S11E099, Teenager Lucky To Be Alive After Being Caught During ‘Water Wars’ Game
White house moves for end of cashless bail and threats against officers. Sheriff calls for calm in Key West as leaked intel warns of Cuban drone plots. FBI puts $200K bounty on defector who fled to Iran. Sergeant and Sheriff stabbed during attempted arrest. Cop stabbed multiple times in ambush attack by suspect.
FBI Report Shows Lower Line-of-Duty Deaths but Rising Assaults
The episode opens with a discussion of the FBI’s 2025 report on officers killed and assaulted in the line of duty. Chip DeBlock explains that the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program released preliminary counts showing 53 officers feloniously killed in 2025, which was fewer than the previous two years. However, the report also showed an increase in assaults against officers, with over 90,000 reported assaults and a rate of 13.8 assaults per 100 officers. Ken Appianco says the increase in assaults is the most troubling part of the report, especially because he has observed similar concerns in active law enforcement.
Local Officer’s Role in Butler Rally Shooting Reconsidered
The show then discusses a report about Sergeant Aaron Zaloponi, a local Pennsylvania law enforcement officer honored by the NRA. According to the transcript, Zaloponi served in a local counter-assault role during the Butler rally involving President Donald Trump. Chip describes the sequence of shots and says Zaloponi fired one shot at the suspect before the Secret Service counter-sniper fired the final shot. Both Chip and Ken say they had not previously heard this version of the account, and Ken praises the officer’s reported response as outstanding, while noting that the article presents a different understanding than the one many people may have had.
Water Wars Incident Nearly Ends in Deadly Force
A major portion of the episode focuses on a Davison Township, Michigan bodycam video involving a teenager playing Water Wars with a squirt gun. The officer was responding to a 911 call involving possible suspicious activity or a burglary, and the teenager jumped out near the officer and sprayed him with water from what appeared in the moment to be a weapon. Chip and Ken both emphasize how quickly the incident unfolded and say the officer would likely have been legally justified if he had fired. They also highlight the emotional burden the officer could have faced if the encounter had ended in the teenager’s death.
Bodycam Footage and Training Lessons
The speakers use the Water Wars incident to discuss police training, body cameras, and the limits of scenario-based instruction. Ken says most officers would likely have fired in the same circumstances, given the nighttime setting, the 911 burglary call, and the sudden movement with an object in hand. Chip raises whether such a scenario could be fairly used in training, and Ken says it would not be a fair training scenario because an officer facing a real gun in that moment could be killed. They also agree that the bodycam footage is important because it shows the full context of the officer’s split-second decision.
San Diego Pen Attack Leads to Officer-Involved Shooting
The episode next covers a San Diego incident in which a woman allegedly attacked a man with a ballpoint pen and was shot by police. Chip describes the officer’s efforts to order her to drop what he believed might be a pick or weapon, while also trying to move bystanders out of the line of fire. The woman was reportedly hit at least twice but continued standing and moving, which Ken says is highly unusual compared with other shooting cases he has seen. The speakers consider the shooting justified based on the woman’s continued threat to the man she was chasing.
Firearm Preemption and Virginia Gun Restrictions
The final part of the episode turns to firearms law and political disputes in Florida and Virginia. Chip and Ken discuss Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatening personal consequences for officials after a local police department posted firearm restrictions for a public festival, with Ken explaining Florida’s firearm preemption rules. The discussion then moves to Virginia, where new restrictions on semi-automatic firearms are challenged by pro-Second Amendment groups and rejected by a local prosecutor who says he will not enforce them. Ken argues the Virginia restrictions are unlikely to survive legal scrutiny and frames them as politically motivated.
