By HEATHER BOSCH
KIRO Radio

Less than a year ago, a Seattle officer was assassinated as he sat in a patrol car Halloween night. Then on Thanksgiving Day weekend, four Lakewood officers were fatally shot in a coffee shop.

At their memorial, Lakewood Chief Bret Farrar gave this warning: "For every person out there, who means to do harm to our officers, might I suggest that for once in your lives, you do what you're told."

But as frightening as those incidents were, Ronald Scott, a former commanding officer for the Massachusetts state ballistics lab, does not believe they influence an officer any more than his or her training does. "That training, of course, is done over years, it's done in the academy, and it's just what they are going to resort to in a situation that might involve deadly force."

Scott has helped investigate about 100 officer involved shootings. In the shootings he investigated, he says, most officers assessed the situation and used their firearms only to stop a threat.

"An officer will fire their gun, not to kill the person, but to stop the person from coming at them with a threat. Unfortunately, guns do kill."

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