Posted on 10/18/2019 8:44:41 PM PDT by heartwood
Body camera footage of SC shooting contradicts police claims By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina homeowner who was shot by a deputy checking a medical alarm did not jerk open his front door with a gun and was instead standing in the home’s foyer when the officer shot through a window, according to body camera footage released Monday.
Homeowner Dick Tench has a concealed weapons permit and did have his gun in his hand, but was devastated when the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office’s initial account of the incident had him pointing his weapon at a police officer, his lawyer said.
“We were waiting to see the body camera footage to confirm what Dick knew all along — That he was shot through the window,” attorney Beattie Ashmore said. “The deputy’s version doesn’t hold up.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Same thing happened in NJ in 2016. Police sent to wrong house at night, banging and walking around house, elderly man arms himself, can't understand the men yelling throug the window, so they shoot him. He also survived.
https://www.nj.com/news/2017/02/nj_trooper_cleared_over_wrong_house_shooting_of_76.html
Is there no police training for encounters with a legally armed citizen protecting his house and family?
I can think of only one case in which the cop was the one shot - wrong address no knock raid in Louisiana. A young black man was home with his baby girl, thought there was a home invasion and shot and killed a white cop, who was also the chief's son. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but later the sentence was commuted or he was pardonned, and that was 20 or 30 years ago.
So cops are much more likely to shoot than armed citizens it seems.
I couldn’t find the death penalty case because it was in Mississippi, not Louisiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Maye
Probably because cops are exposed to more lethal situations than your random armed citizen.
What did the citizen posses that he had to perform sentry duty to protect? I am not exonerating the police officer, but he/she doesn't want to be shot either.
steel = steal
“remains on leave with pay”
Paid vacation.
This is exactly why every officer should be equipped with a bodycam transmitting (and reporting) wirelessly back to base - and should it ‘mysteriously’ malfunction, the officer should be called back to the station immediately with no intermediate stops. Failure to comply should result in instant, no appeal termination.
The victim was inside their house and within their rights to be holding an unholstered weapon. The police did not (IIRC) identify themselves before shooting him.
If you hear a noise outside and it sound like a group of men rummaging around outside who might just decide to kick in your door, it does make sense to be inside waiting for them with a drawn gun.
Because this is what happens if you don’t. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire,_Connecticut,_home_invasion_murders
Also, unholstered and pointing at nobody is *not* brandishing.
Also, the deputy’s department just cleared him of wrongdoing. Of course. Despite the fact that they admitted he lied on his report.
No, we are talking about the specific situation where citizen in his own home arms himself not knowing the prowler or the knocker or the invader is a cop.
The citizen hesitates to fire, trying to assess the situation further, or hoping that the sight of his weapon will deter the attacker.
The cop is much less likely to hesitate.
Maybe police training should include the idea that cops creeping around a house at night looks suspicious and scary and that it is not obvious that they are cops in the dark.
Also that someone in a house is likely to be a resident of the house, and is most likely not in a hurry to shoot anyone, AND has a constitutional right to bear arms in self-defense.
Oh, that’s radical.
An edited video always makes you wonder what they’re hiding.
I did not see any indecation the man pointed his weapon at the officer, he just had it ready.
It would be nice if the video had sound for the first thirty seconds. I did not get the inpression the cop announced who he was befor reacting to the homeowner protecting his family.
That applies to numbers, not percentages. Percentage wise armed citizens are much more circumspect with regards to brandishing and/or shooting.
Again: Armed citizens are much more circumspect with regards to brandishing and/or shooting.
No mystery why that is.
There was a case in Tucson, AZ in the early 90’s(?)
Police were searching for a suspect. Homeowner shoots at someone (cop) dressed in black, with a shotgun, running up to his back porch. Initially they said no charges were expected. About 6 months later the homeowner was charged with everything they could think of.
Yes. And this cop, like the one in Dallas and Houston, needs to be charged with crime. Jail him.
“Maybe police training should include the idea that cops creeping around a house at night looks suspicious and scary and that it is not obvious that they are cops in the dark.”
Indeed. what a radical idea, even though it’s just reason applied to our current laws.
I will again say, I don't know what goes on in this neighborhood, and it really makes a difference with respect to the home dweller's actions.
I think the best action for the armed citizen is to retreat, out of sight with weapon so as not to be seen. What advantage is it to be a visible target? Again, may well be within his rights, but also dead.
“...An internal investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office’s Officer of Professional Standards to see if deputy Azzara violated any written policies found that no agency policies were violated when he opened fire on the man while standing outside his home.
However, Azzara blatantly lied in his police report, claiming that Tench had opened his front door and pointed his weapon at him when the video shows Tench was standing behind a closed door just holding the gun....”
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He didn’t “violate any written policies”? I suggest this pathetic excuse for a police department add a “written policy” that police shall not shoot into a citizen’s home at a person doing nothing illegal. And the nan was certainly not doing anything illegal!
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