Bodycam footage shows a 15-year-old ambushing a police officer by shooting him in the chest.
The officer drops the flashlight, runs for concealment, then returns fire.
Thankfully, the officer retained his pistol after being shot, even though he dropped the flashlight. Thankfully, the body armor protected him. I cannot tell if the officer had a pistol-mounted light; if so he did not use it. The report says that the 15-year-old suspect was shot in the leg; I wonder if a pistol-mounted light might have improved the officer’s accuracy. Even if so equipped, it may require a higher degree of mental presence to activate the light. In this case, it might have been better to search with an illuminated pistol light PLUS the flashlight, using the flashlight to avoid pointing the weapon at things or people that shouldn’t be.
