David Norman likes to shoot things.
And he likes teaching other people how to shoot things harder.
Norman owns TruKinetics LLC. It’s a private security training firm out of Gilbert, Arizona. He used to be a Phoenix police officer. Retired in 2020 after twenty years.
During that time he fired his weapon six times on the job. Four people died. Two more were wounded.
That is a lot of blood on a badge.
Yet here he is, training the federal government’s most heavily armed paramilitary units.
The Training Biz
TruKinetics does the usual menu. Close-quarters combat. Hostage rescues. Night-vision proficiency. Explosive breaching. Sniper tactics.
The government paid them. Specifically $27,746.90 for a single year. That money funded a mandatory 40-hour course at Fort Benning. Georgia.
Over 700 agents pass through there every year. These are guys from Customs and Border Protection, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, and Enforcement and Removal Offices.
The Special Response Teams. Or SRT.
Norman told WIRED it was an “honor” working with HSI agents.
“They’re top dudes,” he said.
He wouldn’t give details. Claimed his courses didn’t involve crowd control or active shooters.
Then he accused the reporter. Said WIRED was writing a hit piece on HSI.
He didn’t really hide his methods though.
In August 2024 he posted photos to Instagram. He’s posing with 19 HSI operators. They’re inside a “kill house.” A simulated building filled with targets.
Norman looks happy.
Savage Ambitions
Norman is candid about his reputation.
In 2021 he told a podcast he was a “fucking savage.”
He admitted he hunted high-risk experiences as a cop. Said he was super aggressive. Wanted the adrenaline.
When asked if he worried about getting shot he laughed. Said he hoped a shootout happened on a Friday. That way he gets days off after the paperwork clears.
Is that a good mindset for a federal instructor?
Policy and Reprimands
Phoenix PD loved Norman.
His bosses wrote glowing reviews. Called him a boundary-pusher. Said he made their unit better.
He got commendations.
He was involved in shootings deemed “in policy.”
But he was also disciplined.
A written reprimand around 2005. An “inappropriate photo” with unidentified women while in uniform.
Another issue in 2013. He chased suspects in an unmarked car. Violation of policy.
Norman brushed it off. Said a written reprimand “is not that big a deal.”
Consider the context.
2018. Phoenix had the highest number of police shootings in the country. Twenty-three deaths in 44 incidents.
Norman shot two people that year. One died.
The Jacob Harris Case
The legal system usually sided with Norman.
Until 2019.
Jacob Harris was a robbery suspect. Police were surveilling him and his friends.
Norman and partner Kristopher Bertz tracked Harris’s car. Norman hit the car with a grappling hook to disable it. Harris sped away anyway.
They fired.
Bertz’s shots killed Harris. Norman fired four rounds. Police later found a handgun nearby.
Harris’s family sued for wrongful death.
In 2022 a judge threw out the case. Granted summary judgment for the police.
Norman calls the family greedy.
“No controversy on that shooting,” he said. “The family was looking for a payout.”
Civil rights lawyer Steve Benedetto disagreed. He called Norman’s unit “plainclothes cowboys.”
“He’s the last guy on the earth who should be training a tactical团队,” Benedetto said.
Broken Patterns
Phoenix PD isn’t just about Norman. The whole agency is under a cloud.
In June 2024 federal investigators concluded Phoenix engaged in a “pattern or practice” unconstitutional policing.
Too much lethal force. Abuse of protesters. A fabricated gang called “ACAB” used to frame critics.
A training regimen so broken it taught officers that any force counts as de-escalation. Even deadly force.
The Trump administration retracted those findings in May 2025.
No reforms needed. No court orders. Phoenix walked.
Dead in the Crosshairs
Meanwhile SRT units are causing chaos elsewhere.
They aren’t arresting dangerous gang leaders anymore. They’re used for immigration raids. Crowd control. Warrant service.
Two deaths highlight the danger.
Renee Good. Alex Pretti. Both killed in Minnesota while protesting federal sweeps.
SRT agents were implicated in both.
In Good’s case agent Jonathan Ross stood in front of her SUV. Filmed her on his phone. Then shot her four times.
Pretti was a nurse with a legally carried pistol. Agents tackled him. Disarmed him.
Then they shot him again. Multiple times.
It is unclear why.
Video doesn’t fully explain the confusion.
John Sandweg. Former acting head of ICE.
He told WIRED this shift in tactics is wrong. SRTs are meant for violent criminals. Not protesters.
“What are we doing deploying them? It’s a recipe for disasster,” Sandweg said.
Backlash followed.
High-ranking officials lost their jobs. Operations slowed down after the outrage.
But the training contracts remain. The guns remain. And the people who want to pull triggers remain eager to teach.
