A Cautionary Tale: One Officer Killed, Another Wounded, in Friendly Fire Incident

The Daily Mail reports that "NYPD detective, 42, is shot dead and sergeant is injured by friendly fire during shootout with robber, 27, wielding a FAKE gun at T-Mobile store in Queens." The basic facts are as follows:

        [The two police officers] Simonsen and Gorman entered the store and were confronted by a suspect wielding what turned out to be a fake gun, Commissioner James O'Neill said at a press conference Tuesday night. 

       The officers opened fire on the suspect, and as they backed out of the store, they were struck by bullets from cops outside, O'Neill said.

The article reports that Det. Brian Simonsen was shot in the chest and later died, while Squad Sgt. Matthew Gorman was shot in the hip. Keep in mind that the perpetrator had a fake firearm, so that all of the bullets that were flying were fired by police officers.

       We've seen other incidents where there are a group of officers confronting a suspect, one officer fires and, suddenly, all the others fire as well. I've heard the phenomena termed a "feeding frenzy," suggesting that the officers are all caught up in the moment of attack like a swarm of sharks. I suspect that a certain level of panic plays a role. But whatever the cause, it is evidence of a lack of discernment and fire discipline.

       In this case, did the officers outside the store even know what they were shooting at? Or did they just start pulling their triggers? I suspect that the answers are "no" and "yes."