Posted on 02/16/2011 8:26:49 AM PST by DCBryan1
Edited on 02/16/2011 8:43:34 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Three U.S. marshals were shot while trying to serve a warrant in Elkins this morning. The man who shot them was then killed by law enforcement, according to sources close to the investigation.
The marshals and State Police troopers were at the home of Charles Smith at about 8:30 a.m. to serve a warrant on him for failing to appear in court on possession of drugs and firearms charges, according to sources.
After announcing that they were there to serve a warrant, officers breached the door and stepped into the house.
Smith then opened fire with a shotgun, hitting one marshal in the neck, one in his bulletproof vest and one in the arm or hand, according to sources.
A marshal and trooper then fired at Smith, killing him, according to sources. The trooper likely fired the shot that killed him, sources say.
The marshal shot through the neck was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. His condition is unknown.
A statement from the U.S. Marshal’s office confirmed that three marshals were shot and that two were taken to a local hospital for treatment and one was transported by helicopter.
State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous could only confirm that there was a shooting incident in Elkins while officers attempted to serve a warrant.
Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
Except police don’t speculate, they find facts to support motive. You wanted to find a reason to attack these officers, and you know it. Since there wasn’t any, you decided to gossip to do so.
Not many at all. From wiki as of 2005;
Only 1.1% of the state's residents were foreign-born, placing West Virginia last among the 50 states in that statistic. It also has the lowest percentage of residents that speak a language other than English in the home (2.7%).
“We know that they had a warrant, supported by probable cause or it wouldn’t have been issued...”
I know nothing about this story at all. Could be that this was someone who should be behind bars. Could be the cops are 100% correct here. I do know the above statement is pretty naive. In our current police state if cops want inside your home they’re coming inside your home. Probable cause? Please.
The thugs have learned to yell “POLICE” when busting into someones house in the middle of the night. I will not be taking any chances...anyone forcing themselves into my house without proper reason and proof of such will be treated as a threat to my life.
Do a Google for “police speculate and you will get about 1.6 million hits showing results like:
POLICE SPECULATE ON WHAT LED TO 2 DEATHS - Post-Tribune
Not only that, I SPECULATED nothing. I only commented on how wrong it was to accuse FR posters of doing something wrong when they were not.
But congratulations, you have now achieved the level of Stunningly Stupid.
Have a great day.
“Police State”
Ad Hominem... since you retreated to that, you concede. Thanks!
Yes. I concede that you are a moron.
You’re welcome!
Uh oh. Looks like he’s not an 0bama fan. Probably some racist tea partier. /s
You know, your tagline, it’s the truth: Denah Myer is smokin’ hot.
I wonder what she’s doing now. Last I saw of her she was in the Saw movie series.
Also, you have to remember that a lot of druggies sleep all day and are up all night.
So when the U.S. marshals arrived at 8:30am, that to him may have felt like what 2am feels to us.
And if he was woken up abruptly he may have thought the marshals were actually drug dealers coming to take revenge on him.
Just sayin'
The link only went to the Fox News home page....didn't see anything about this story there.
Lolumad bro?
Three articles from thge local paper’s website. (I haven’t read trhem yet)
http://theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/541031/FBI-arrives-on-scene.html?nav=5014
Entirely possible. That's why I'd like to see a requirement that the police turn on their sirens and lights the instant they hit the door. Make it clear that it's the police and not a bunch of thugs looking to rip you off or kill you.
The facts of this incident aside, I find it interesting that you claim victory due to a logical fallacy, though you use one of your one in post 13.
You are wrong, while it appears they did in fact do everything correctly in this case, NO KNOCK warrents with jack booted thugs kicking doors down occurs over 70,000 times a year. That’s almost 200 times a day... So don’t expect a warm fuzzy reaction, we’ve been trained by all the times the cops killed people and dogs when they didn’t need to, and it could be prevented by knocking on the door.
Nothing about No Knock, gestpho tactics is constitutional..
What did this person do that allowed the Federal Government to have a claim on his life and liberty as opposed to the State of WV?
Could or would this have been handled differently or at a lower level of intensity by the local authorities, i.e. Sheriff, with a better outcome. It seems that he was not considered a risk because he was out on some sort of bail.
But it did say weapons and drugs charges as the reason for him to appear. Had the need for a no-knock entry already passed or been used since they must have already caught him with something?
It is hard for me to imagine that redressing a “failure to appear” when you know where the guy is requires the cost of 3 US Marshalls and the State police when the local sheriff could (based on the information available) do it better, safer and probably more in line with the Constitution?
I like to think that my local sheriff would have gone up and knocked on the door (or used a bullhorn) and told him that he had to quit screwing around and come on out before bad things happened. Then step back and wait. I’ve seen it done that way in the past with good results.
Another interesting question would involve the constitutionality of whatever federal statute(s) that this fellow violated.
They announced their purpose. I would think on a 'no knock' there is no announcement before entering.
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