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.
Yeah, right. The old shoot the club out of his hand trick right? If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. The guy was an idiot.
Warning shots only work in the movies. When a crazed and potentially high lunatic starts coming at you and threatening to kill you, you shoot the body. You may not have another chance to put them down.
Yet another suicide by cop. Tragic for all involved.
Never bring a club to a gun fight.
Perhaps he was just high on nature.
The only justification for shooting at anyone is fear for your life or others. It's really hard to be in fear for your life if you have enough time to shoot someone in the leg or fire a warning shot. In fact, a purposeful shot in the leg means you weren't in fear for your life and were shooting for other reasons. It's a good way to get a long sentence in jail and sued for everything you own.
Police are trained to shoot to stop and to only shoot when their or others lives are in danger. The most predictable way to stop someone is two shots to the center of mass (i.e. the chest) and that's what they are trained to do. It's the easiest to hit with the highest possibility of stopping the threat.
They did fire a warning shot, 2 of them to be precise the corpse in question is a warning to the next moron.
Firing 'warning shots' or shots to wound goes against every rule of gun safety and legal precedent known to Americans.
If you're justified in pulling the triger, you're justified in killing.
Period.
End of story.
L
"If you're gonna shoot, shoot -- don't talk."
Tazer.
For your sake, I hope it's never open season on idiots.
RAMONES!!!
All the shoot to kill people on this forum can be counted on to scoff when someone suggests a warning or disabling shot in this type of situation, but that doesn't always apply, IMO. This was a domestic disturbance, and bear jockeys and camper wranglers haven't been trained to deal with this sort of thing. They brought the same prejudice to the situation as they would have if they had encounted armed poachers who would rather shoot it out than be apprehended.
Was the guy out of control? Of course. Did he deserve to get shot (wounded)? No doubt. Deserve to die? Come on. Go on a camping trip, get into a fight with your wife, and die? I don't especially blame the rangers, but I do see it as a tragic overreaction.
One man's opinion. Please respect it as I respect yours, and understand that I do not want to get into a major debate on how people in uniform should be able to meet any threat with deadly force. The way I see it, LEOs shoot too many people they shouldn't, and not nearly enough of the ones they should.
You don't shoot to kill. You shoot to stop the threat. If the threat dies, so be it.
Unfortunately, in some jurisdictions, tazers are being slammed as dangerous or lethal, so law enforcement is limited to clubs or firearms. IMHO, this is stupid considering that firearms are mostly lethal.
Don't carry a gun if you aren't willing to use it.
Don't shoot a gun unless you are willing to kill whatever it is pointed toward. In fact, don't point a gun unless you are willing to kill whatever it is pointed toward.
Rocky Mountain High!!
Far out!!
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