OTOH, the story is certainly interesting. The supposed perp had a "CZ-762x25" which is described as both "large" and "high powered". I have seen the 9 mm CZs and they are by no means large. This appears to be a 7.62 mm version, which would make it a .30 caliber semi-auto and probably a bit smaller, althought I hear that it is fairly powerful.
Stark County Coroner James Pritchard said Taylor, who was wearing a protective vest as is required by the Massillon Police Department, was struck in the buttocks by a bullet that traveled up through his body, damaging vital organs.
Have you or anyone else devoted even a few seconds thought to how this might have happened? For the bullet to hit the officer in the butt, travel upwards and hit vital organs I can envision only two scenarios.
A. The officer was straddling the perp, standing over him like he had captured a trophy, but had somehow failed to disarm him, or
B. The officer was lying on the ground facing directly away from the perp. Although this is possible, there is but scant logic which would explain how he came to be in this position, crawling away from his target.
Of course there is always another explanation. What about the possibility that he was in a prone position, facing the "perp", but was shot in the buttocks by another officer firing from behind him?
The CZ is an inexpensive, but very reliable pistol. Ever heard of a cop carrying a "throw down"? Oh wait, that never happens in your world. On the other hand, maybe it was a "back-up", which just happened to also be very inexpensive.
Sure, this could have happened just the way the newspaper says, but somehow that doesn't pass the smell test.
Just suppose that this was a case of "friendly fire" and the boys got together afterwards and decided that it might be better for all concerned if the dead officer was remembered as a "fallen hero", instead of someone who was shot in the butt by a fellow officer firing an unauthorized weapon. The "perp" is dead so he won't care.
Not only that, but this way the fellow officer doesn't have all that pesky paperwork to fill out.
Do you have a link to the someplace where we get an official explanation for how officer Taylor came to be shot in the buttocks while facing away from the man he was chasing? Where is this procedure described in the training manual?
It is certainly a tragedy, and I have great sympathy for Officer Taylor. But, I have a hard time believing the storyof the shootout is the complete truth.
Yes, a murdering freak is just an eccentric fellow to you. Well that explains everything.