# Has there ever been a shooting "chain-reaction"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459 "2012-07-26T16:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/21 "2012-12-17T17:04:58Z")
This[article](http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2012/06/blue-on-blue-shootings/page/1.aspx) mentions a few ‘blue on blue’ shootings where a plainclothes officer is shot by other police arriving on scene. The closest I could quickly find to what I think the OP is asking for, was the [shooting outside a N.Y. pharmacy](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/nyregion/off-duty-atf-officer-is-killed-intervening-after-robbery.html?_r=0), where an off-duty BATFE agent tried to intervene in an armed robbery, and was killed by arriving police officers. It is an infrequent though not extremely rare occurrence during wartime. A history of the 5th Marine Regiment Sniper Platoon during 1967 and 1968, “[13 Cent Killers](http://www.amazon.com/13-Cent-Killers-Snipers-Vietnam/dp/0345459148)”, mentions that an occasional tactic of the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army was to, at night, get between two advancing Marine columns. Once there, the VC would open fire on one column and then duck within prepared escape tunnels. The first Marine column would return fire on the VC, and in the process, shoot up the second Marine column, which would then shoot back until both columns’ officers got things under control (Page 196) As, IIRC, the sounds and tracer ammunition used by the VC/NVA and U.S. Marines differed greatly, I can’t see this working that often. The memoir isn’t, IMHO, the most rigidly grounded account of the fighting in Vietnam anyway. Googling the terms “friendly fire” and “fratricide” should give you more examples to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/22 "2012-12-17T17:52:58Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > “Eligible population” means eligible because they already have some sort of license, or **everybody over 18, clean record, etc.?** The latter. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/23 "2012-12-18T02:47:47Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > With no cite save my memory, I know of several cases. > > 1. Some fool pulls a gun. > 2. Policeman A (in civilan clothes) pulls his gun. > 3. Policeman B shoots Policeman A. Since **Paul in Qatar** doesn’t know of a cite for this, I’ll second his recollection: I saw an article saying just this sometime fairly recently (like, within the last few months)? Now I can’t think of what search terms I should use to find it again. Not even sure if “Policeman A” was in civilian clothes. Rather, I think I recall that the scene was in the late afternoon or evening when it was getting dark, and “Policeman A” was kinda-sorta-partly hidden behind a fence. ETA: Found it! Here it is: [http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/09/police-denver-area-officer-mistakenly-shot-killed-by-fellow-officer/](http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/09/police-denver-area-officer-mistakenly-shot-killed-by-fellow-officer/) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/24 "2012-12-18T10:03:23Z")
[New York State Task Force on Police on Police Shootings](https://doc-0o-94-docsviewer.googleusercontent.com/viewer/securedownload/dsn1aovipa7l846lsfcf94nedj8q2p4u/5m7voguk7a5tq4a3fq15795fe7nv479m/1355823900000/Ymw=/AGZ5hq8BgbJY1gwaOYx83cPOdNw6/QURHRUVTajhPOVl2ekltQ0N5X1JlVjNMaEVRVHJOTEF2cHJ0SVpLdDU0N3JfbUZKVXl2MlZFWjNsREJJd3FoOG9XR1hkQzdMc3pnQUFnR0UzVzdYQlZmblhWeGpsTDNLeDU3YnlZQzJjbkR3U0U5N1NBdDNLYWdiU2V5Q0JVUEpha2dYMnhfaDMzeHk=?docid=e8b5d6b4fbe9d923635504a09bd70b39&chan=EgAAAEt4KfnCkmKoN1yUkw0nrtLQM7GNDRoxWJrsUkhRAYyJ&sec=AHSqidYaK7Mpjue2_N-ceLe3_J-M9QVlzJTKy2luggkTXlvk9-yivPKlyaIDN0OpBFcwCaHnm1-o&a=gp&filename=Police-on-Police_Shootings.pdf&nonce=ou9rjakeo0q98&user=AGZ5hq8BgbJY1gwaOYx83cPOdNw6&hash=ok2ps6fa9bgufh1uhcih4knuk2jjuac2) (PDF) > [@](#): > > Since 1981, some 26 police officers across the United States have been shot and killed by fellow police officers who have mistaken them for dangerous criminals. AKA “[Color of the Day](http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=1&gs_ri=hp&gs_mss=%22color%20of%20the%20day%22%20police%20shooting&pq=%22color%20of%20the%20day%22%20police%20shooting&cp=35&gs_id=7it&xhr=t&q=%22color+of+the+day%22+police+shootings&pf=p&safe=off&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&oq=%22color+of+the+day%22+police+shootings&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.dmQ&fp=eeaed9fac54bfaee&bpcl=40096503&biw=1023&bih=622)” (or lack thereof) Fuck-Ups > [@](#): > > A police officer responding in plain clothes with a rifle to a confrontation with a knife-wielding deranged man was fatally shot by an officer from another department on Long Island Saturday night shortly after the suspect had been shot to death, the police said. … > [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/nyregion/14nassau.html?pagewanted=all&\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/nyregion/14nassau.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) The LI one wasn’t the first one that came to my mind. If trained POs get this “shoot or don’t shoot” scenario wrong what are the odds that an untrained civilian would too? CMC ---
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/25 "2012-12-18T10:27:14Z")
> [@Atakapa](#): > > One of the first things emergency services ask a 911 caller in such an event is for a physical description of the shooter and what he’s armed with. Therefore, the police aren’t blind and know that they are looking for, such as a 6 ft tall white male with a red shirt, blonde hair, a mustache, and a shotgun. Unless a CC permit holder points his weapon at the police, he isn’t getting shot without gross incompetence on the part of law enforcement. You are deluded. In Newtown and in Aurora nobody could even say the number of the gunmen! And if You get some info, You can’t trust it for some reason or another, even if it’s from professionals. A lame example, but absolutely true: a few years ago here was an incident where cops in a car were chasing a running suspect that fled through the gardens. They radioed to another car and gave a description. The other cops saw a guy fitting the description and apprehended him. But when they noticed he was a gypsy, they let him go because the first cops surely would’ve mentioned that. Well, they didn’t because they thought using a word ‘gypsy’ in radio would get them attacked by the PC-nuts. At the time the story was published, the guy was still at large. Luckily he wasn’t a killer, but just attempted a burglary. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/26 "2012-12-18T17:45:17Z")
> [@Freakenstein](#): > > You are deluded. **Moderator Note** **Freakenstein** , insults are not permitted in General Questions. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459/27 "2012-12-18T18:33:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** Sorry, this was sort of a double mistake. First, since gun threads are usually in the pit, I forgot this wasn’t also there. Second, I didn’t think it was actually an insult ( Yes, I know I’ve used that explanation before, but English isn’t My first language, so some nuances are little obscure ), but as it was badly worded being about a person and not about the idea, I admit the warning was earned. Sorry again, I’ll try ( again ) to be more careful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-shooting-chain-reaction/629459.md?page=1)