doing
“The attacker then came at him, and Falconer produced his weapon. The attacker then fled, with Falconer in pursuit.”
Gee, someone ought to mention this to the anti-2A crowd. It’s almost as though a pistol can be an effective deterrent to a knife attack. Who could have foreseen this??? Totally unexpected!
“Attacker” – singular – “they” – plural. Let’s not be like the gender-challenged or grammar-crippled.
Thank god for video tape. You can’t rely on tape totally but is sure does help in this case.
How many people will practice falling while shooting? Range safety issue?
Also those old people with guns are your knees and hips in good shape?
I’ve been considering sewing a 33 round stick magazine hole in a long pants leg. Ruger p89, 3ea 15 rounds per magazine.
The day of multiple attackers at a shopping mall is coming with the immigration policy of the government. Or just a out of control riot.
According to my super scientific eyeball test, there appears to be too much slide riding above his hands to be a GLOCK. I’d guess SIG.
Why the eternity of time it has taken for just this amount of info to come out? What was the gun and rounds used and was Stabbie McStabbie Pants on drugs? Inquiring minds want to know.