# Did you get shot and died, or did you get shot and lived? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555 "2015-02-13T09:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/21 "2015-02-14T17:13:08Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Be careful with those figures. > BIG SNIP > It’s impossible to find reliable figures for the actual number of non-fatal gunshot wounds but I’ve seen suggestions from reliable sources that it is ten times the reported rate. This. Officially with firearms (reported) I’ve been wounded once. Actually its 3 with a possible 4th (barely grazed) that could count. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/22 "2015-02-14T17:21:19Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > It’s not a rough estimate, it’s meaningless. It’s not meaningless. Not only did I say it’s a rough estimate, I also said it is _ **a starting point** _ to answer the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/23 "2015-02-15T09:52:27Z")
Thanks a lot for the responses! They are helping me visualize the answer to my question for sure. The impetus for this was a scenario where a random thug pulls a gun on a person, pops off a few rounds, and flees. Given those loose constraints, there are many who were not hit at all, grazed, or took one in a place that’s not life threatening. Some of those thugs know how to shoot, many do not. Some are shooting .45’s, some may use .25’s. Could one make an educated guess whether or not people in this circumstance died as a result of being hit or lived? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/24 "2015-02-15T16:10:15Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Thanks a lot for the responses! They are helping me visualize the answer to my question for sure. > > The impetus for this was a scenario where a random thug pulls a gun on a person, pops off a few rounds, and flees. Given those loose constraints, there are many who were not hit at all, grazed, or took one in a place that’s not life threatening. Some of those thugs know how to shoot, many do not. Some are shooting .45’s, some may use .25’s. > > Could one make an educated guess whether or not people in this circumstance died as a result of being hit or lived? Educated guess? Especially in a town or city with a hospital and response services, even if hit you are going to live. The exception is hits to the head, heart or lungs. Hit in one of those three and your odds of dieing jump dramatically as they would if you are hit miles away from anyone to hear the shooting. We had a “shootout” between three cops and a couple gangbangers. If memory serves me right, the news reported over 90 shots fired at ranges up to across a street (mostly in a space roughly two cars “wide”) and one person got grazed. Funny things happen when the adrenalin starts flowing. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/25 "2015-02-15T20:11:30Z")
We had a highly publicized incident here. A gang banger tried to hold up a Wendy’s with a realistic looking air soft gun. The police response was very quick and the perpetrator was still inside. Three officers entered the restaurant and in the counter area of a Wendy’s (picture the size of this in your mind). The perpetrator made not his brightest move and pointed the air soft gun at one of the officers. The three officers fired a total of 32 shots. They hit the perpetrator and the sound guy from the TV show Cops, killing them both. For good measure, they put a couple of bullets through the window of a tanning salon a block away… It isn’t only the random thugs that don’t seem to be able to shoot ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/26 "2015-02-16T06:51:54Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > We had a highly publicized incident here. A gang banger tried to hold up a Wendy’s with a realistic looking air soft gun. The police response was very quick and the perpetrator was still inside. Three officers entered the restaurant and in the counter area of a Wendy’s (picture the size of this in your mind). The perpetrator made not his brightest move and pointed the air soft gun at one of the officers. > > The three officers fired a total of 32 shots. They hit the perpetrator and the sound guy from the TV show Cops, killing them both. For good measure, they put a couple of bullets through the window of a tanning salon a block away… > > It isn’t only the random thugs that don’t seem to be able to shoot It’d be interesting to know how many of the 32 shots fired hit the thug. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/27 "2015-02-16T06:56:20Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Educated guess? Especially in a town or city with a hospital and response services, even if hit you are going to live. The exception is hits to the head, heart or lungs. Hit in one of those three and your odds of dieing jump dramatically as they would if you are hit miles away from anyone to hear the shooting. Additionally there’s more vital areas. If you hit the aorta or any of the major arteries (femoral, brachial, abdominal, iliac, etc), he’ll bleed out in a matter of seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/28 "2015-02-16T07:42:50Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Thanks a lot for the responses! They are helping me visualize the answer to my question for sure. > > The impetus for this was a scenario where a random thug pulls a gun on a person, pops off a few rounds, and flees. Given those loose constraints, there are many who were not hit at all, grazed, or took one in a place that’s not life threatening. Some of those thugs know how to shoot, many do not. It is very easy to miss. I went out to some local hills today for a little target practice. I shot at two targets: a metal canister about the same size as a grown man’s chest, and my small portable “weebles wobble” target ([this target, exactly](http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/747577/champion-duraseal-wobble-reactive-target-ballistic-polymer-green?cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google&gclid=Cj0KEQiApIGnBRCFx-idn7-E2Y8BEiQAc6fQbFey0TEzzjYzW9knokyzp7tDscgWHaqlkCCFCYXKPqAaAiuy8P8HAQ) - its green target is about 3" in diameter). I was on a hillside on loose dirt - the footing wasn’t great. The targets were about 30 feet away, weren’t moving, and most importantly they were not armed and shooting at me. I’m serious when I say that because once you are threatened or come under fire, you’re no longer calm and collected. My Ruger LCR in .38sp - admittedly, not a terribly accurate gun and with its awful stock sights. "This gun was made for close quarters, not for targets 30-50 feet away. Anyway I missed way more often than I care to admit. Granted, the weebles wobble target is small, at approx. 3" in diameter. Pretty small. But still, it is very easy to miss. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/29 "2015-02-16T10:11:21Z")
Meant to include a [picture of the Ruger LCR - Lightweight Carry Revolver](http://www.hausofguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_3710.jpg). You’ll see it is tiny and not meant for significant accuracy beyond 50 feet or so. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/30 "2015-02-16T19:24:51Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > It’d be interesting to know how many of the 32 shots fired hit the thug. That was not mentioned in any of the news stories. They did specify that the bullet that killed the sound guy from Cops went in under his armpit and thereby missed the bullet proof vest he was wearing. Just my opinion, but if you can’t get all of your shots into a man sized target in the average perimeter of a Wendy’s lobby, should you really be carrying a gun? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555/31 "2015-02-17T01:41:26Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Meant to include a [picture of the Ruger LCR - Lightweight Carry Revolver](http://www.hausofguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_3710.jpg). You’ll see it is tiny and not meant for significant accuracy beyond 50 feet or so. I prefer the S&W 49 version/offering [http://home.comcast.net/~blackgtx/guns/inv49.jpg](http://home.comcast.net/~blackgtx/guns/inv49.jpg) Up to 10 yards, I’ll keep all five in the chest rapid fire and say 4 of 5 slow fire at 17 yards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-get-shot-and-died-or-did-you-get-shot-and-lived/712555.md?page=1)