Gentlemen,
Headshots are the hardest first shot and should not EVER be the point of aim with a pistol at ANY RANGE. A well placed upper torso shot (think between the collar bones here) even with body armor is going to bring a person down due to the blunt force trauma in a very sensitive area. Also if your shot goes high IT WILL BE A FATAL SHOT. A low shot gives you a rising second shot due to recoil. Always and I mean ALWAYS take the higher probability shot over the hollywood shot.
Also, while it seems sporting to announce yourself coming down the hall. NEVER do it until you have your target in sights and have confirmed that perp does not have a cover man or second perp in waiting. According to FBI statistics "ambush robbery" is on the rise in the US and announcing your position only gives it away and makes you a target.
CQB (close quarters battle) done correctly is fast, violent, and controlled. Always engage only when you know you have the advantage in atleast one area. Surprise, overwhelming force, or position. It is also like playing pool ... its a game of angles. taking the best shot while giving your oponent the least favorable angle to return fire.
Gulf, great advice about the dog. Just got a Belgian Malinois myself and he is truly fun... a lot of work ... but also a lot of fun.
My aim was only a point of reference, and to be more accurate it was actually at the very top of his torso at the lower neck knowing that I would have to decide where to shoot based on his movement. What I was pointing at was only a "frame of reference", clearly that would change if he tried anything. If he had moved down and turned no question body shot, which was my best guess at his attempt to turn and fire. In the distance (20 yards) was my other possible problem and that was the golf course which was slightly elevated from my position. We could not see on the dark golf course if he had an accomplice. This was also the reason for my aim, I wanted to cover both options, and I wanted him off the property. I only followed to the point that he provided cover, and then stopped, and then yelled at my wife to shut the lights off to give me cover. I could hear him running off into the distance on the golf course after he jumped the fence.
It wasn't being "sporting" to tell him I was coming. When I announced I was coming he was starting to force the door open, and at that point he turned around and began to leave when heard me yelling. That was the intention for the announcement and from what I saw from his movement, behavior, etc. on the cameras at the moment that was what I felt all he needed to back off. I had to stop him from entering the side door to the house right into my daughter's bedroom, and that was the reason for the announcement. If he were actually well into the house wandering around, I would have been silent. If he had continued on, I would have encountered him with one foot in the door and one out facing me. It was that quick and I was that close (next room over). There were also two ways into the room from my side and both doors were open, he did not know the inside layout of the house, that was obvious from the way he approached then house and acted. Trust me I had him. My biggest problem was not shooting when I came around and followed him out the door.
My wife was watching him on the cameras and we all up on the screen and she could see the entire house through 6 cameras. While I was following down the side of the house she was calling out telling me the yard was clear, the yard was clear. This is because before I went to that side of the house I told her to scream out clear or to warn me if there was someone else I had to worry about in front of him or behind me. Yes, I was more vulnerable out of the house, but with my wife watching, I felt it was more important to keep my eyes on him until I knew that he was gone. I have thousands of rounds of practice, grew up in Texas, etc. I grew up in a “country” family with guns all my life. I am the best shot in my extended family, I don’t miss from that distance in practice, and I would not have missed even a “head shot” at that range if I had to take it. Like I said, I was not shaky, I had an eerie calm and everything seemed to happen very slowly when I was in the moment. It was only later that I freaked out when thinking about what had happened and how close we came to disaster. My wife was great, she remained calm till it was over also, and she did a great job of following instructions and improvising when necessary.
And yes, my I play with my dog all the time. They are very very smart and have a sense of humor. He acts like a big puppy with me. My dog is like a robot, he does what I tell him to do, very easy to be around, except when he's playing...
