Posted on 03/18/2008 9:34:05 AM PDT by kiriath_jearim
OCEANSIDE -- Police weren't saying much Monday about a suspected road rage incident Saturday night in which an off-duty San Diego police officer shot and wounded a Camp Pendleton woman and her 8-year-old son.
The off-duty officer, Franklin "Frank" White of Oceanside, fired an undisclosed number of shots during the incident, which happened at about 9:30 p.m. in a shopping center parking lot off Old Grove Road, said Oceanside police Sgt. Kelan Poorman.
The woman and child remained hospitalized Monday, but authorities said their injuries were not life threatening.
White is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the Oceanside Police Department's criminal investigation and an internal review by the San Diego Police Department, Chief William Lansdowne said Monday. White has worked for the San Diego Police Department since October 2005.
Poorman said the incident apparently began when one car cut off another car in traffic. He said one driver followed the other driver to the parking lot of the Lowe's Home Improvement store on Old Grove Road, where the shooting took place. He declined to say which car White was driving.
The other driver, a white female in her 20's, was not armed, according to Poorman. Parties from both cars called police, he said.
Poorman said he did not know whether White -- who was accompanied by his wife at the time of the incident --- was inside or outside of his car during the shooting, or whether White acted in self-defense.
"I think that's probably why the shots were fired, but I'd be speculating," Poorman said.
The injured woman is married to a Marine and lives on Camp Pendleton, Poorman said. She was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, where she is still a patient.
As of Monday afternoon, she had not been interviewed, but investigators did speak with her son at Rady Children's Hospital, Poorman said.
He said Oceanside investigators are still trying to obtain surveillance video from businesses in the area
White was not in a police vehicle at the time of the incident, Poorman said.
State and federal laws give off-duty police officers the right to carry a weapon.
A countywide policy adopted in May 2007 addresses when and how off-duty officers may intervene when they observe a law being broken, said San Diego Police Department spokeswoman Monica Munoz.
The policy states that law enforcement officers retain "full power and authority" to perform policing duties when not on duty, including carrying a weapon.
Munoz said she could not comment on whether San Diego police official believe White fired his gun in a police capacity because they are not conducting the investigation into the incident.
So, if I read this post correctly, you don’t want to assume the woman is guilty, just because she lawyered up. It’s her right, and is probably the smart thing to do.
I wish you’d give that cop the same benefit of the doubt.
Or are you with John Robie? All cops do is kill innocent people, according to him.
You sure seem to be in accord with that.
“The car(s) final positions indicate the cop was not in danger.”
Ok, if that’s a fact, and not mere supposition. Can the final positions of cars indicate that a cop isn’t in danger? But even that isn’t really the question, is it?
The real question is, are there cop-haters on this forum, who immediately pre-judge any, and I mean ANY, cop who uses force, EVERY time, as being a fascist, a criminal with a badge, an evil tool of a repressive and corrupt government, etc.
If you are blind to this, or if you have participated in this, then don’t criticize me for simply pointing out that a cop has the same right to presumption of innocence as any other person.
Too many on this thread have forgotten that, instead choosing to attack, before ANY evidence was presented.
I consider those folks to be no better than Rev. Jeremiah Wright, calling us the U.S. of KKK A. No evidence required, simply point and shoot your mouth off.
I'm on the fence with this until more evidence is presented...though I wonder why it isn't being reported.
The Rev. Wright stuff is over the top. See: Godwin's law
“Yes, the blood of those kids is on Israel’s hands.”
Well, this goes a long way toward explaining your ideology. So, just FYI:
When an innocent person is injured by another person who is engaged in self-defense, because the attacking party is operating in close proximity to that innocent person, it is still the fault of the attacking party, not the fault of the defending party.
Seriously.
“The circumstances are always up for discussion. Killing a combatant in war is not murder,..”
“If blaming it “you had to respond” eases your conscience then you go right on and believe it.”
Your arguments are a bit fragmentary. You seem to be making two opposite points.
“My issue with cops are they do a lousy job (in many cases) of getting rid of bad apples.”
Now THAT is something I can agree with. My issue is one of fairness, and avoiding prejudgement of anyone before the facts are known.
And let’s face it, when this story first broke, we pretty much knew jack squat about what really happened, and I found it particularly irksome to see so much vitriol directed at someone, anyone, before more could be known. And some on this thread, i.e. John Robie, are so anti-cop that I suspect they have some serious issues.
If she doesn’t I don’t blame her.
My feeling is that they are not really chomping at the bit to talk to her. In other words, they are still trying to work up a stoty to clear the cop.
But if I was her, when I did talk to them my lawyer would be there.
As long as it is cops doin the shooting, SJSAMPLE, he doesn’t.
Very fine difference.
I wish you’d give that cop the same benefit of the doubt."
The cop wasn't in the hospital dealing with gun shot wounds. His statement should have been taken immediately on the spot. Instead he was given very special treatment by postponing it until his attorney, peer support officer, and his supervisor could be rousted out of bed and transported 35+ miles north to Oceanside at 10:00 pm on a Saturday night. I give that a minimum of 2 hours to effect that if not more. Were him and his wife, a dispatcher with the Carlsbad Police Dept, who was in the car kept separate so that they couldn't rehearse their stories and get them straight??? We don't know, that would be an easy piece of information to release.
My original point was to rebut someone else's assumption that the woman here is hiding something because she dared to hire an attorney. My statement was meant to highlight the hypocrisy of that sentiment since the off-duty cop did the same thing. You can't think the woman is hiding something if she hired an attorney and not think the cop is hiding something for doing the exact same thing. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander as they say.
Yikes. I hate to sound like an alarmist, but it doesn’t look good for this cop. Both vehicles remained stationary? That’s not a good sign for him.
I wonder what happened to bring this to gunfire?
I can imagine several scenarios, but with no evidence that the lady tried to run down the cop, it looks like he may have just gone postal.
However, I still stand by my insistance that we wait until the facts are out before jumping to conclusions.
I do find it very interesting though, that the cop wasn’t drug tested. They don’t think this is cause?
Not sure why the cop wasn’t tested. In many locales ANY shooting you get tested. Very strange deal and with the facts slow in coming out it makes it look worse. My wife thinks the cop may have had something going with the “victim”. We shall see.
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