KC police fire at backfiring van

**5711-Marine** · November 14th, 2010, 07:25 PM

When I was in the Marine Corps, at the rifle range we all took shifts "pulling butts" (working the targets, marking hits and misses, etc). This served as a valuable training aid later during my enlistment as I knew the sound of incoming rounds, both the close and the distant ones. I wonder if these officers had similar live fire training. For me it is hard to understand how one could mistake an engine misfire for incoming rounds.

Additionally they seem to be piss poor shots...

Two Kansas City police officers who thought they were being shot at from inside a van returned fire Thursday night.

Only later did police realize that the van was actually backfiring and the man inside was not armed. He was not injured by the shots fired by police.

Windows of the police car were apparently shot out by the officers as they exited the patrol car.

The officers were dispatched on a report of shots being fired from a white van just before 6 p.m. Thursday on Gregory Boulevard near Interstate 435.

When the officers got to the area they saw a white van parked on Gregory and pulled up near it. As they were getting out of the patrol car they heard the backfiring and fired their weapons. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/12...#ixzz15Im7ZQcm