SEPT 2026. Blues Vol 42 No.9

AROUND THE COUNTRY

AROUND THE COUNTRY TACOMA, WA. The training behind Officer Chris Munn’s calm under fire. By Lt. Dan Marcou, REPRINTED FROM POLICE1 Thousands of officers have viewed footage of Officer Chris Munn in the midst of a gunfight, exhibiting extraordinary calm during this deadly encounter. It leaves viewers reasonably asking: “How did he do that?” To understand the how of it, you have to hear the story of Chris Munn. This is not just a story about one officer’s composure under fire. It is a reminder that calm in a crisis is rarely accidental. It is built long before the call comes, through training, mental rehearsal and repeated exposure to high-risk decision-making. You might say Officer Chris Munn was born into the profession. His grandfather, mother and father all served as Miami-Dade police officers. Chris said, “The thought of being a police officer was always there. After all, it was the family business.” After attending Lander University in South Carolina and serving four years in the Navy as a gunner’s mate aboard the USS Vella Gulf, Munn began his law enforcement career as a deputy sheriff in Greenville, South Carolina. He said he knew the career was for him after serving three and one-half years as part of a 40 The BLUES SEPTEMBER ‘26 great team of night shift officers as enthusiastic as he was about getting drugs, guns and criminals off the street. As much as he loved policing in Greenville, he and his wife chose to move closer to her parents, who lived in Seattle. He took a position with the Tacoma Police Department, where he became a field training officer and SWAT team member. Tacoma’s emphasis on training suited him well. As a SWAT operator, he received as much as 400 hours of training annually. AUGUST 28, 2022: THE CALL On the day of the incident, Chris was working a special assignment. He was part of an effort to deter crime through an increased police presence. He said the day was a beautiful August day before its peace was disturbed by a violent parolee. At 2:20 p.m., Officers Jose Figueras and Zachary Hobbs received a 911 report of a domestic violence assault. They contacted a complainant, who reported that a recent prison releasee, Peter Collins, had assaulted him. Collins was now in a home where guns were available to him, vowing never to be taken back to jail.

WATCH: Officer Chris Munn’s calm under fire. The video above shows the portion of the incident that left many officers asking the same question: How did he stay so calm? Munn credits that composure not to instinct, but to years of training, stress inoculation and mental preparation. The complete footage of the incident is available later in this article. The complainant showed the officers security camera footage of the assault. As the officers reviewed the footage, Collins came out of the house and Figueras called to him, but the suspect refused to comply and went back inside. Figueras called for additional officers and officers positioned themselves strategically around the house. At 3 p.m., Collins exited the house and walked to a car parked in the driveway, once again refusing commands shouted to him. He retrieved items from the car and went back into the house. Shortly thereafter, he opened fire at Figueras, who returned fire from cover. Figueras reported, “Shots fired,” and shortly thereafter Collins bolted from the house, firing and running from the scene armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 short-barreled .223-caliber rifle. OFFICER MUNN ARRIVES IN THE AREA Officer Munn was monitoring the channel and when the suspect went mobile, he headed into the area. Officer Munn said, “I was very familiar with the area because I had worked it in the past.” Munn said, “I started heading toward the scene with lights and siren, but as I got close I shut down my siren.” I asked Munn what was going through his mind throughout the incident and he was clear on the fact: “My mind was always focused on the incident. On the way to the scene I was forecasting,” a mental process to picture and prepare for all eventualities at the scene. “This one was easy to forecast because it seemed likely this call was going to end with a gunfight, so I prepared mentally for one.” After listening to transmissions, Chris pulled to a stop in a location where he surmised the fleeing suspect would have to come out. Shortly thereafter, a man appeared on foot whom he thought could be the suspect. Chris said he moved to remove his SWAT-issued, 11-and-a-halfinch Aero Precision .556 rifle with an unmagnified red dot sight. While in the process of doing this, he was fired at repeatedly. The BLUES - SEPTEMBER ‘26 41