Charlotte NC Aug 26 2017 Three fatal shootings involving private security officers during a twenty four hour period shows the sudden risks and unpredictability of volatile conditions that threatens security officers working at both the “low” risk and mundane assignments and in areas known to be more dangerous.
An armed security officer working at a Charlotte North Carolina sweepstakes parlor came face to face with two masked men who entered the business armed and with the intentions of robbing it.
The security officer immediately responded to the threat and when one of the armed suspects refused to drop his weapon, the security officer shot and fatally wounded him.
Both men ran from the business and the deceased was found by law enforcement in some nearby woods.
A security officer two hours earlier working at a convenience store in Missouri faced his own life and death moment when a man who was asked to leave the property because he was loitering and drinking beer, pulled a handgun and raised it toward the security officer. The security officer backed away as he drew his own firearm fatally wounding the man and eliminating the threat.
And less than twenty four hours later, two contract security officers assigned to bike patrol for the Regional Transit District in Colorado found a man that appeared passed out or in need of medical assistance. As the security officers approached the person, he drew a firearm.
As both armed security officers began to retreat, a female security officer fell and fearing for her life, the second security officer pulled his weapon and mortally wounded the armed man. The man died from his gunshots.
Family members have now told local media in Denver that the killed by security officers, Armando Vigil, was actually trying to commit “suicide by cop”.
The Regional Transit District was also the scene of a security officer murder in February where a man, now described as a terrorist, shot and killed a security officer on duty thinking that he was a law enforcement officer.
In all three fatal shootings, security officers responded swiftly, appropriately and were able to quickly assess and eliminate the threats.
But what would have happened had they not been armed and were not able to defend themselves?
Simply put, they would have been homicide victims.
Examples of security officer attacks, assaults, injuries and deaths fill the local and national news now almost every day.
The world is changing and the violent and sudden threats to private security personnel are real and more frequent then most want to consider.
