Police officer kills innocent man

[seamusTX]

In Anaheim, California, yesterday, a police officer was chasing burglary suspects through a neighborhood on foot. A resident carrying a broomstick or shower rod stepped outside to investigate the commotion. A police officer, thinking that the man had a weapon, shot him.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... 7163.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[Charles L. Cotton]

This is tragic. Target identification is critical.

Chas.

[Keith B]

I agree. Very poor judgment on the officer's part. Tragic loss of an apparently good young man.

This issue brings up a good point. Be careful running outside with a gun in your hand if you hear noises. You may become the unintended target, and a gun in hand would be more reason for an officer to think you were the threat. Sometimes it is not best to go investigate, but to set up a defense internally and call 911.

[The Annoyed Man]

A while back, my wife was convinced she heard someone climbing over the side gate into our back yard, and I went out there with a gun in hand to deal with it. Excaliber pretty well convinced me that was a mistake. As luck would have it, there was nothing there, and I went back inside. But as he pointed out to me, what if it WAS a BG, and he was being chased by the police, and an officer came over the fence after the BG, and found me in the backyard with a gun in hand. It was dark, and it was late at night. I might very well have gotten myself shot, or just as badly, accidentally shot a cop, thinking he was a BG.

That's a mistake I will never make again. Indoors, I have the tactical advantage. When I go outside, I surrender that advantage. Never again.

I feel terrible for this young man and his family. And to add insult to injury, it doesn't appear the either the officers on the scene, or those officers at the hospital to which he was transported sound like they treated the family of the man that one of their own had just killed with much deference... ...but perhaps I'm reading too much into that.

[seamusTX]

Here's an update in a different newspaper that contains more details:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/alex ... y-shooting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[longhorn_92]

A while back, my wife was convinced she heard someone climbing over the side gate into our back yard, and I went out there with a gun in hand to deal with it. Excaliber pretty well convinced me that was a mistake. As luck would have it, there was nothing there, and I went back inside. But as he pointed out to me, what if it WAS a BG, and he was being chased by the police, and an officer came over the fence after the BG, and found me in the backyard with a gun in hand. It was dark, and it was late at night. I might very well have gotten myself shot, or just as badly, accidentally shot a cop, thinking he was a BG.

That's a mistake I will never make again. Indoors, I have the tactical advantage. When I go outside, I surrender that advantage. Never again.

I feel terrible for this young man and his family. And to add insult to injury, it doesn't appear the either the officers on the scene, or those officers at the hospital to which he was transported sound like they treated the family of the man that one of their own had just killed with much deference... ...but perhaps I'm reading too much into that.

That is a very good point!

I feel for the family that lost a good man...what a tragedy!

[seamusTX]

I can't find anything on "the Google."

- Jim

[seamusTX]

Internal affairs is probably taking their time to let any potential public outrage die down.

People in LA tend to get a bit excited about police abuse, if in fact that was an unjustified shooting.

- Jim

[Purplehood]

I keep trying to remind myself not to go outside at night when I hear bumps and noises...I consider this forum a valuable tool to remind me on a daily basis of common sense things that I might otherwise disregard.

[dihappy]

So sad :( Was this at night?

[seamusTX]

1:30 a.m.

- Jim