American sniper Chris Kyle: Ex-SWAT sniper defends Hollywood's story of sharpshooter as 'It's about the lives saved, not those taken'

Michael Plumb, who once shot the gun out of a suicidal man’s hand, said the film shows ‘why we do what we do’

American Sniper showed 'why we do what we do,' a former sniper has said

A former American SWAT sniper has come out in support of Hollywood’s portrayal of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s life, claiming the film American Sniper is about the lives saved, not those taken.

Michael Plumb, who became a celebrity in Ohio after he shot the gun out of the hand of a suicidal man 22 years ago, told the Columbus Dispatch that the film demonstrated the real role of snipers.

“The point of that film is not about the number of people he killed, but it’s about the lives he saved. That’s why we do what we do,” he told the newspaper.

Bradley Cooper as Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in American Sniper

Plumb was a marine in Vietnam before he joined the Columbus Police SWAT team, where he gained praise for his skills as a sharpshooter by preventing the suicide of a man and the potential injuries of others.

In 1993, after a two hour stand-off between police and Doug Conley, a man who was sat with a .38-caliber revolver pointing at his chin while making demands to see his ex-girlfriend, Plumb ended the situation by shooting the gun clean out of Conley’s hand, breaking it into three pieces.

“That was a great shot,” Conley said as he was handcuffed by police, the newspaper reported.

Eddie Ray Routh, pictured here in an undated police booking shot, is accused of killing sniper Kyle (Reuters)

Kyle’s story as the man with the most confirmed “kills” in the American forces has been hotly debated by both the left and the right, with people such as Bill Maher calling American Sniper a work that glorifies a “psychopath patriot”, while governor Gregg Abbott recently declared that 2 February will be known as “Chris Kyle Day” in the state of Texas.

The tale of the American sniper has reached new levels this week as the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, the man who stands accused of murdering Kyle, has formally begun in the state of Texas.