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The suggested actions fall into basically two categories. Some would try to protect the officer and some would try to protect themselves. I believe either action is correct depending on the ability of the individual. Those that have served as LEOs or are LEOs have been trained to react to a threat to a partner or themselves and would, in all probability, instinctively react as srothstein or speed six suggest. For those, who carry with little range practice to those who shoot regularly in club matches, and have little or no tactical training, the words of Liberty, Slow Dave, an the OP are worth rereading.

Carry-a-Kimber wrote:

speedsix wrote:...drop him...

Only time for one reaction and mine would be stop the threat.

I have many LEO friends, I can't just let him be taken out like that. At the same time I don't want to be shot by the LEO. So I have to say shout GUN!! While moving to cover and drawing my own weapon.

Help the cop if they're not from an agency that disarmed me during a traffic stop. But if that agency doesn't trust me with a gun I will respect their wishes and remove myself and my gun from the situation.

It may be obvious, but I have to say one other thing...

If there is an officer at the 'quickie mart', it's VERY unlikely that any BG will come in at all, much less with a gun ready. They pick the easiest targets possible most of the time (the exception being high on something). A police car in the lot with a uniformed officer inside is 999,999 out of a million going to mean no BG's coming in at all.

...ABSOLUTELY not so...and not obvious at all...I personally have a fellow officer who was doing exactly what is described , buying a cup of coffee at a 7-11...visiting with the clerk at the counter and not watching the door...mid-morning on a weekday...he'll pay for his mistake by being in a wheelchair the rest of his life...a BG walked in, picked up something...walked up behind him, grabbed his gun out of his holster and shot him in the spine...personally know another gunned down outside while drinking coffee and talking to the clerk...no warning...
...anyone who feels safer when a police officer happens to be in the store is misguided...robberies turn violent when a cop walks in or walks around the corner of an aisle...you're MUCH safer carrying concealed in a retail establishment...take the table full of cops in the Northwest a coupla years ago...gunman walked in and opened up on them...killed 2, wasn't it? and wounded others...those "odds" are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of line....

Sadly, it was four officers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34194122/ns ... d-officer/

I know there are exceptions, and I'm not saying it makes it a 'no crime zone' or anything, but those exceptions don't change the fact that MOST crooks pick the easiest target possible. This is true in general when choosing victims, and not just cop vs. no-cop. We all know this.

Obviously, there are evil ones out there who likely specifically target cops because they're high, angry, or just flat out evil, but generally speaking, crime is less likely when a cop is around than when they're not. Don't let the emotions of how we feel when bad things do happen to cops cloud the facts and actual scenario.

...thanks for that correction...tragic...I wish I'd been drinking coffee there that day...they need us as much as we need them...maybe more...two of our officers' lives were saved by citizens...they were GLAD to see an armed citizen step up on their behalf...

...we should respect a person's choice either way...it'd be a life-changing event no matter what one did or didn't do...

...ScottinHouston...armed criminals do not have nearly the fear of/respect for LEOs as we do...a great majority are either chemically unbalanced as they do their crimes, or have no great expectation of a long life...and a cop being around doesn't generate as much fear as it did even 20 years ago...it just makes them more likely to start shooting...I do not believe that seeing a uniform is much of a deterrence as you think it is...but then I spent years teaching rookies not to feel safe because of their uniform...it just made them a target...I may be biased...

I hear ya, and I'm willing to admit I may not be right on this, but just statistically speaking, and knowing how criminals choose targets, it's got to be generally true.

JustMe wrote:For those who said they would "drop" him--why wouldn't the cop-seeing YOU with a gun, think you were an accomplice and "drop" you?

Yup, the cop hears YOU shout "GUN!" and turns to see you drawing.

...don't know how we'd get the statistics to support that...and neither of us knows how criminals choose targets...the most objective statistics we might find are those released annually by Officer Down and the FBI that show how many more officers are attacked during crimes and such than used to be...year by year...the numbers show less and less fear of the uniform by the criminal element...

...I do know a lotta folks won't go near a cop in uniform...won't sit or stand near 'em...wonder why...

....back on the scenario...yelling and moving for cover would be AFTER the drawing and shooting...no reason to do either before you stop the threat...it just draws the bad guy's attention to me and lowers my chances of getting him down before he can shoot at me...all the talking when it's gun time is TV...

I figure the BG might have his attention drawn towards the clerk and the Cop. If given a choice I would rather be in a gunfight with the opponents back toward me than face to face with him already drawn. At close range if the guy isn't looking I probably would be able to walk away.
1 second ... 2 seconds. Could make all the difference

...there you go, again...thinkin' like a winner!!!

After reading everything above, I still think I would act quickly, but my actions would depend on the distances and angles between each of the three of us, which I have trouble gleaning from the OP.