Springfield, Massachusetts has ranked among the more dangerous cities in America, and the Massachusetts State Police who patrol it don’t get easy nights. Around the time of this incident, the department had transitioned its troopers from .40 caliber duty guns to the Smith & Wesson M&P in .45 ACP. One night outside Springfield, that choice got tested.
The stop
According to news reports, a trooper pulled a car over for traffic violations. During the stop, the driver assaulted the trooper, and in the struggle the trooper ended up positioned in front of the suspect’s vehicle. The suspect got back behind the wheel, put the car in drive, and accelerated toward him.
Out of options and with his life on the line, the trooper fired his M&P .45 into the driver’s side of the windshield. The car missed him and rolled to a stop. The investigation found the suspect had been struck twice in the chest and didn’t survive.
The search of the vehicle told the rest of the story: two illegal handguns under the driver’s seat, both with the serial numbers filed off, and a driver with a long list of gang affiliations. The trooper went home that night. A very dangerous man didn’t get the chance to use those guns on anyone.
What this incident actually teaches
Stories like this get passed around as caliber-war ammunition, and I think that misses the point. Here’s what I take from it as a gunsmith and an FFL who talks to armed citizens every week.
First, the gun worked. Shooting through automotive glass is one of the hardest things you can ask of a defensive round. Windshields deflect bullets, strip jackets, and shed velocity, and the M&P and its .45 loads punched through and stopped the threat anyway. Quality duty-grade pistols and ammunition earn their price in exactly these moments. That’s a big part of why I tell customers to spend money on ammo they’ve actually tested, not just the gun. (If you’re curious how different calibers handle glass, I covered it in shooting through car windows.)
Second, the caliber debate matters less than people think. Massachusetts troopers carried .40, then .45, and much of law enforcement has since moved to 9mm with modern ammunition. Shot placement under stress decided this fight, not the headstamp. I’ve laid out the honest trade-offs in 9mm vs .45 ACP and what’s the deadliest 9mm self-defense round.
Third, violence arrives without an appointment. A routine traffic stop turned lethal in seconds. That’s the argument for training, for carrying a gun that runs every time, and for thinking through scenarios before you’re in one, which is the whole point of 360 degree awareness.
The takeaway
Buy quality, feed it proven ammunition, and train past the point where the fundamentals survive adrenaline. The trooper’s equipment performed flawlessly that night, but his decision-making under pressure is what saved his life.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
