Posted on 02/19/2012 10:16:11 AM PST by Altariel
By AUDREY BARNES/myfoxdc
CULPEPER, Va. - Investigators are trying to figure out what led to a police shooting that killed a 54-year-old woman in Culpeper.
A telephone pole on North East Street is where police say the confrontation between Patricia Cook and a five-year veteran of the Town of Culpeper Police Department ended.
Ironically, it began about 75 yards up the street outside of the church Cook attended. And if you had to pick a person least likely to be shot and killed by police, the victim's next door neighbor said it would be Patricia Cook.
“She’s always talked really nice, and always smiling and laughing with you,” said Robin Herndon, a neighbor of Cook’s. “It’s just a shock.”
Investigators say she was shot and killed by a Culpeper Police officer responding to a call about a suspicious person at around 10 a.m. Thursday.
“Some sort of altercation took place and some shots were fired. The vehicle ended up traveling south on North East Street about 75 yards and ended up striking a telephone pole,” said Town of Culpeper spokesman Wally Bunker.
After the initial shots, witnesses said Cook drove her Jeep up North East Street, taking out a street sign before hitting the light pole. There are unconfirmed reports from witnesses that the officer fired more shots as Cook tried to drive away.
Instead, Herndon says Cook, a petite woman with blond hair always in a neat bun, didn't have children of her own, so she would make gifts for her neighbor's children, and always took the time to say hello.
Virginia State Police are in charge of the investigation now. The officer is on paid administrative leave.
Police have not said how many times Cook was shot or what might have prompted the officer fire his weapon.
BWHWWHAHHAAHHAHAH, I think the irony in your post escapes you.
someone, anyone, please tell me what car window goes up so fast, ppwer window or hand crank, that one wouldn’t be able to get your hand/arm out of it before it got shut on you?
“Police say the officer repeatedly asked her to stop but the car kept going.”
That smells on the face of it. He’d be off his feet in seconds and not in much of a position to do anything.
Unless they can prove she was clinically nuts and/or on drugs, this stinks.
There are many additional details in this article concerning the investigation, autopsy, the firearm, etc...
http://culpepertimes.com/news/2012/feb/15/investigation-ongoing-fatal-shooting-officer-patri/
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller described Monday what is involved when the State Police step in for an investigation.
“In this case, we were asked by a local agency for assistance,” said Geller.
“This will be a comprehensive investigation conducted by a police shooting investigation team which has been dispatched to handle this case. These teams are made up of more veteran investigators who will be looking at a variety of things from interviews to forensic testing.”
So which arm was caught in the window—the left? The cop was running backwards when he drew his gun from the right side and shot the woman? Sounds improbable.
Do you remember the guy at Costco who was murdered by a cop? Or the Indian guy in Seattle who was, also? The trend seems to be if you are a law-abiding citizen minding your own business the cops have more than enough justification for gunning them down based up what they feel or believe and not what the facts are. The cops now see the citizens as the enemy.
if the eyewitness is true
the cop is lying
the story reads like an assassination
query: does 22lr penetrate a vest at close range?
Yes. I do.
He never claimed the policeman was drug anywhere.
He changed his story.
http://wusa9.com/news/article/190763/188/Va-State-Police-Say-Kris-Buchele-Of-Culpeper-Changed-His-Story-About-Officer-Involved-Shooting
So did you bother to check into the background of the "eyewitness"? Did the media? It's very easy. Just go to the Virginia Court website and do a name search.
Oh look! What do we find when we look in both Culpeper and Winchester Criminal Courts?
GC10000762-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER MICHAEL 06/16/2010 02:30 PM ASSLT: ON LAW ENF/DOC PERSON
GT10000763-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER MICHAEL 06/16/2010 02:30 PM RD-GENERALLY-MISD
GT10000764-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER MICHAEL 06/16/2010 02:30 PM DRIVING OVER FIRE HOSE
GT09001232-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER MICHEAL 04/13/2009 09:00 AM DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT GENERALLY
GC07008706-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER M. 09/19/2007 10:30 AM BREAK AND ENTER
GC07008707-00 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER M. 09/19/2007 10:30 AM POSSESS CONT. SUBSTANCE
CR07000266-01 BUCHELE, KRISTOPHER M. 09/21/2007 9:30AM POSSESS HEROIN
Hmmmmmmm. Wonder why the media left that out?
The cop's claim that she rolled up the window and drug him down the street is undoubtably a lie. Absolutely no doubt about that unless they can prove she is a crazed meth addict, which I am sure they are working on now.
Look at the way that the rounds are spread out in the pictures. Fits perfectly with being dragged.
We do not automatically discount everthing a government person says unless it is an obvious lie as in this case.
What evidence do you have? Oh wait, none. Just your ignorant ramblings.
Investigation Continues Into Officer-Involved Shooting
Dash Cam 'not working'. Blue light not turned on
Why do you defend the killing of this woman so hard? Are you so anxious to see innocent people summarily executed?
Why do you wish to see an officer crucified? What would you do if you were being dragged down the street?
BTW: Dragging an officer is not “innocent”. Further, when you have an eyewitness who is caught lying about what happened, then those who want to crucify the police officer and the media have a duty to do due diligence on said “eyewitness.”
Nobody is a convicted drug addict either until they've been busted for the first time.
State police say he's changed his story...but I see no details.
He says he has not changed his story.
~~~~~
The Culpeper town spokesperson says the officer's cruiser did have a video camera, but that it was not working. He also said the officer did not turn on his blue lights. If he had, it would've been a sign that he was detaining the person, says attorney and former Fairfax County Police officer Ted Sibert . If the person is not being detained, she should be free to go, Sibert says.
"What is he investigating? if its just for we call a suspicious person, then he doesn't have jusification to use force to maintain the contact. So if the person wants to roll the window up, they can. He can't be sticking his hand in the window or pulling someone out of the the car or open the door. Those all need justification," Sibert says.
Sibert says that before an officer tries to stop or detain someone, he needs reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is about to occur. Trespassing is not sufficient, especially if the person is trying to get off the property. Furthermore, to charge someone with trespassing, you'd need proof the person knew she was trespassing. Was it clearly marked? Did the property owner tell the person to leave?
Sibert says if the officer did put his arm in the window, he needs to have reasonable suspicion a crime was committed or about to be committed. Virginia State Police have said nothing about why the officer was detaining Cook in the first place,or, in other words, why he was putting his hand in her window, if in fact that's what he did.
This officer took a situation where a good middle aged woman was sitting in a parking lot causing no harm to one where she died from gunshots.
All for no reason.
“Wow, that is pretty chilling. So everyone in America, even with a perfect record, is a cop killer until proven not to be one.”
No, everyone is a cop killer who just hasn’t been arrested yet. Cops don’t need to prove anything to anyone.
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