Posted on 12/28/2005 12:16:15 PM PST by radar101
CARLSBAD ---- An officer-involved fatal shooting on southbound Interstate 5 Tuesday caused major traffic delays through the evening rush hour.
A police officer shot a rock-throwing suspect who charged him with a screwdriver on the right shoulder of I-5, authorities said. The man, described as possibly homeless, was shot twice in the upper torso at 1:41 p.m. just south of Carlsbad Village Drive, police Lt. Bill Rowland said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, Rowland said.
Officers initially closed all lanes of traffic, then opened the two faster lanes, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Kerns said. Traffic was backed up nearly to the county line until 7 p.m., Carlsbad police spokeswoman Lynn Diamond said. Police also closed the southbound onramps to I-5 at Carlsbad Village and Las Flores drives. Westbound Highway 78 was also backed up from Jefferson Street, she said.
Officers initially responded to a postal carrier's report of vandalism at 12:44 p.m. in the 4100 block of Adams Street, Rowland said. The postal worker said a transient, described as a black man about 23 years old, threw something like a rock at his window and shattered it, he said.
Officers started looking for the transient, and about 55 minutes later an officer got information that he was walking north on southbound I-5, Diamond said. The officer started to get out of his patrol car to talk to him and the man advanced on him, Rowland said. At 1:41 p.m. the officer reported the suspect was down and asked for an ambulance to handle gunshot wounds, Diamond said.
"The suspect charged the officer with a screwdriver in his hand. The officer told him several times to stop and retreated to the back of his patrol car," Rowland said. "When he could not retreat any more, he fired two shots striking the suspect. It all happened very quick."
Rowland said the longtime officer did not even have time to call for backup before it happened. The officer pulled up at 1:40 p.m. and a minute later was asking for the ambulance, he said.
The wounded man fell in front of the patrol car. Paramedics were on scene quickly and transported the suspect to a local trauma hospital for treatment, Rowland said. Another officer accompanied him to the hospital, he said.
Police did not release the name of the officer involved in the shooting or the name of the suspect. No one else was harmed.
Officers closed the two slower lanes to document the crime scene until 5:35 p.m., when they opened all the lanes again, but traffic remained slow until 7 p.m. At one point during the investigation, officers briefly closed all four lanes again to take photographs from the center divider, then allowed the two lanes to flow through again, Kerns said. Traffic on Carlsbad Boulevard and Coast Highway in Oceanside were also affected.
Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com.
http://www.policeone.com/writers/columnists/ForceScience/articles/113907/
MORE DISTANCE. "In reality, the 21-Foot Rule--by itself--may not provide officers with an adequate margin of protection," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, FSRC's executive director. "It's easily possible for suspects in some circumstances to launch a successful fatal attack from a distance greater than 21 feet."
Among other police instructors, John Delgado, retired training officer for the Miami-Dade (FL) PD, has extended the 21-Foot Rule to 30 feet. "Twenty-one feet doesn't really give many officers time to get their gun out and fire accurately," he says. "Higher-security holsters complicate the situation, for one thing. Some manufacturers recommend 3,000 pulls to develop proficiency with a holster. Most cops don't do that, so it takes them longer to get their gun out than what's ideal. Also shooting proficiency tends to deteriorate under stress. Their initial rounds may not even hit."
Beyond that, there's the well-established fact that a suspect often can keep going from momentum, adrenalin, chemicals and sheer determination, even after being shot. "Experience informs us that people who are shot with a handgun do not fall down instantly nor does the energy of a handgun round stop their forward movement," states Chris Lawrence, team leader of DT training at the Ontario (Canada) Police College and an FSRC Technical Advisory Board member. Says Lewinski: "Certain arterial or spinal hits may drop an attacker instantly. But otherwise a wounded but committed suspect may have the capacity to continue on to the officer's location and complete his deadly intentions."
Never bring a screwdriver to a gunfight.
Never get into a land war with a Scicilian...
Can't they just aim for the groin?..............
Why didn't the officer shoot him in the foot or leg, or just wing him? Even better, the officer should have hit him in the outer portion of his left hand just to the left of his pinky. He surely would have seen reason after that. Why does it have to be this way? Can't we all just get along?
Would that be the right shoulder of the road if you are coming, or going?
Rocks thrown onto freeway traffic can kill and maim horribly. This guy was dangerous.
"The man, described as possibly homeless"
This fact will have a huge impact on how the MSM spins this story. Remember-homeless people are better than the rest of us.
Don't be silly...that all depends on where you coming from or going to....
Suicide by cop. .40 cal much more effective than Phillips, Torx, or slot screwdriver.
"He was trying to stone me!"
"Then he tried to screw me!"
"He was coming right for me!"
"So I shot him" (works for me)
Guy shot at 1:40PM - whisked away shortly thereafter.
lanes don't open till 5:30PM.
Works equally well for a roadside vehicle fire.
But, in that case, the CHP & fire dept boys can BS w/ each other for hours while traffic idles by.
I actually over heard a guy say last night 'couldn't they just shoot him in the leg'? I did NOT attempt to converse with this individual (roll eyes).
They said the southbound 5, so presumably the coast-side right shoulder, not the inland one.
So, where was he going to and coming from when he was shot in the shoulder?
I strongly suspect (but have no real facts) that this is not the first incidence of mental instability with this guy, but involuntary committment has been made much more difficult by leftists. Had this guy been committed against his will to a mental institution and forcibly medicated, he would still be alive, and probably somewhat sane.
I think the title of this article is very indicitive of the media's attitude towards policemen. Which of the below do you think puts the police force in a better light (when, from this article, it would appear that the police acted prudently):
Police fatally shoot pedestrian on Interstate 5 in Carlsbad
OR
Carlsbad man Attacks Police with Screwdriver on Interstate 5
The article said he was going for the officer...
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