In the movies, the villain usually takes a person hostage by pointing
a gun at the person's head, while the villain himself is surrounded by
others pointing a gun at him. If the villain gets shot, he will shoot
the hostage with his dying breath.

Now sometimes, the good guy shoots the villain anyways, and the
hostage doesn't get hurt. My question is, can you really shoot someone
with your dying breath?

My buddies and I have a wager over this. The losers' choice of beer
has to be low-carb for the rest of the year!

Dear burnt_toast-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. As a
20+ year member of law enforcement I can comfortably say that you
cannot believe everything you see in the movies, but this particular
subject is entirely possible. The ?villain?, as you called him, CAN
certainly fire a fatal shot at his victim in his final seconds of
life, but more commonly he doesn?t always intentionally or even
knowingly fire the fatal shot as his final act based on a voluntary
response. In other words, someone pointing a gun at the head of
another stands a far greater chance of ACCIDENTALLY or INADVERTENTLY
pulling the trigger as an involuntary reflex to his own injuries
should he be shot himself.

SWAT team members, and snipers in particular, are commonly trained to
administer a ?surgical shot?, sometimes called a ?medulla shot? which
targets a specific location of the brain (ie medulla oblongata, or
cortex, a chestnut-sized part of the brain located at the top of the
spinal cord.) that enables reflexive movement. A well-placed large
caliber bullet to the lower rear side quarter of the head can sever
the organ and instantaneously render the body limp thereby preventing
an accidental discharge on the part of the villain. There will be, in
effect, no ?final breath? as you put it, nor any other movement or
physical reaction to the fatal injury. There remains, however, a
slight possibility that the force of the shot itself can, in since
instances, cause the finger to pull back on the trigger and fire a
final shot anyway, but the likelihood is still dramatically decreased
if the medulla is destroyed.

The human body responds to traumatic injury in a variety of ways; one
of which is involuntary muscle reflex. When shot, a victim often
grimaces, his eyes close briefly and his face involuntarily contorts.
This same reaction extends to the arms, hands, legs and feet ? the
hands grip, his fingers and toes curl, and knees often buckle. It is
not enough then to annihilate the head. This lost millisecond is all
it takes to allow the reflex to take place. If the medulla is targeted
specifically and effectively though, ideally the villain will drop
straight down like a sack of rocks and hits the floor right on his
bottom like someone pulled the plug on his electrical system. Most
often there will be no subsequent reflex and no accidental shot.

?There are a few spots where a well placed bullet will blow out the
back of the skull, taking out the medulla oblongata and effectively
instantly shutting down the nervous system. Such shots either are
aimed at the back of the head, or at the nose and upper lip 'triangle'
of the face. A sniper can, for example, use a Death shot and drop a
gunman
holding a hostage. Death occurs so quickly and instantly that the
gunman can't even squeeze a shot.?
DELTA GREEN DIGEST
http://www.delta-green.com/comint/dgml/v01/v01.n215

?Police snipers are trained to shoot for the cortex, a walnut-sized
part of the brain. The technique used to hit the target is to imagine
a line between the base of the ears and to seek to bisect this with
the bullet. If the organ is destroyed thus there is instant death,
without post-mortem motor responses or reflexes, preventing the felon
from initiating a device or pulling a trigger.?
WORD IQ
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Sniper

?To execute with efficiency, Ryan hailed the "head shot."
Specifically, he recommended aiming for the medulla oblongata, a
chestnut-sized part of the brain located at the top of the spinal
cord. "With a head shot [the target] won't even fart," promised Ryan,
"The body's electrical system shuts right down."
KILLER COURSE
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2002-10-31/cover.html

Enjoy your low-carb beer (or enjoy gloating over the fact that your
buddies have to enjoy theirs).

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher


INFORMATION SOURCES


KILLER COURSE
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2002-10-31/cover.html

DELTA GREEN DIGEST
http://www.delta-green.com/comint/dgml/v01/v01.n215

WORD IQ
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Sniper


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Head shot

Medulla shot

Cortex shot

Sniper

Police

Military

Sorry for the late reply. Great answer, thanks!