I'd like to know how many people who aren't farmers, hunters, or vets know how to put down an animal with one shot. I know not because of my law enforcement work but because I'm a sheep farmer ... and even the prescribed method doesn't always work the first time out.
Even then, most people who aren't involved with death up close and personal don't understand that even a well-placed head shot doesn't always lead to instant death. You may have taken care of any lingering consciousness, but the body systems don't just stop like they hit a wall.
Having said that, running over with a cruiser was NOT the best idea of the week. (I think they carry S&W .40 in Arlington, but I could be wrong -- however a well-placed nine would do. Heck, a well-placed .22 would do it.)
Exactly! Thank you! If you can get a deer or other hoofed animal to hold still, and can look at it at the right angle and calculate the trajectory of your shot, you might be able to shoot it in the head and kill it. But you have to know a little something about the interior anatomy of the deer's skull. You can just shoot it in the side of the head or between the eyes; the shot has to go up and at a little angle, and it's very easy for too light a load to ricochet off the hard skull.
Ideally one would shoot it behind the elbow, but again this is not easy with whatever sort of pistol suburban cops are using, particularly if they don't know where the heart is, and even more if the deer is moving. Trust me, those hooves are DANGEROUS. No reason for a cop to jeopardize his own life or health by getting close enough to put the barrel of his .40 at the correct trajectory to hit the heart.
I have seen many sorry cases of people trying to put down injured cows and horses. The suffering they cause is terrible. Don't try it if you don't know exactly what you're doing or you'll make everything a thousand times worse.