G.C.Montgomery wrote:One Shot wrote:This is just one more reason for CHLers not to go chasing BGs down the street as this person did with her .380 Bersa. She could have been shot, the same as the NYPD cop.
I would also question a plainclothes officer chasing an apparent non-felon down the street. Maybe due to the personal connection to the vehicle?
I also agree with above speculation the officers concluded (wrongly) the person they shot was commiting a crime.
Even if it wasn't the officer's vehicle, I'd still expect the officer to chase the suspect. It's chasing the suspect with a gun in your that bugs me. Still, knowing that many cops have a habit of leaving unsecured guns in their cars, the deceased may have believed his suspect was armed. We don't know.
I do know that one report says the deceased officer died of a GSW that went in on the left side of his back, hit a vertebrae and his heart before stopping under the skin on the left side of his chest. Without seeing the incident in person, that doesn't jive with the report the deceased officer was turning toward the officer who fired. But, this is just the garbage printed in newspapers and may be totally wrong.
GM
Although the back shot may appear to suggest the shooting was unjustified, the location of the fatal wound in this case does not in fact preclude a reasonable decision to fire on the part of the officer who did so.
The news accounts relate that the deceased officer received 3 wounds: left arm, left side, and left side of back. When people are shot, they often twist their bodies in reaction to the hits before falling to the ground. This happens too quickly for the person on the other side of the engagement to react to the rapidly changing position. The result is hits on the front, side, and back of the gunfight loser.
The
sequence of the hits in this case is important: If the back shot was the last shot fired and the left arm hit was the first, the phenomenon I described may be responsible. This would especially make sense if the deceased officer was right handed. If he twisted to his left when challenged, this would have made the gun hand move in the direction of the challenging officer, and the officer who fired could easily have interpreted the motion as a threat to him.
When he fired and struck the other officer in the left arm, a twist back to the right would have been a natural response and would have exposed the left side and left back in sequence. If the reverse hit sequence (back first, left arm last) turns out to be the case, a justification defense will require significantly more explaining.
In any case, as others have pointed out, this tragic situation reinforces the fact that it is not a good idea to go running down the street with gun in hand and without readily visible law enforcement credentials prominently displayed - meaning it's never a good idea for a civilian. Even with the credentials, it's a high risk move unless done in concert and continuous communication with other readily identifiable officers who are aware of the pursuer's location and identity.
