A confrontation between a West Mobile man and a sheriff's deputy turned deadly

WKRG News ^ | Mar 26, 2004 | Gabe Caggiano

[GrandEagle]

A confrontation between a West Mobile man and a sheriff's deputy turned deadly this afternoon. Investigators say the deputy shot 41 year old Jimmy Booth in Booth's front yard. It happened on Peachtree Avenue around three o'clock.

Investigators say Mobile County Chief Deputy Mark Barlow fatally shot booth after Booth charged Barlow with two knives. But neighbors question whether lethal force was necessary.

"You don't go to a gun fight with a knife, and it seem like they could have shot him in the knees, they could of you know why shoot him two times in the chest," says neighbor Judy Blaydoe.

"Deputies were on the scene where there was an emotionally disturb person. While on the scene handling that situation the subject attacked one of the deputies, he did attack him with some rather large knives. The deputy retreated, but the deputy did fire," says Police Chief Sam Cochran.

The police department and the sheriff's department are investigating the case.

[GrandEagle]

You don't go to a gun fight with a knife, and it seem like they could have shot him in the knees
Interesting what people think.

[stylin_geek]

Shoot him in the knees? Yeah, okay, and while I'm at it, I'll shoot the fly off of his ear.

[holymoly]

Clear front sight
Center mass

[GrandEagle]

We were just talking about this stuff the other day. The guy that was shot is the twin brother of a friend of mine. What the article didn't mention is that this officer had talked him out of suicide once before. It also didn't mention that the officer tried to get away and was cut doing so before he shot.
Fortunately tis one was ruled a "suicide by police", but I'm sure that is little consolation to the officer.
I had no idea this kid of stuff happened so often.

[GrandEagle]

They OBVIOUSLY haven't been to the shooting range or they are a much better shot than I am!
Under high stress and duress and you going to try and shoot him in the knees?? - right.

[GrandEagle]

Fortunately tis
That would be this
idea this kid of
this kind
Note to self: CHECK THE SPELLING!

[SLB]

They OBVIOUSLY haven't been to the shooting range or they are a much better shot than I am! Under high stress and duress and you going to try and shoot him in the knees?? - right.

How about shooting the knives out of his hands? Maybe just wing him in the finger slightly? Hitting him in the knee might keep him from walking, hitting him in the hand and the worst is no longer being able to pick his nose with that finger.

[americanSoul]

Shoot him in the knees? Yeah, okay, and while I'm at it, I'll shoot the fly off of his ear.

Exactamundo.

What should the deputy have done, use a knife himself so the confrontation would be "fair"?

You charge a police officer with deadly weapons, expect to be shot in the centre of mass, most probably repeatedly.

[Mad Dawg]

Here's a thought - actually a couple of 'em:

1) We can blame this kind of claptrap on the anti-gun culture. Because people don't have much contact or experience with guns, they think that all it takes is a little practice to become a gunpoweder William Tell. They understand neither what people nor what pistols are capable of.

2) People, because they have such weird notions about firearms, think that LEO's clearly have the time to develop almost super-human skills of marksmanship. They don't realize that MOST LEO's are never in a situation where shooting is required and that many of us aren't compensated for time we spend practicing at the range -- while we are expected to know a whole huge bunch of other stuff.

Ignorance of firearms and ignorance of the basics of Law Enforcement (I've been guilty of both) lead to a lot of very silly thinking.

[GrandEagle]

Ignorance of firearms and ignorance of the basics of Law Enforcement
Very good points!

[GrandEagle]

Yep!
This one is bad all the way around. No winners.
The guy was disturbed - he really wasn't a nut or anything like that - just very depressed. He had decided to commit suicide and used the poor officer to do it.
The officer came trying to help. Probably excited that he may be able to help this man once again. He tried to get away and couldn't and ended up killing the guy he wanted to help.
He will probably never get over it.
My friend (his twin sister) and his immediate family saw it all unfold. They know that the officer had no choice, but keep playing the "what if we had just ...." game over and over in their head. They will never get over it.

[HELLRAISER II]

I agree and I don't care if the guy's retarded or not. You charge a cop with knives, you take your life into your own hands. He made a decision and it was a bad one, just one less dumb@ss for us to have to deal with.

[GrandEagle]

just one less dumb@ss
I don't think there was anything dumb about it. A bit selfish, with no regard to his family of the officer, but not dumb. He had decided to kill himself and used the officer to do it. It turned out just like he planned.
You point is well taken though.

[GreenLanternCorps]

"How about shooting the knives out of his hands? Maybe just wing him in the finger slightly? Hitting him in the knee might keep him from walking, hitting him in the hand and the worst is no longer being able to pick his nose with that finger."


You know, if you shot him in the belt buckle, had the ricochet unzip his fly, then his pants would fall down and trip him...



"(shoot) him in the knees"

Give me a break...

[SLB]

"How about shooting the knives out of his hands? Maybe just wing him in the finger slightly? Hitting him in the knee might keep him from walking, hitting him in the hand and the worst is no longer being able to pick his nose with that finger."

I forgot to turn on the sarcastic indicator for my post.

[ampat]

That's right. And I'm going to start making and selling center knee mass targets to police departments.

[GrandEagle]

making and selling center knee mass targets to police departments
LOL! Probably make a mint!
I think MADDAWG said it right...it's just ignorance.

[GrandEagle]

You know, if you shot him in the belt buckle, had the ricochet unzip his fly, then his pants would fall down and trip him...
I can just see the training film on that one! LOL!

[Cap'n Crunch]

Sorry to hear about your friends brother.

The media as a whole doesn't like the po-po and they usually always only print a part of the story. And it's usually not the cops side of the story.

All part of the game I suppose.

Hope your friend pulls through OK.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

"You don't go to a gun fight with a knife, and it seem like they could have shot him in the knees, they could of you know why shoot him two times in the chest," says neighbor Judy Blaydoe.

More ignorance from the anti-gun school of education.