Posted on 07/28/2005 7:50:13 PM PDT by Pharmboy
CRATER LAKE, Ore. (AP) - A camper brandished a club and threatened to kill two park rangers, then was shot dead by one of them, a park spokesman said Thursday. The man encountered the rangers as they answered a call about a domestic disturbance at a campground at Crater Lake National Park after dark Wednesday, said park spokesman Mac Brock.
When the rangers tried to talk to the man, he became increasingly hostile and wandered around the campsite despite orders to stay still, Brock said.
"Still brandishing the club, still ignoring warnings to stop, he directly approached the rangers and threatened to kill them," Brock said.
When the man came within 10 feet of one of the rangers, the ranger used pepper spray, but the man didn't stop, and the second ranger shot him twice, Brock said.
The man, whose name was withheld pending notification of next of kin, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tim Hughes and his family from San Demas, Calif., were camping nearby.
"This guy was way out of control," said Hughes, whose wife and children were inside their trailer at the time. "They did all they could to try to get the guy to cooperate, but he was just gone. I think he must have been on narcotics, because he didn't exhibit rational behavior."
The rangers remained on duty, but were not in the field. Their names were not released.
Brock said the shooting was the first he had heard of in 12 years at the park. Shootings in national parks are rare, occurring about every 10 years, said David Barna, the National Park Service's chief of public affairs in Washington, D.C.
My point is simple...they tried to stop him non-violantly. Verbally and then with what they had been issued, pepper spray. At that point there choice was either to allow him to come in close (or move close to him) to try and physically restrain him, or to shoot him.
Having a wife and kids of my own...and having a love for life...my choice would have been direct. Do not risk my life and that of others to a big guy with a lethal weapon like that club Shoot to stop.
If the perp got one of their guns or was able to otherwise incompacitate them, then the danger to those nearby would have increased markedly. I believe after what they experienced that they took the only course available to them that would ensure their own safety and the safety of others in the area. But that's just my opinion.
They call it deadly force for a reason ....if ya have to use it use it properly.
Just my opinion of course....
OK--I think my mind has changed with this situation.
Weren't Bill and Ted from San Dimas?
Usually, but not always.
Recall that Rodney King was tasered at least twice, with no apparent effect. I also knew a cop who was shot in the face by a tiny woman he had just tasered. He was extremely lucky to be alive. He described how he saw the taser thingy hit her, and he could see little blue sparks, and she should have been flattened. Instead, all the taser seemed to do was to make her more mad than she already was....
Well, that is news to me. I thought that once those electrodes landed, it was over. Thanks for the clarification, friend.
Your taught at FLETC that when you shoot you shoot to stop and at center mass. Only one agency has firing warning shots in certain situations as there agency policy and That's the secret service. All the others have a no warning shoots policy.
My son is NYPD; I'll have to ask him what they think of Tasers. It seems to be a reasonable option, but just above on this thread r9 says that they soemtimes do not work.
Taser is a welcomed addition of escalation in use of force as is physical restraint , OC spray, the PR24 ,K-9, sidearm, shotgun (lethal ammo and non-lethal bean bags, patrol rifle and SWAT....
BTW did ya tell Wendy at the Glitter Gulch I said Hi ?....:o)
Published Saturday July 30. 2005
By LEE JUILLERAT
A man who was shot to death by a Crater Lake National Park ranger Wednesday night after threatening to kill two rangers has been identified as Ronn Merl Ward, 38, of Sunnyvale, Calif.
Park officials disclosed the name Friday afternoon after locating Ward's next of kin. He had been camping with his girlfriend. Park Service officials said she was not charged with a crime so her name will not be released.
Investigations into Ward's background are continuing. An autopsy and toxicology screen were performed Friday in Medford, but results are not expected for several days.
Park spokesman Mac Brock said the investigation into the shooting death is expected to continue for several more days. National Park Service rangers and special investigators are being assisted by agents from the Oregon State Police and FBI. The crime scene, a campsite in the Mazama Campground, remains closed, but the adjacent campsites are open for use.
The incident happened after 10 p.m. when two park law enforcement rangers responded to a reported domestic disturbance at the campground located near the park's south entrance.
Brock said rangers were confronted by Ward, who was brandishing a large wooden club about 2-feet long that some have described as similar to a shillelagh, a Celtic war club, a gnarled piece of wood two to three feet long that had been worked by hand and coated with a finish.
The rangers attempted to talk and calm Ward, but they said he became increasingly hostile and argumentative, and ignored orders to stop wandering around the campsite. He then approached the rangers, according to Park Service reports and an eyewitness, wielding his club and threatening to kill the rangers.
When Ward was within 10 feet, one ranger tried to subdue him with pepper spray, but Ward, unfazed, continuing advancing. The second ranger shot Ward twice with a semi-automatic pistol. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The rangers have not been identified pending a required administrative review. Neither was injured. As required by Park Service policy, the rangers have been placed on restricted duty, which means they are not doing patrols.
Wednesday night's incident was the first major crime incident at the park since Aug. 29, 1982, when a motorist fleeing from a park ranger blew himself up with a hand grenade.
Andris Merzejaskis, 36, a native of Germany, detonated the grenade. Authorities were never completely sure whether he committed suicide or had intended to throw the grenade from his car so it would explode in the path of a vehicle driven by Alice Siebecher, the pursing park ranger. It was determined, however, that Merzejaskis' window was rolled up.
Investigators learned that Merzejaskis, also known as Andris Artus Merz, was wanted on by Texas authorities on several charges. The vehicle he was driving, which was destroyed, had been stolen from a California rental car agency. Several weapons were found inside his vehicle, including a .380-caliber automatic pistol, a bolt-action rifle and a 7.65 mm gun.
Siebecher began pursing Merzejaskis's vehicle after he was seen driving at a high rate of speed about 7 a.m. that morning. She was about 100 yards behind his car when it suddenly exploded and veered off the road.
"We don't know what happened," FBI investigator Larry Gorman said in an interview with Herald and News after the incident. "Whatever was in his head went with him ... We could speculate he committed suicide or was trying to get the ranger, however, we just don't know."
Crater Lake National Park authorities say it took less than two minutes for a California man’s encounter with park rangers to escalate from a domestic disturbance to a fatal shooting.
National Park Service authorities Friday identified the dead man as Ronn Merl Ward, 38, of Sunnyvale, a San Francisco Bay Area suburb.
Ward threatened the two rangers with a two-foot-long club that had a large knot at the end and ran through a cloud of pepper spray to within 10 feet of one ranger before he was shot dead by the other, authorities said.
"He was holding it above his head and charging toward the rangers telling them he was going to kill them," park spokesman William "Mac" Brock said Friday.
The rangers first encountered Ward at 10:08 p.m. at the trailer he was sharing with his unidentified girlfriend in the D Loop section of the Mazama Campground, Brock said.
The rangers radioed into their dispatcher at 10:10 p.m. that Ward was shot, Brock said.
"His agitation and hostility escalated very, very quickly," Brock said.
An autopsy was scheduled for late Friday at the morgue within the Oregon State Police facilities in Central Point. The results were not available Friday.
Brock declined to say whether drugs or alcohol were believed to be involved in the case, but a toxicology screen was scheduled to be part of the autopsy.
"Right now, that’s all subject to more investigation," Brock said.
Park officials Friday continued to decline to reveal the identities of the rangers, who were placed on "restrictive duty" status and were assisting in the investigation, Brock said.
National Park Service special agents and the Oregon State Police were conducting a criminal investigation. Brock said another park service special agent was conducting an administrative investigation to determine whether the use of fatal force was justifiable under park service protocols.
While officials confirmed that the ranger fired twice, Brock declined to reveal where or how many times Ward was hit.
Brock said the club was a heavy "imposing type of club" that was purchased, possibly locally.
Ward’s girlfriend was not charged with a crime and was released, Brock said.
Ward has no criminal record in Oregon, and California records were not available here Friday.
We were camping with my parents back around 1960 at Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia. It was in June and we were the only campers in the park.
We were from Florida and were surprised how cold it was on that mountain. The Ranger, actually I think he was the park manager brought us blankets, figuring we might be cold.
A couple of days later the Ranger, I remember his name was Mr. Christian, chased some guys from South Carolina around 40 miles before arresting them for vandalism.
Another time we were camping at a Corps of Engineers camp in Oklahoma. There was a bunch of high school age kids next to us literally raising hell, drinking yelling cursing etc. all night long. The next day, I mentioned it to the volunteer couple at the front gate.
The next night around 10 P.M. an Oklahoma Lake Patrol officer walked by their camp, saw what they were doing, and promptly told them to pack up and leave.
That's an excellent point, and one of the results the ACLU has "bought" is more shootings like this.
Thank you for your posts.
Published Tuesday August 2, 2005
Combined wire, local reports
Police records indicate a California man shot dead by a ranger at Crater Lake National Park last week had been arrested a year ago for allegedly pulling a knife on security guards who confronted him for shoplifting.
Ronn Merl Ward, 38, of Sunnyvale, Calif., was shot twice Wednesday night after he rushed with a club at a ranger in the Mazama Campground, authorities have said.
The National Park Service has reopened the campsite where Ward was killed, but no new information on the shooting is expected for a few days.
Park spokesman Mac Brock said lab work from an autopsy done Friday in Medford is not expected until late this week or early next week.
The National Park Service and other law enforcement agencies are continuing an investigation to determine if the ranger was justified in using deadly force.
Police records in Sunnyvale show Ward was arrested May 12, 2004, at a neighbor's house after brandishing a knife at security guards who confronted him for stealing merchandise at a grocery store. Guards notified police after noting Ward's license plate.
In a letter to the editor of the Sun newspaper in Sunnyvale dated March 30, 2005, Ward criticized the city for failing to provide enough public defenders to give people like himself proper representation. In the letter, posted on the newspaper's Web site, he wrote that he was convicted of robbery for taking some breath mints.
According to authorities and witnesses, Ward was yelling obscenities and banging around his campsite Wednesday night so that he could be heard through the trees at the evening campfire lecture in the campground, which was filled with 424 campers. A woman was in the trailer with him.
When two park rangers came to talk to him, he came out with his shirt off, but did not obey orders to raise his hands or stand still. He asked if the rangers wanted to die, then rushed at them with a wooden club. When a cloud of pepper spray did not stop him, one of the rangers shot him twice and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brock said the shooting death is the first in memory at Crater Lake.
"There aren't really any precedents for that," park historian Steve Mark said of a ranger firing or even pulling a weapon on a visitor.
Mark said there was an incident about nine years ago when a person at a campfire program pointed a loaded crossbow at the park interpreter. When challenged by a park employee, the person put down the crossbow. The crossbow was confiscated, but no arrests were made.
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