Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 07/08/2014 7:08:32 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
Surely thou jest:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3088535/posts#24
And where have you been.
A lot of people have been on this thing from the start, including myself, while you were probably handing him kleenexes.
Do you??
I’m siding with the cop on this one.
Very difficult to make that split second decision and my recollection was the toy had been altered and first impression is it’s a semi-automatic AK.
(Flame suit and retardent being donned now)
Claims from a plaintiff’s attorney in a civil case? You have got to be kidding. You need to look up who their attorney is. A low life that makes Al Sharpton’s Tawana Brawley claims look credible.
Fact: Deputies are called to the scene because of a report of someone with a gun threatening people.
Fact: Dangerous neighborhood rife with dealers and gang members.
Fact Perp in gang colors.
Fact: Replica weapon modified to look like the real thing.
Fact: Deputy is an Iraq vet who has demonstrated himself under fire and has seen plenty of AKs in use.
Fact: People told Lopez the deputies were coming.
Fact, Lights and siren on. No matter what country you are from you know what that means.
Fact: The wounds are consistent with the story that Lopez spun about being hit in the side first, not his arm, indicating his arms were raise as in the firing position, then he was struck in the front as he spun. Given the rate of fire he was spinning fast.
Nothing a Civil lawyer says has to be fact. They work on perponderance of the evidence. The DA operates on reasonable doubt. Criminally, the DA did not have enough evidence to prosecute.
Even that is no guarantee
Fact: Kid walking into a park where the kids regularly play with toy guns.
Fact: Kid wearing multi-colored clothes and a hoodie that was down.
Fact: Cop mistakes toygun for real thing and shoots before he can be sure even though he has taken cover behind his car where he is safe.
Fact: Deputy is an Iraq vet who has never fired his weapon on duty except to shoot himself in the foot.
Fact: People told Lopez there was a police car behind him but since he was doing nothing srong and carrying nothing illegal he kept walking.
Fact: Lights and siren on. No matter what country you are from you know what that means.
It means stop and turn around and see why they are on -- which is exactly what he did. How do you think he was able to hear any command over the sirens and lights???
Fact: He was shot in the right side and right hip meaning he did not get anywhere near turned around.
10 seconds from the call to dispatch to a dead 13 year old with 7 shots in him -- Is that okay with you????
Really? That sounds like an incredibly subjective law. And a stupid one at that.
Honestly I could go either way on this one.
From other accounts of the story I’ve read, the guy is a decent cop and was very remorseful about the shooting.
On the other hand, restraint is paramount in his profession, especially when your ‘on the job equipment’ is a deadly weapon...and it looks like there may have been a major lapse in judgement that got a kid killed.
The main problem I have in these cases is that there is never...NEVER any recourse for the family and literally the cop is back on the street by the next day, even in the case of what looks like a tragic accident such as this.
In these cases, they at least need to send the officer back through firearms training and possibly a few other ‘classes’ to learn how to better handle dangerous situations in future duties.
This never happens of course, because such classes don’t exist. Cops AND DA’s seem perfectly fine with the status quo of shoot first, and will go out of their way in some cases to smear the victim and protect their own at all costs. Citizen safety or perception be damned.
Hence my shiny new graphic.
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3177258/posts
“Why’d you shoot him 44 times?”
“Ran out of ammo.”
I got the same problems.
They are shielded from any personal responsibility. I don’t think that makes better LEO’s.
It makes them inferior to what they should be.
No doubt this cop is now an alcoholic. I would be and honestly, who knows if he hesitates next time and someone innocent dies as a result.
Considering the attention this case is getting, I would think that if the officer broke a law regarding identification, then somebody would have cited that law by now.
I looked at those pictures of the actual “gun” and a real AK-47, and I could not tell the difference without several minutes of study. In a situation, in the open, gun barrel heading toward me. The policemen did the right thing, the kid and his parents were stupid.
The worst this could be is “death by cop”, the best is just a stupid kid running around scaring people with his modified toy.
He said he wasn’t sure if he identified himself or not — so you know that it was an issue.
The question is: Was he equally unsure about what else came out of his mouth and when?
Was it before or after or during those 10 seconds when he also had the siren blaring and the lights flashing???
And what does he think the kid heard that made him turn around — the blaring siren that everyone heard or the cop’s words that he is not sure he said???
I’m sure he will have an answer in time for discovery for the civil trial.
Anyone remotely familiar with firearms can tell the difference.
But for all those who can’t see the difference perhaps a warning label should be placed on all your Pop Tarts:
“Danger: Chewing this pop tart into the shape of a gun may be get you shot”.
“Cops are too jumpy these days”
The way things are going they are going to get a lot jumpier soon. :-)
As far as discovery goes in the civil trial, it's a big assumption to say it will get as far as discovery.
I remember that Gelhaus had a ... history. Plus, he posted something really bloodthirsty on some cop forum. I can’t find it now. Do you remember what that was?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.