Posted on 03/06/2006 11:13:31 AM PST by Al Gator
Off-duty officer fatally shoots man after accident and chaseBy Barbara Boyer and Jeff ShieldsINQUIRER STAFF WRITERSAn off-duty Philadelphia police officer chased a driver who collided with his car to the Willow Grove train station, then shot the man to death when he charged toward the officer early this morning, police said. Authorities did not release the names of the officer or the shooting victim. The off-duty officer, a two-year veteran assigned to the 16th District in West Philadelphia, had ended his shift at about 4:20 a.m. when an accident occurred near Wadsworth and Cheltenham Avenues in the Cedarbrook section, just south of the Montgomery County line, police said. Officer Jillian Russell, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Police Department, said authorities were still trying to confirm this morning whether the accident happened in Philadelphia or Montgomery County. The officer, in his personal vehicle when he was hit, followed the other driver to the SEPTA parking lot in Upper Moreland, where the shooting took place, police said. When the driver stopped, he got out of the vehicle and charged about 35 feet toward the officer. The off-duty officer ordered the man to stop, police said. The man reached into his waistband and the officer fired his service weapon numerous times, striking the man at least four times, police said. The shooting victim was found dead in the lot next to the officer's car. Both cars showed minor damage from the accident, police said. The dead's man car also had two bullet holes and a flat rear tire.
The rest of this story casts doubt that it might be a clean shoot.
So it's ok to shoot an unarmed person if they are just trying to fight you? Seems way too disproportionate.
1. a private citizen who was hit by a car, and followed the other driver when the driver didn't stop at the time of the accident;
2. the driver who hit the private citizen then starts charging aggressively at the citizen who had followed him;
3. the citizen has a concealed carry permit and is concerned about the aggressive nature of the person charging him;
4. the citizen warns the aggressive would-be hit-and-run driver to stop;
5. the aggressive driver charging the citizen reaches into his waistband while continuing to charge toward the citizen.
What is your advice to this citizen?
Wait and see if this aggressive person charging toward you, despite being warned to stop, is armed? Let him get to you and/or produce a weapon before taking any preemptive action? Would you be concerned that this private citizen is "armed and dangerous"?
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
An off-duty Philadelphia police officer chased a driver who collided with his car to the Willow Grove train station, then shot the man to death when he charged toward the officer early this morning, police said.
Authorities did not release the names of the officer or the shooting victim. The off-duty officer, a two-year veteran assigned to the 16th District in West Philadelphia, had ended his shift at about 4:20 a.m. when an accident occurred near Wadsworth and Cheltenham Avenues in the Cedarbrook section, just south of the Montgomery County line, police said.
Officer Jillian Russell, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Police Department, said authorities were still trying to confirm this morning whether the accident happened in Philadelphia or Montgomery County.
The officer, in his personal vehicle when he was hit, followed the other driver to the SEPTA parking lot in Upper Moreland, where the shooting took place, police said. When the driver stopped, he got out of the vehicle and charged about 35 feet toward the officer.
The off-duty officer ordered the man to stop, police said. The man reached into his waistband and the officer fired his service weapon numerous times, striking the man at least four times, police said.
The shooting victim was found dead in the lot next to the officer's car. Both cars showed minor damage from the accident, police said. The dead's man car also had two bullet holes and a flat rear tire.
Formating is my friend!
The problem I have here is this:
I know the area WELL. To get from the scene of the accident to the station, one has to drive through Cheltenham, past Cheltenham police station, (right on the road) Jenkintown, past Jenkintown police station, and Abington, past Abington police station, to Willow Grove train station. You can see Willow Grove cop shop from that parking lot.
The trip is about 5 to 7 miles. A Gazillion red lights and much traffic along the way.
Something smells a little off here.
If somebody is charging me and reaching into their waistband, I'm not sure what kind of fight they have in mind. Maybe the person is bringing a knife to a gunfight, or maybe the person intends to beat me to death, or maybe the person thinks he will take my gun and shoot me with it. Either way, I'll defend myself with whatever level of force is necessary to protect my life, limb, family, and property.
(blushes) (shuffles feet)
Wasn't me mom! Honest!!
that is one trigger happy cop, why don't they try giving people like this one bullet like Don Knotts? i don't think that this officer identified himself and since he was not in a patrol vehicle, why not call in a friend who is in a patrol vehicle to handle the situation like adults, rather than turning it into a shootout
there was a shooting in the N.Va suburbs of an 18 year old high school student by an off-duty police officer because the kids tried to skip out on the bill at an IHOP. The police officer chases them outside and starts firing into their SUV, claiming that the vehicle was heading towards him and he fired in self-defense
sometimes I don't think some police officers understand the purpose of their job
We only have his WORD that he was being rushed.
What if the guy was walking toward him to talk?
All I'm saying is, this needs more investigation.
Al, I agree...
This isn't passing the smell test. I can't put my finger on it, but I highly suspect there is MUCH more to the story that isn't being reported.
Actually, we had a case in Texas where a rather large man who got a case of road rage ran a concealed-carry permit holder off the road and started beating the guy who was still seatbelted into his driver's seat. The victim was rightfully afraid for his life, reached for and pulled his pistol and warned the assailant several times to stop before shooting him once. The assailant died at the scene. The victim who shot the man in self-defense was not charged with any crime. This was a case where it was perfectly ok to shoot an unarmed person who was "just trying to fight" him because the unarmed person could easily have literally beaten him to death before he could even get out of his car.
It needs more investigation but immediately warrants a somewhat inflammatory "(armed and dangerous)" in the title which looks a little like cop-bashing.
Yeah i've noticed that a lot of times cops escalate a situation beyond what it should be.
You said it. No witnesses? And if the guy followed him all that way, all he needed to do was take down a license plate number, and call it in.
Couldnt have been that hard.
At this point, its entirely plausible to me, that the cop was just pi*sed off, and opened up first chance he got.
Please read my post # 6.
If he was off duty, he had plenty of chances to get local help, and not lose the hit and run.
Philly cops have a small problem with the cowboy attitude.
The other option is not to follow and confront the driver of the car who left the scene of the accident. This was a fender-bender. No one was hurt (except for the guy that the off-duty cop gunned down). Although the other driver should have stopped as requird by law, under the typical "no-fault" insurance policy, the indentity of the other driver is irrelevant to the processing of the claim. The better approach would have been to call the police, report the accident with a description of the other car, and let them do their job.
Yep something ain't right and you can damn well bet the cops are covering for their fellow good buddy.
I think this may have been road rage on the part of the cop.
Cops have been given way to much power to be judge and jury over innocent lives.
The whole story whether written right or wrongly smells to high heaven.
Perhaps this officer was justified but if this had been a civilian doing this shooting late at night in a parking lot, he would be up on charges and the slant of this story completely different
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