Autopsy: 110 rounds shot at Fla. suspect (my kind of justice)

Yhayoo ^ | 9/30/06 | AP

[AZRepublican]

LAKELAND, Fla. - Officers fired 110 rounds of ammunition at the man suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy, according to an autopsy and records released by the sheriff's office Saturday.

Angilo Freeland — who was suspected of fatally shooting the deputy after being pulled over for speeding Thursday — was hit 68 times by the SWAT team members' shots, the examination showed.

He also was suspected of wounding a deputy and killing a police dog.

Freeland's death ended a nearly 24-hour manhunt that forced schools to lock down and families to stay indoors as about 500 officers scoured the woods.

The wounded deputy had pulled Freeland over for speeding and became suspicious of his identification. The suspect got nervous and bolted into the woods, officials said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he was not concerned by the number of shots fired.

"You have to understand, he had already shot and killed a deputy, he had already shot and killed a K-9 and he shot and injured another deputy," Judd said by phone Saturday. "Quite frankly, we weren't taking any chances."

Ten SWAT officers surrounded Freeland on Friday as he hid beneath brush and a fallen tree in a rural area. Authorities say he raised the gun belonging to the deputy he had killed, prompting nine officers to fire.

"I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had," Judd said. "We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."

The SWAT officers who shot Freeland have been placed on paid administrative leave, standard procedure in all police shootings.

Also released Saturday were autopsy results for the deputy, Vernon Matthew Williams, 39, which showed he had been shot eight times. He was not wearing a protective vest, but shots hit him in his right leg and behind his right ear, among other places.

Diogi, his German shepherd police dog, was also killed. The dog had been shot once in the chest.

Authorities said deputy sheriff Doug Speirs, also 39, was fired at several times and shot once in the leg. A sergeant and an officer from the Lakeland Police Department were also fired at, authorities said.

[DocRock]

Ping to my Post 200

Feel free distribute.

[Teacher317]

And "excessive use of force" would be... ?

[subterfuge]

Have any details about the perp come out?

Was he illegal?

His record?

[roaddog727]

Was there anything left upon which to conduct the autopsy?

Pity that all 110 rounds didn't hit - then even more $ could have been saved as a autopsy would definitely not been necessary. only hamburger.

[DocRock]

Sheriff Grady Judd said that they found his "note book" with drug dealing records. The Sheriff said that there would be an intensive effort to apprehend all of his contacts he had listed.

Also, I should have added to my Post 200 that a local gun range identified the suspect as someone that frequently used a 9mm handgun to target practice. This info was broadcast while they were still looking for him. So the officers knew that they were up against someone that could shoot straight.

[subterfuge]

As I understand it, the officers that were shot didn't know he was armed. Also, supposedly the guy used several aliases so they weren't quite sure who he is and what if any charges had been previously lodged against him. Still haven't heard any details.

[DocRock]

UPDATE: Deputy's killer positively identified;
autopsy results released

Angilo Freeland

[mvpel]

Try hitting the bullseye after drinking 10 cups of strong coffee and running a mile. Adrenaline dumped while one is in mortal fear has a very strong physiological effect on one's body.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I should have put a /s after my post saying they wasted X rounds.
I was thinking about Ilario Pantano and the most damning evidence against him was he emptied two clips into two terrorists who he had searching their car, when they started talking and one tried to shield the other from his sight.
He was rightly found not guilty and I wonder why the LEOS only emptied one clip each.

[Cymbaline]

LOL!

Q: Why 110 shots?
A: Well, we didn't have any more than that...

[Joe Brower]

You make good points. One thing you overlook in your pro-police bias is in your comment about the "overkill" crowd is that the number of officers who typically "pile on" situtations like this are, in their very numbers, overkill. The number of rounds was substiantially less than what could have been expended. So what? 110 rounds is a lot of lead. Unless you're in a war zone.

The whole operative paradigm of overwhelming numbers is now a central tactic and often used, the idea being to defuse the situation without firing a shot due to sheer domination of the AO. Which works, usually. When it doesn't, a lot of shots get fired in very little time.

But as I stated before, this guy was marked. And he deserved to be. That's outside the bounds of "the law", of course, but what's new? Welcome to Florida. I'm sure it's not unique to the sunshine state.

[DocRock]

"You make good points."

And so do you. One main point is that he could have surrendered and been taken alive.

[Joe Brower]

"One main point is that he could have surrendered and been taken alive."

In this instance events, however interpreted, seem to have taken a more preferable turn.

[DocRock]

"In this instance events, however interpreted, seem to have taken a more preferable turn."

Which has accelerated the healing process for the loss of a fine Law Enforcement Official and his K-9 Partner. Local rumor is that they will be buried together, but that is just gossip so don't quote me on that...