Shootout

A shootout is a gun battle between armed groups. A shootout often, but not necessarily, pits law enforcement against criminal elements; it could also involve two groups outside of law enforcement, such as rival gangs. A shootout in a war-like context (i.e. regularly constituted armed forces or even guerrilla or insurgent forces) would usually be considered a battle (depending on size), rather than a shootout. Shootouts are often portrayed in action films and western films.

Famous shootouts in the United States and territories

The Greatest Shootout in the West

On December 19, 1854, while trekking on a miner's trail in along the North Fork of the American River, Dr. Bolivar Sparks, James McDonald and Captain Jonathan Davis were bushwhacked by an international band of bandits. The bandits, a Frenchman, two Americans, two Englishmen, four Mexicans and four Australians, had recently robbed and killed four American miners on December 18, 1854, and six Chinese miners on December 17, 1854. McDonald was killed instantly, and Dr. Sparks was fatally wounded, however Captain Davis, an Army veteran, pulled out both of his pistols and killed seven of the bandits in quick order. Out of bullets, Captain Davis, an expert fencer, pulled out his Bowie knife and killed four more of his attackers. The surviving bandits fled for their lives. The shootout was witnessed by a group of miners, who buried the bodies of the dead.

Shootout!

Shootout! was a documentary series featured on The History Channel and ran for two seasons from 2005 to 2006. It depicts actual firefights between United States military personnel and other combatants. There are also occasional episodes dedicated to police or S.W.A.T. team firefights, as well as Wild West shootouts. It also now has a feature of downloading and playing a first-person shooter, developed by Kuma Reality Games, detailing some of the battles. The battles include skirmishes from World War II, the Vietnam War, and the ongoing War on Terror in Afghanistan and during the 2003-2010 Iraq War. Season 1 was produced for The History Channel by Greystone Communications and Season 2 was produced by Flight 33 Productions. The series was created by Dolores Gavin (History Channel) and Louis Tarantino.

Season 1 Episodes

Penalty shootout

The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to penalty shots in that a single player takes one shot on goal from a specified spot, the only defender being the goalkeeper. Teams take turns, with the one with the largest number of successful goals after a specified number of attempts being the winner. If the result is still tied, the shootout usually continues on a "goal-for-goal" basis, with the teams taking shots alternately, and the one that scores a goal unmatched by the other team is declared the winner. This may continue until every player has taken a shot, after which players may take extra shots, until the tie is broken, and is also known as "sudden death".

Rationale

A penalty shootout is normally used only in "no ties allowed" situations (for example, a tournament where the losers must be eliminated) and where other methods such as extra time and sudden death have failed to determine a winner first. It avoids the delays involved in staging replayed matches in order to produce a tie-break. A common complaint about penalty shootouts is that they only determine the better team in the one, rather narrow, discipline of taking penalty shots, rather than fairly determining the better team in overall play.