Police Sniper reflects on Life-or-Death moment

[TheeBadOne]

Tampa Tribune (Florida)

SUSPECT HAD WOMAN AT GUNPOINT IN CAR

TAMPA — When Tampa Police Capt. John Bennett squeezed the trigger of his high-powered rifle, his options seemed clear: Either kill Bobbie Miles or watch him murder his hostage.

The lead sniper spoke Tuesday for the first time since the Feb. 1 incident that left Miles dead and hostage Sandra Soley safe but grazed by a police bullet.

From 50 yards away in the night's murk, Bennett's scope zoomed Miles into extreme close-up. Miles was losing it.

For more than two hours, hostage negotiations cruised. Suddenly, it all soured.

"In the last several minutes, he took a whole new posture and started acting more aggressive," Bennett said.

That's when Miles began counting.

"When you get to that point, we have an innocent mother just shopping with her kids, and you've got to weigh the value of her life over someone who took her in a forcible felony," Bennett said.

Miles, an ex-convict from Jacksonville, launched a desperate count from one to 30 inside Soley's commandeered car, telling police negotiators he planned "to do something stupid."

Police decided Miles, 27, should die in a Hillsborough Avenue strip mall parking lot. When Miles reached 22 in his count, he became the police sniper team's first fatality since it was formed 15 years ago. They have been deployed a dozen times since then.

"Literally, we had a good sight and clear path of deadly force, and we knew the children were accounted for," Bennett said. Soley's two girls and the children of a friend escaped before Miles put a handgun to Soley's abdomen and forced her into the back seat.

The decision to shoot belonged to the snipers: Bennett, and Cpls. Wayne Hutches and Tommy Downes. All three are recovering from having killed a man.

"What it comes down to is, at that pivotal moment, we felt negotiations weren't going positive anymore," Bennett said. "The bad guy gave indications he was no longer willing to resolve anything. It came to a climax."

Soley, 26, a Tampa school lunchroom worker, sat inches from Miles when three sniper bullets tore into his forehead. The shooting remains under internal investigation, but State Attorney Mark Ober recently cleared police.

Bennett spoke about that night at a firing range off State Road 39 where the 12-member sniper team trains.

Miles was wanted in a drive-by drug shooting in Jacksonville when he appeared in Tampa two days later. A suspect in a home invasion and robberies, Miles got out of prison last October and vowed not to return.

When Tampa police followed Miles into the Tampa Festival Center parking lot at 2525 E. Hillsborough Ave. just before 7 p.m., he jumped out, along with three passengers who fled. That gave Miles just enough time to grab Soley and drag her into her vehicle, where the standoff began.

Ordinarily, Bennett would have commanded the operation instead of being a sniper.

"Once you're in position, it's difficult to get out," said Bennett, 41, a 20-year police veteran. "I tried to command from that position. I also know there was a deep concern that this was how it might be resolved and I wanted to make sure everyone understood the mechanics."

Shooting Miles was the last resort.

"There is no green light like you see in Hollywood," Bennett said. "The decision almost makes itself."

Soley survived the ordeal. She thanked the snipers that night as she was taken to the hospital and thanked them again after she was released.

"You have one unique opportunity to save a life, and you want to make sure the job gets done," Bennett said.