Posted on 01/30/2007 1:12:56 PM PST by FreedomCalls
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- An elderly man is dead and two Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives are on administrative leave after an undercover narcotics investigation ended in gunfire late Saturday.
According to the JSO, detectives Donald Maynard and James Narcisse had been working undercover for about three hours in the 2300 block of Westmont Street when 80-year-old Isaac Singletary approached them with a gun just before 6 p.m.
The officers said they ordered the man to put down the gun. However, Singletary did not drop his weapon and gunshots were exchanged.
Singletary was shot several times. Paramedics rushed him to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center, where he died.
Less than 24 hours after the fatal police shooting left his uncle dead, Gary Evans told Channel 4 he's mad.
"Eighty-years-old, and they had to shoot him twice or more in order to subdue him. I'm very upset about it," Evans said.
He said his uncle was territorial and mad about the drugs on his street, and would often take his gun and try to scare the drug dealers away.
On Saturday, things went terribly wrong.
"My uncle asked the officer, which he didn't know at the time he was a police officer, to leave his property and he didn't," Evans said.
Neighbors told Channel 4 that Singletary was very protective of his property.
"You don't expect somebody to come pointing a gun at you, and once they do that, the officers will tell them to drop the gun," JSO Chief Dwain Senterfitt said. "We're still investigating what statements were made, but obviously, at that point, the officers' lives were in danger."
Police said they are still trying to figure out if the undercover officers had time to tell Singletary they were undercover officers. They said the detectives had to hid behind a tree to avoid being shot by Singletary.
According to police, the officers had been in the neighborhood since about 2:45 p.m., and had made five drug-related arrests.
"In the course of our undercover activity and making several arrests in this neighborhood, a man we now know to be a resident of that area, Mr. Isaac Singletary, was shot by officers," said Director of Investigations and Homeland Security Micheal Edwards.
Saturday's shooting was the third JSO-involved shooting in three weeks. Unlike last week's case at the Sable Palm Apartments, there is no dispute whether Singletary had a gun.
"There was a confrontation between them and an exchange of gunfire," Edwards said.
However, the question of who fired the first shot remains unanswered.
"He shot at my uncle first. He was the first one to shoot, and my uncle returned fire," Evans said.
"As you know, our investigation into any shooting must be thorough and methodical. At this time, there's a limited amount of information we can share," Edwards said.
As the details of the shooting are being hashed out, scared neighbors and sad family members remember Singletary.
"I looked in his eyes I saw his pain. I felt the pain for him. He never bothered anybody. He's never done anything to anybody. He didn't want anybody in his yard," said neighbor Antionette Douglas.
Nothing will happen to them. But if you shoot an illegal Mexican drug smuggler in the ass expect 10 years.
The dead man was obviously in a place he “has a right to be,” according to Florida law. Therefore, if the police did *anything* that could be construed as a credible threat to preserve their cover, the man was justified in using deadly force. If they killed him instead of yielding when he was justified in using deadly force, they are murderers.
Decidedly liberal? Me? I have close to a decade of posts right here on Free Republic that attest to my Conservatism.
As for talking out of my hat about Florida and Texas as you say.I will bet that I have more relatives in both states than you, and more unrelated citizens who agree with me than you.
Your attitude lends credibility to the gun control jackasses. Are you one of them?
How sad. Another good senior citizen gunned down.
This world is crazy.
If the shoe fits, Cinderella...
You aren't the first to predict "wild west" consequences in a vain attempt to condemn our gun laws.
I will bet that I have more relatives in both states than you, and more unrelated citizens who agree with me than you.
What an inane claim to make. Why not bet your penis is larger than mine?
Your attitude lends credibility to the gun control jackasses.
I'm not the one spouting their arguments: you are.
No doubt! Actions have consequences. Personal responsibility can't be ignored without consequences.
I'm not the one who got caught favorably quoting from a page in the Sarah Brady, ACLU, VPC playbook while masquerading as a conservative on FreeRepublic.
I'll shut the hell up when people like you are no longer pissing in the stream of consciousness.
Nice horsey.
He's dead...
you can stop beating him now
That's disgusting.
The 80 yr old homeowner?
I take it that after two posts from me you are tired of defending your ridiculous position. Understood.
Dude, is it really that difficult for you to admit you're just trying to save face now? I mean really...FR doesn't charge a fee for admitting you're wrong or insist you go down with your sinking argument.
You can't cite a single syllable I've advanced that makes the anti-gunners case, and I got you right between the eyes using their "wild west" canard.
Show some dignity.
The horse is dead....
Your argument never lived!
No, you are making assumptions about matters that were never substantiated. You don't know for certain that the shooting by the police took place on the old man's property or if the cops had been on the property in the first place. There are statements by the nephew but who's to say if his version is the truth or if he's taking coaching from a Rainbow/Push lawyer? The cops told him to put the gun down. Maybe they didn't. All we can do is try and argue what we think happened without being there. Since we don't have all the facts to continue going back in forth is a waste of time.
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