Federal Way Police Department Cmdr. Kyle Sumpter could only sit and watch during this week’s episode of “Top Shot,” which airs 10 p.m. Tuesdays on The History Channel. FWPD’s finest was chosen by his opponents to sit out the “Swing Into Action” challenge, which had competitors using a Kentucky Flintlock pistol and competing in a quasi-pirate-like atmosphere.

“I was disappointed. It looked fun, it was fun, and I wouldn’t have missed,” Sumpter said.

Competitors were tasked with swinging across a 20-foot gap from a starting deck to a shooting deck. Once on the shooting deck, they had to properly load the antique flintlock pistol, then shoot jars that were hanging 30 feet downrange. Sumpter’s teammate Chee Kwan had difficulty swinging across the gap to start off the challenge. The blue team’s Greg Littlejohn struggled mightily with the proper loading technique on the flintlock, and opened the door for the red team to win the challenge.

“If we had hit our targets, we would have won. To lose it because of marksmanship, for me, that was the worst part of it. It was just sights and triggers, and we missed our targets,” Sumpter said ruefully.

The FWPD commander said the blue team’s choice to have him sit out the round was surprising, but paid off in the end. In a segment that didn’t air on Tuesday night’s episode, Sumpter noted that the flintlock expert, Russ Combs, had indicated that Sumpter and teammate Gabby Franco shot the best during the practice round. Along with that, Sumpter said it was expected that the blue team would sit Sumpter’s other teammate, Gary Shank, because he is an antique weapons expert and Civil War re-creationist.

Because of their inability to hit their targets when given the chance, Sumpter’s teammates Eric “Iggy” Keyes and Tim Trefren were forced to shoot it out to stay on the show. The two had a difficult challenge: to hit targets at varying ranges with the Heckler and Koch USP tactical .45, while walking with a moving barrier with a small opening in it. Sumpter said he felt the right competitor went home, when Keyes failed to make the grade.

“Right from the very first challenge, I could tell Iggy was not one of our strongest shooters,” he said. “He did not step up and show us the skills during the competition. The right person went home.”

“Top Shot” airs 10 p.m. Tuesdays on The History Channel. For more information and online extras, visit www.history.com.

To read last week’s report on Sumpter’s progress and a crossbow challenge, click here.