By MATT BARNARD Staff Photographer on Apr 29, 2013, at 3:20 PM Updated on 4/29 at 3:33 PM
Smoke rises into the air as Tulsa police Sgt. Matt McCord demonstrates a weapon used by the agency's Special Operations Team on Friday, April 26, 2013.
Remember that tear gas launcher Arnold Schwarzenegger used in the "Terminator 2" movie? I got a demo of something similar last week.
Ryan Perkins, the commander of TPD's Special Operations Team, offered reporters a glimpse at the group's operations and training last week. Think "SWAT team 101."
Call it a PR move if you must, but there was value to it. SOT works in tense, high-profile situations and the more people know, the better.
Perkins said the team is very analytical in their approach and the "run-and-gun" perception some people have isn't accurate. The team maps each door, window and room when they are called out. If it takes an hour to clear a single room, so be it.
An example of that mindset: One SOT marksman has never fired his rifle at a suspect in more than a decade on the squad. I can't imagine training for years to do something and then never doing it.
I got a small taste of precision shooting with a .308 rifle. We ran about 100 yards - just enough to get your heart rate up - before taking aim at three targets downrange. My time of 62 seconds wasn't bad, considering I've never shot a rifle bigger than a .22 before.
Another scenario involved moving through a barn to "rescue" a training dummy, apply a tourniquet, and then drag him to safety. Along the way we used a training pistol on targets flanking the hallway.
Photos were pretty easy to find, with all the action. I didn't get to shoot the Terminator gun, though.
Bullet holes cover a target at the Tulsa Police Department's training facility.
Capt. Ryan Perkins, commander of the Tulsa Police Department's Special Operations Team, discusses the unit's equipment at the firing range.
Chris Dent, a tactical medic for the Tulsa Police Department's Special Operations Team, applies a tourniquet to a dummy at the department's training facility.
Tulsa World reporter Amanda Bland holds a rifle with help from Sgt. Wes Phelps.
Tulsa World photographer Matt Barnard (left) gets comfortable with a rifle as Officer Adam Ashley (right) explains its use.
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