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OK: Man Shoots Police Chief; No Charges
Gun Watch ^ | 19 January, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 01/20/2015 5:33:45 AM PST by marktwain


On 15 January, Police Chief Louis Ross was loaned a bullet resistant vest before he and other officers broke into a home in Sentinel, Oklahoma.  Ross was shot three times in the chest, and once in the arm.  Three of the bullets were stopped by the vest.  The police had no warrant for the raid.  The homeowner, Dallas Horton, was not hurt and has not been charged, and it seems unlikely that he will be.   He and his wife Esther Marie, were both interviewed.

There are many things about this case that have not been widely reported.

First, Police Chief Ross *is* the police force in Sentinel.  He is also the Chief.  It is a one man force.   He was called out of his home for the raid, according to a resident (audio recording), as he is on call 24/7.  The bomb threat was called in at 4 am.  The Chief is well thought of in the community.

Second, the police did not have a warrant.

Third, the police had the wrong house.   The bomb threat did not originate from the house,  the person who called in the threat simply said that he was Dallas Horton.  It was, essentially, a crude "swatting" that the police should have figured out.

No bombs, explosives, or bomb making materials were found, even though UPI wrote that a device was allegedly found.  From upi.com:

Law enforcement officials allegedly found an explosive device at Horton's home. Horton and his wife were arrested.
I have not found any other source that corroborated this allegation.  It also seems clear that neither Dallas nor Esther Marie Horton were arrested.  It would be interesting to know where UPI got it from.   The fact that no "bomb making materials" were found probably has more to do with the peace officers integrity than anything else.   I have seen everything from fireworks and lengths of galvanized and PCP pipe, and reloading supplies, characterized as "bomb making materials".   It is hard to find a household in rural America that does *not* have "bomb making materials* if the police are inclined to find them.

The real story is that this was a swatting.  There are three victims of this swatting incident.  Dallas Horton and his wife Esther Marie have had their lives turned upside down, came close to being killed, and have been defamed around the world.  Chief Ross was wounded in the arm.  He came close to being killed as well.

Perhaps the bomb hoaxer/swatter will be found and prosecuted.  It seems clear that Dallas and Esther Marie Horton will not be.  Knowing a bit about small town politics, I do not see Chief Ross losing his job either.    Someone at UPI should be concerned for their job, if they cannot substantiate the source for the "explosive devise", but I doubt that anything will be done.

This is another case in a series where homeowners have shot police and have been found to have been justified in doing so.  The last one was in Texas, where a Grand Jury "no billed" Henry McGee, who killed a deputy in Burleson County.

A resident of Sentinel summed it up well.  From ksmb.com:
"This is country, this ain't Oklahoma City," Jimmy Rhoades told KFOR. "You're taught from a young age that if somebody comes into your house to shoot."

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch


TOPICS: Government; Local News; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; ok; policeshot; reallyoldnews; swatting
The title could be "Swatting nearly kills Police Chief".

It is a one man deparatment, the Chief was likely briefed just before they broke down the door.

1 posted on 01/20/2015 5:33:45 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain

I don’t know how it is in other states, but small town cops in Ok are not to be trusted.


2 posted on 01/20/2015 5:41:17 AM PST by demshateGod (The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.)
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To: marktwain
The person who made the call should be tracked down and charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and other crimes as appropriate. The police chief should learn from this -

"Article the fourth... The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The Fourth Amendment is part of the supreme law of the land and is enforced by the Second Amendment even when the courts fall short in their duty to faithfully interpret the law. The police should have had a warrant, and the police should have knocked and waited long enough for the homeowner to respond peacefully.

3 posted on 01/20/2015 5:43:04 AM PST by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: marktwain

“It is a one man deparatment, the Chief was likely briefed just before they broke down the door.”........

Apparently the wrong house. Who did the “briefing”?


4 posted on 01/20/2015 5:44:01 AM PST by DaveA37
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To: marktwain

Don’t worry, gawker figured it out. It was racism again. Damn crackers

White man shoots black police chief four times and walks free

http://gawker.com/white-man-shoots-black-police-chief-four-times-and-walk-1680254831


5 posted on 01/20/2015 5:50:17 AM PST by barmag25 (Cruz 2016)
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To: marktwain

PCP pipe or PVC pipe?


6 posted on 01/20/2015 5:50:45 AM PST by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: barmag25

Maybe Dallas Horton IS lucky to be a white man.

Read about Cory Maye, black victim of a wrong address, no knock raid. Not realizing it was police breaking in, he defended his baby daughter and killed the white police chief’s son. Originally sentenced to death, later allowed to plead manslaughter, out on ten years time served.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Maye


7 posted on 01/20/2015 6:13:40 AM PST by heartwood
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To: heartwood

I would say Cory Maye got off lucky. Well in comparison with Jose Guerena. The marine veteran got 22 bullet wound and was refused medical care during a no knock SWAT raid on the WRONG house.


8 posted on 01/20/2015 6:33:34 AM PST by Tupelo (I feel more like Philip Nolan by the day)
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To: outofsalt

Good catch!

For my own-self, I prefer using a PCP pipe while installing PVC pipe and subsequently laying pipe before the wife gets home.

Journalists...what DON’T they know?


9 posted on 01/20/2015 6:34:29 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym explains the science.)
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To: Tupelo

I should have said Mr Guerena got dead from 22 bullet wounds.


10 posted on 01/20/2015 6:34:43 AM PST by Tupelo (I feel more like Philip Nolan by the day)
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To: marktwain

In all fairness, after all the hubbub, the police chief was righteous enough to admit it was a mistake and to not press charges.

I think most of us would be hard pressed to forgive someone who had just shot us four times, for *whatever* reason, even if we were in the wrong.

Hopefully in the future, this guardian angel intervention will make that police chief a lot less willing to go charging in, when a polite knock on the door followed by a calm conversation might suffice.


11 posted on 01/20/2015 6:42:09 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("Don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative." -Obama, 09-24-11)
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To: marktwain

Reported by UPI?

I thought UPI disappeared years ago.


12 posted on 01/20/2015 7:08:31 AM PST by Cyman (We have to pass it to see what's in it= definition of stool sample)
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To: Cyman

Now owned by Moon’s Unification Church.


13 posted on 01/20/2015 7:12:16 AM PST by hlmencken3 (“I paid for an argument, but you’re just contradicting!”)
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To: outofsalt

PVC pipe.

It has been corrected in the original...


14 posted on 01/20/2015 9:01:12 AM PST by marktwain (The old media must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: DaveA37; All

Apparently the wrong house. Who did the “briefing”?

My guess was that centralized dispatch from 911 went to the Sheriff’s department. A couple of deputies live in the town. They probably said “The Chief should be in on this” and called him up, waking him in the wee hours of the morning.

That is my guess. They said someone loaned him a vest just before he went in the house.


15 posted on 01/20/2015 9:04:04 AM PST by marktwain (The old media must die for the Republic to live. Long live the new media!)
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To: Tupelo

I remember a video of that. It was NM, wasn’t it? There were enough cops on that scene to hold a convention - all jockeying for space through the front door. Remarkable they didn’t shoot one another.

A shame, the whole story....


16 posted on 01/20/2015 9:55:14 AM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: Thank You Rush

Not NM - AZ!! Sorry


17 posted on 01/20/2015 9:56:19 AM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: marktwain

Must have been a guy unhappy with his Obamacare service.

Doctor Shot at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Suspect Dead
ABC News
By SYDNEY LUPKIN 1 hour ago

A doctor was shot today at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after a gunman entered the building and asked for him by name, authorities said.

http://news.yahoo.com/doctor-shot-brigham-womens-hospital-boston-suspect-dead-191329297.html


18 posted on 01/20/2015 1:13:46 PM PST by KeyLargo
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