Around 9:20 P.M. one evening, two armed robbers entered a smoke shop in Fresno, California.
The incident took place at a Pipes R Us shop, and it was all caught on surveillance footage.
According to Fresno Police, the department was alerted to shots being fired in the area of the smoke shop.
Detectives determined that two subjects, a male and a female, entered the store with guns to commit a robbery.
They were able to identify the two as Jasmine H. and Adrian M.
Inside the store, Adrian demanded money from the store employee. Jasmine quickly stuffed all the money into a plastic bag.
But when the two robbers tried to leave the store, they couldn’t. One of the employees had locked the door.
Adrian attempted to get the door open but couldn’t. So, he started shooting at the door.
After running out of ammo he took Jasmine’s gun and emptied that gun as well.
In total, Adrian fired 30 rounds that were completely ineffective at getting the door to open.
After firing all these rounds, Adrian threatened a store employee who gave him the keys to the door so the two robbers could escape.
According to police, a third suspect was waiting outside in a getaway car. All three suspects fled after getting out the door.
But the Fresno Police Street Violence Tactical Team was able to locate and arrest two of the suspects.
Police said they know who the third suspect is but haven’t found him yet.
The two robbers have seen too many movies where the guy with the gun shoots the doorknob and the door opens.
But can you do this effectively in real life?
For instance, maybe you are in a building and there is an emergency but the doors are locked.
I’m sure you can think of many instances where you could come across a locked door and need to get it open.
But here are some factors to keep in mind before shooting a door lock.
What could go wrong?:
If you have ever shot steel targets, then you know that you can’t be too close to the targets. If you are standing too close, the fragments ricochet and hit you.
So, when you shoot a metal door lock at point blank range, several things could go wrong – including ricocheting bullets and shrapnel.
In addition, chances are that you would simply damage the lock and it would still not open.
Also, if you shoot the lock and the bullet goes through the door you don’t know what you could be shooting on the other side.
In other words, you don’t know what your backstop is since you cannot see through the door.
Can any gun shoot through a door lock?:
Hollywood likes to portray people shooting door locks with handguns and the door easily opens.
Handguns are the least likely to be able to successfully shoot through a door lock. A 9mm or even a .357 would have a very slim chance of working.
If you were going to shoot a door lock the best option would be to use a 12-gauge shotgun.
Shotguns and large caliber rifles could do the trick.
Of course, if you were going to try this you would want to take a few steps back from the door to avoid getting hit by shrapnel.
If you were planning to shoot through a door lock, there is shotgun ammo, called breaching shotshells, specifically for doing this.
They are made for shooting locks and door hinges.
Breaching rounds fire a cup of metal power that breaks apart on impact. This is designed to reduce shrapnel.
What are the alternatives when you need to get through a locked door?:
One option when needing to get through a door is to shoot around the lock. Instead of shooting directly at the metal, you can go after the softer parts of the door.
For instance, some doors are made of cheap wood and are hollow. You could shoot around the lock to open the door.
Another option is to shoot doors near the hinges.
Again, you don’t want to directly shoot the metal. But you could shoot near the hinges to create a weak point.
Of course, the best option when needing to get through a door is to pick the lock. This is something that is a focus of trainings that I give.
Picking locks is a skill that you can become very quick with after some practice.
So, when it comes to shooting door locks, I would never try it with a handgun.
With a shotgun or high-caliber rifle, it could work, but I would do it from a safe distance.
