Posted on 04/18/2003 6:05:31 AM PDT by Coleus
The Associated Press
April 18, 2003, 8:11 AM EDT
FAIR LAWN, N.J. -- A borough police officer was killed and a Clifton officer was wounded after a car chase that went through two counties and ended on the lawn of a Baptist church.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli confirmed early Friday that the Fair Lawn officer, Maryann Collura, 43, had died after being shot four times. The lifelong borough resident was the department's first woman officer, having joined the force in 1985 after serving as a special officer for more than two years.
The Clifton officer, who was not identified, was shot twice but was expected to survive. He was undergoing surgery at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, according to Amelia Duggan, a hospital spokeswoman, but further details were not immediately available.
Molinelli declined to provide descriptions of the suspects, who remained at large early Friday. He said officers from several state and local law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and the New York City Police Department were involved in the manhunt.
Shortly after the shootings occurred, three men were detained after a massive door-to-door search in a three-block area of Paterson. No charges were filed against the men and they were later released, but police continued their extensive search, going door-to-door to search homes and vehicles in the area.
Molinelli said the chase began in Clifton late Thursday night and went through several towns before Fair Lawn police were notified around 10 p.m. that the fleeing red sports car had entered their jurisdiction. He said at least two suspects were in the vehicle, but it was not immediately clear why the car was being pursued by the Clifton officer.
A few minutes after the notification call, the driver apparently lost control of the car and it went up on the front lawn of the Van Riper Ellis/Broadway Baptist Church. Moments later, Collura arrived on the scene to assist the Clifton officer.
Molinelli said two suspects -- and possibly a third -- then ran from the vehicle to a parking lot in the back of the church, where one of the suspects was briefly apprehended. However, several shots soon rang out and the suspects fled after the officers were wounded.
The number of shots fired in the exchange was not immediately known, but Molinelli said the Clifton officer and at least one of the suspects were involved in the gun battle. Collura was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, but it was not known if she died before reaching the facility.
"There was firing back on both sides, but we don't know if any of the suspects were hit," he said during an early morning news conference.
The suspects then fled the scene and at least one of them drove off in Collura's patrol car, which was later found abandoned about four miles away in Paterson.
While authorities quickly blocked off the area where the car was found and began an intensive search there, numerous officers continued to search for evidence at the church. Authorities, though, would not say whether any weapons or other evidence had been found at either location.
Guess they really aren't too anxious to find them.
Many (most) police officers are poorly trained in use of their weapons. The pressure from a serious engagement causes vulnerability to panic, as opposed to reverting to training.
If you've ever been to a pistol range and seen a cop shoot, you'd know .... most of them aren't very good.
From the NY Post account:
"I heard eight or nine gunshots. I walk outside and I see a cop car go flying by," a Fair Lawn resident told The Post.
If the surviving cop got hit twice and the DOA cop four times, the inference would be that the LEO's only got off two or three rounds to the bad guys six. "Ear"witness accounts, however, are highly unreliable.
Well, I'm guessing ... but that makes the perps black. In our ever so sensitive PC world you have to read between the lines.
The cops today are not like the cops of yesteryear(who usually never needed more than 6 bullets). The cops today carry a gun only because it is part of the job, many of them never even owned or fired a gun before they became a cop, and are not pro-gun. Most cops today do not know how to shoot very well, and do not handle guns safely. Cops today rely on high capacity magazines and spray and pray, not worrying about where all their misses will go or what innocents behind the targets will get shot. I have seen many young police cadets come in to get their guns registered, and they didnt know the first thing about guns - and didnt seem to care either. Most of them barley qualify, and dont practice or shoot guns any more than they have to.
There are also some police departments who boycott NRA sanctioned shooting training events/courses - as a political policy against guns.
I have seen a big city police "pistol team" who could not shoot a 12 inch plate more than 2 out of 6 times at 10 yards.
No police deparment will choose a capable middle aged layed off IT worker who might have sound judgement and excellent abilities as a cop, instead of a young immature college student who doesnt know squat.
As I wrote: "ear"witness accounts are highly unreliable, yet here's another witness from NorthJersey.com:
Fair Lawn resident Michelle Samolis told WCBS-TV news that she heard eight to 10 popping noises around the time the officers were shot.
In a rapid-fire situation, it is very difficult to estimate the number of shots fired, even by an expert let alone a disinterested bystander.
Also, if the cops and the bad guys happened to fire a round simultaneously it would sound like one shot.
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