Let's Meet the Experts
Roy Bryson, Chief Firearms Instructor & K9 Ivan
Roy served for over 30 years in law enforcement, including 23 years on SWAT. Roy was an FBI trained & certified Firearms Instructor for 23 years, where he trained all police personnel in the use of pistols, shotguns, and carbines. In May of 1989, Roy was appointed to his department's SWAT Team. While on SWAT, Roy was responsible for training team members with the use of pistols, shotguns, sub-machine guns, machine guns, and sniper rifles. His SWAT Team later merged with seven other SWAT Teams in the region, making it one of the largest regional SWAT Teams in California and possibly in the US. Roy served in the following positions: Assault Team Member, Sniper, Rappelling Master, Assistant SWAT Team Leader, Assault Team Leader, and Sniper Team Leader. Due to his Sniper Team's outstanding reputation, Sniper Teams from other SWAT Teams in the region requested to train with Roy and his snipers. Roy was responsible for training possibly the largest group of SWAT Team Snipers in the country. Roy also received his SWAT Team Member certification from the FBI. Roy has been teaching advanced firearm skills and tactics since 1989 (34 years).
Nick Gottuso, Lead Firearms Instructor
Nick retired as a Police Captain with over 30 years of police service, including 17 years on SWAT. He was an FBI trained & certified Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor at his police department for over 20 years. As a member of SWAT, he served as an Assault Team Member, Sniper, Assault Team Leader, SWAT Team Commander, Sniper Team Commander, and Senior Commander of the largest SWAT Team in California, which he co-founded. Nick has competed in Police Pistol Combat matches statewide and has participated in other shooting sports competitions since 1976. He continues to teach school staff and police officers in Violent Intruder Tactics. Nick has been providing advanced firearms instruction since 1984 (39 years).
Andy Jurow, Senior Firearms Instructor
Andy has well over 30 years of experience in Law Enforcement. Andy was an FBI trained & certified Firearms Instructor for his agencies for over 20 years. He was on the Daly City SWAT Team as an Assault Team Member for 7 years. Early in his career, he was selected as a SWAT member of the very elite Emergency Services Detail of the Los Angles County Sheriff's Department. After rigorous training in 1994, he became a police firearms instructor. He trained all police personnel in the use of pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns. In 1996 he implemented a program for municipal police to carry submachine guns in their patrol vehicles. Andy has extensive training with pistols, shotguns, carbines, submachines, machine guns, and sniper rifles. He also has advanced training in safety techniques in addition to first aid and CPR.
Jerry Peters, Senior Firearms Instructor
Jerry served 30 years in Law Enforcement, including nearly 28 years on SWAT. Jerry became an FBI trained & certified Firearms Instructor in 1983. He was his department's Senior Firearms Instructor and was responsible for designing all firearms qualification courses for both police and SWAT personnel. Jerry also mentored all other firearms instructors. In 1981 he joined the SWAT Team and served as an Assault Team Member, Sniper, Rapel Master, Assistant Assault Team Leader, and Assistant Sniper Team Leader. The knowledge Jerry possesses regarding firearms, ammunition, and most other aspects of shooting is rarely equaled. Jerry is well respected in the tactical community and is known as the "go-to person" for most firearms-related questions. His wealth of knowledge is still an asset to local sniper teams during their continuous rifle training. He has been an avid hunter for most of his life and reloads ammunition as a hobby. Jerry has 4 years of military service in the USMCR (Marine Reserves) and the ARNG (Army Reserve National Guard). Both his Police Firearms Instructor certificate and his SWAT training were obtained through the FBI.
Sam Shabatura, Senior Firearm Instructor
Sammy spent 37 years in Law Enforcement, including 24 years on the SWAT Team. Three of us worked on the same Regional SWAT Team as Sam for two decades. Sam was a respected supervisor on the SWAT Team for 15 years. He was a sub-machine gun instructor for 14 years. Sam received his SWAT Team training from the FBI. We are pleased to have added Sammy to our training group of SWAT Team Experts in 2020.