RSO FAIL

[kyletxria1911a1]

Wow

 

[Dredens]

Holy crap... That pucker factor though...

 

[Mike1234567]

WTF?!?

 

[peeps]

A lot of shooters and these shooting events can get dragged out. They were in a hurry and about got someone killed.

I know whenever im taping targets at a competition im always checking to make sure they arent going to start shooting before im back behind the line.

The RO really should walk the stage to make sure it is clear, but they dont. So if you hear that buzzer and you are down range, hit the deck and yell cease fire!

With all the shots going on around, hearing protection, and being so far away from the firing line, he probably didn't even hear the buzzer.

They need to change that from "don't clear" to "always clear".

Wonder if he was setting up targets for the next shooter?

 

[breakingcontact]

With all the shots going on around, hearing protection, and being so far away from the firing line, he probably didn't even hear the buzzer.

They need to change that from "don't clear" to "always clear".

Wonder if he was setting up targets for the next shooter?

I think he was pasting/taping the targets and everyone else who was doing the same had already made it back.

Its not an excuse but these stages with lots of equipment out there do make it harder to see if anyone is downrange. Really the RO should walk the stage.

 

[Recoil45]

Might have been picking brass. Bag in left hand pickup stick thing in right.

 

[breakingcontact]

Might have been picking brass. Bag in left hand pickup stick thing in right.

Ah could be. He might have been the previous shooter. But you save money reloading...if you dont get shot.

 

[TX69]

Might have been picking brass. Bag in left hand pickup stick thing in right.

Thats what I think he was doing. Just out dicking around and suddenly some dude comes blazing through the course and the guy just looks up like "Duh"?

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

What an awful design of a course. Blocking view down range is like standing less than 50 yds away from "20" lbs of explosives.

 

[Younggun]

Isn't blocking the view down range part of how these competitions are set up?

 

[TheDan]

wow...

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

I've only been to two matches and both you could see down from the side but if that's the case I don't want to do it!

 

[StevenC.]

This is very unfortunate.

Many stages are set using the vision barrier walls and many shooters like them- they are more real world than a bunch of walls made of hurricane fencing.

The CRO and RO are responsible for ensuring the range is clear of the persons re-setting the stage or policing up brass or magazines. Most ROs will hang back and ensure they are last person to walk up-range.

I PREDICT that a squad had finished shooting and persons largely thought that the shooting was done with a shoot-through/late arrival/re-shoot arrived and... assumption being the mother of all F-ups... people assumed the range was clear.

I am really amazed that the shooter didn't see the guy at the 19, 24 and 29 sec marks. Talk about some target focus and an example of people not seeing what they don't expect to see...

BTW, I don't know the man, but I can see his name and a little Google fu revealed his not a formally trained RO, just another poor sap pressed into service at what looks like a local match in the Lake Havasu/Prescott, AZ area.

If anything, USPSA ought to:

1) Push harder for more RO certification training
2) Encourage shooters to not be such dicks to the ROs

 

[breakingcontact]

2) Encourage shooters to not be such dicks to the ROs

Your level of matches must have folks challenging the ROs calls more than what ive seen. Usually people complain about the ROs being jerks.

 

[Ranger60]

WTF How the hell did he get out there during a match??????? He should like maybe hear the shots???? should be berms between stages? Fails on so many levels!

 

[benenglish]

WTF How the hell did he get out there during a match??????? He should like maybe hear the shots???? should be berms between stages? Fails on so many levels!

I could hear lots of other shots and there appeared to be berms off to the side. I assume other stages were taking place in the bays on either side so the guy downrange wouldn't necessarily understand that the gunfire he heard was on HIS bay.

 

[benenglish]

Isn't blocking the view down range part of how these competitions are set up?

Stage design is something people argue about endlessly. Some competitors/designers/organizations like really complex designs with lots of blind spots. Then there's a school of thought that goes in completely the opposite direction.

I read your comment to imply that since this sort of stage design was a part of this match, it's not to blame. It's something everyone should have understood and accounted for at all times. At least, that's what I think I read because that's also what I think.

The comment below...

Most ROs will hang back and ensure they are last person to walk up-range.

...seems likely to me to be the practical solution and most likely source of failure here.

I'm an NRA-certified RSO (and for those of you who are active ROs in action shooting sports, you know how little that can mean) with very little experience but the one thing I try to do in every case where there's more than one person around a firing line where I'm running the line is stand downrange while the line is cold. It doesn't matter what's being done, set up, pasted, repaired, etc., if I've called the range cold, I will stand downrange so that I take personal responsibility for that call. I'll call the range active when only when I step back across the firing line.

At a busy match under conditions as shown in the video, I doubt even my attitude would be sufficient. Who knows if the range just got handed off from one RO to another with an unwisely trusted statement that the range was clear? Who knows if the RO had done a good job of verbally calling out to find out if the range was clear but the guy downrange had his ear pro on and didn't hear or couldn't hear through the sounds of gunfire from the bays next door?

IOW, I can envision a dozen ways this could happen. There's no adequate excuse for any of them but I hope that lessons were learned by everyone that day.

Side note: I'd sure hate to be the shooter who had to stop and then re-shoot that stage. I'd be pretty shook up to know that I had just come far closer than I ever want to shooting an innocent person.

 

[breakingcontact]

USPSA released a letter/statement on this incident.

https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://uspsa.org/document_library/2015/NROI+PA.pdf

 

[ZX9RCAM]

USPSA released a letter/statement on this incident.

This post is worthless without statement....

 

[benenglish]

USPSA released a letter/statement on this incident.

I don't see it on their home page or media page. Any pointers?