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Posted on 03/03/2002 4:00:57 AM PST by Donald Stone
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:01 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
An Eagle Scout who was mistaken for a bank robber and shot in the face by an FBI agent in Pasadena on Friday remained in serious but stable condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center last night.
Joseph Charles Schultz, 20, was shot at close range about 6 p.m. Friday when FBI agents searching for a bank robbery suspect pulled over his girlfriend's car.
Schultz, who lives in the 7900 block of Seabreeze Drive in Orchard Beach in Anne Arundel County and works with fiber optics for a local medical company, has no connection to the bank robbery, officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunspot.net ...
Tell me, what the f*k excuse are you giving for this rotten police work: "plainclothes federal agents in unmarked cars pulled them over ... carrying weapons that [were] described as 'assault rifles or machine guns'"
Their radios didn't work, they couldn't call for a marked car and uniformed backup? They had to approach the car with drawn guns, without such backup? It didn't cross their minds that they could radio for roadblocks and assistance should the stopped car race away?
This was lousy, sloppy, endangering. Take your excuses to your mama, men don't need them.
It's disgusting some senior officer didn't come right to the scene and take a hard line on these cowboys, or incompetents, whatever they were.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office Division
7142 Ambassador Road
Baltimore, MD 21244
410-265-8080 (Voice)
410-281-0339 (Fax)
Special Agent in Charge: Lynne A. Hunt
Assistant Special Agent in Charge: Kevin R. Lewis
Assistant Special Agent in Charge: Michael S. Clemens
Assistant Special Agent in Charge: Peter F. Brust
Media Relations Coordinator: Special Agent Peter A. Gulotta, Jr.
Special Agent Recruiter: Special Agent Linda Harrison
The 16 year old girl was driving, though.
Every unfortunate incident, in and of itself, is one in a country of 281,000,000. Willful myopia is not the stuff of reason.
Not true. These occurences are pretty routine here.
Yeah, you're right, these people don't do anything really bad.
Although we don't know exactly what happened in this shooting at this time,one might stop and think about the following hypothetical scenario.
As an adult I would be somewhat apprehensive if an unmarked car stopped me and the occupants (unknown to me,plain clothes FBI agents) emerged with automatic rifles in hand and approached my car.
I could imagine the FBI having to shoot me in the face as I tried to leave the scene fearing for my personal safety (not knowing they were FBI agents in pursuit of a bank robber).
Years ago we thought of police and athletes as heroes. That is pretty much gone. Some are...some aren't. Our expectations have been lowered considerably. Be that as it may, I think we can reasonably expect armed law enforcement officers to be proficient with their weapons. I dont think that is unreasonable.
It appears that this shooting was a negligent discharge based on insufficient training in SAFE weapons handling.
First of all, even if they had been bank robbers, you can't just un-holster your weapon and shoot them, unless your life is at risk. It would still be murder or attempted murder. You can only use deadly force to protect yourself. That goes for LEO as well as the public.
Two, It's not just the agent in charge that's at fault here... It's the culture of the whole orginization.
When I was in the war, though I never had to shoot anyone, I had friends that did. It was very hard for them even to kill when their life was at stake. These LEOs aparently dont have that hangup.
IMHO this is not an accident, nor would it be if I shot someone who I "thought" might be threatening to me.
How about an agency that follows recognized procedures? I once watched the Fairfax Sheriff empty a vehicle of suspects with a bullhorn from a postion to the rear fo the vehicle. The suspects were all cuffed and comfortably seated in the back seat of the cruiser within fifteen minutes. Not a shot was fired.
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