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Ma'khia Bryant: Reporter asks police chief Michael Woods if cops can 'shoot the leg', slammed for 'ignorance'

'Reporters asking if cops can shoot violent people 'in the leg' or 'in the arm' is one of the dumbest effing things I've ever heard,' tweeted Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich

During a press briefing by the police on April 21, a reporter asked Columbus police chief Michael Woods if the officer who responded to the scene could have shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in the arm or leg. The reporter at a press briefing asked, "Can an officer shoot the leg, can they shoot somewhere that would not result in a fatal wound?" 

To this Woods responded saying, "One of the difficult things with that is ... we don't train to shoot the leg because that's a small target," and added, "We train to shoot center mass, what is available to stop that threat... There was a deadly force threat that was going on, so the officer is trained to shoot center mass."

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The police chief of Columbus, Ohio, then went on to explain how aiming for arm or leg might also put people in the surrounding at risk and said, "When you try to start shooting arms or legs, rounds miss, and then they continue on, and there are people behind that could be in danger, that are not committing anything ... So we try and minimize any danger to anyone else if we have to use our firearm." 

This resulted in a Fox News anchor calling out the reporter for asking such a question to cops tasked with apprehending violent people. Bryant had been shot by the police as she attacked two female individuals with knife. Townhall editor and Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich said on Twitter, "Reporters asking if cops can shoot violent people "in the leg" or "in the arm" is one of the dumbest effing things I've ever heard. The ignorance is astounding."

One user in response said, "They’ve been watching too many TV shows! The Columbus cop had 12 seconds from the time he exited his squad car to when he had to make a split-second decision to save the other girl’s life. In my humble opinion, he’s a hero, not a “you’re next” target for accountability!"

Another user commented, "The intent is to eliminate the threat. The most efficient way of ending the threat to the public is to aim at the largest part of the assailant's body, or "Center Mass". Only a Fool takes a second to aim at a leg. Seconds Matter."

While most social media users ripped the reporter apart for asking the question, a few also pointed out that the question needed to be asked so that the general public was made aware. One user said, "Reporters are asking that question b/c people are asking it. We’re doing our jobs. If people in the community have questions, and want answers to something, it’s our job to get those answers from the people in positions of power. Calling a reporter dumb for doing so is shallow."

Washington Times Pentagon reporter Mike Glenn also explained why it was difficult to shoot a leg or an arm in response to a tweet by Emily Miller, political communications strategist, who said: "We need to take those reporter to the range and tell them to shoot a target that is the size of a leg or arm." He replied with additional information, saying, "Police are trained to shoot 'center mass' (basically the torso) because that's the largest target they are likely to encounter in a violent scene. It is damn near impossible to hit a target like a leg or arm with all that adrenalin running through you at that kind of call."