I can’t tell you why police don’t “shoot at the head of a criminal who has a civilian in a headlock while pointing a gun at their head” in movies and television shows. In most of the movies and shows I see, police are flawless marksmen. So are secret agents, soldiers, and mercenaries. Each of them is capable of firing a 300-yard shot off-hand and hitting a dime without even looking while a digital timer clicks down to a nuclear apocalypse. At least if that’s what the writers want to have happen.
I can tell you that in real life, consistently being able to perform a “designated headshot” is difficult under practice circumstances and even harder to perform when under great amounts of stress.
A practice target to train for this scenario often looks like this:
I can tell you that if you shoot this guy while his finger is on the trigger, she’s probably dead.
In order to kill him before he kills her, you get ONE shot. That shot has to hit anywhere from the top of the eyes to the bottom of the top teeth and anywhere between the eyes. The target is about the size of a 3×5” index card (which is what I use to practice).
But… that isn’t very likely to be the reality. You’re probably looking more at something like this:
Your index card has now been cut in half. Also, do you really think he’s going to stand still? Will she be standing perfectly still? Then remember that you are going to be dosed to the gills on adrenaline.
So you’re aiming at a moving 2×2” target some indeterminate distance away while hopped up on your body’s version of meth. Things aren’t looking so good. Still, practice. If you’re going to make this shot, your only prayer is to practice.
Or you could try negotiating. After all, maybe no one has to die. I would put the major choices in this order (note that this is not an exhaustive list):
- Best-Case Scenario: Negotiate and get him to drop his gun and let her go. Negotiating doesn’t mean letting him go, but getting him to see the futility of killing an innocent might change his mind.
- Second Best-Case Scenario: You take your shot and kill him. Yes, this isn’t the best-case scenario. It’s better when everyone goes home alive, even if one of those homes is a cell.
- Almost Worst-Case Scenario: She dies because you shot and either missed him or failed to instantly neutralize him.
- Worst-Case Scenario: She dies because you missed and killed her instead or perhaps some innocent who was beyond your threat. Imagine the nightmares that follow that day.
If I was a police officer, I’d be trying for that best-case scenario, but I recognize that isn’t always possible.
There is one scenario worse than the “worst-case scenario” above. You could put your gun down. Now the criminal can shoot you, then the hostage, and then run off to hurt more people.