Vicksburg police policy limits use of firearms to times when there is risk of death or injury, not to stop a vehicle leaving the scene of a burglary.

Police Chief Tommy Moffett said that provision of the department’s standard operating guidelines will weigh in the investigation of a Saturday incident in which veteran officer Virgil Woodall shot out a tire of a Warren County Sheriff’s Department vehicle.

“The investigation is not complete, but based on speaking with Sgt. Woodall and the information that I have at this point, it would appear that the use of the weapon was in conflict with our policy,” Moffett said.

The operating guide, or SOG, is a fixture in police training, and is almost uniform nationwide.

It lists only three times when an officer can use deadly force such as firing a weapon. Those times are: