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.
Sad, but bad idea to point your gun at someone unless they are threatening you. Old west rules, you draw first, that is a threat that justifies return fire.
On a related note:
http://www.rense.com/general75/emp.htm
I think most marijuana is either grown inside the US or imported from Canada actually. I don't think Coca or Poppy grows very well in the Mexican climate. A wall needs to be built but to think it will stop drugs from entering the country is naive at best.
>"Oh goody. Another "I'm a 'libertarian' and thus don't need facts" thread.
What part of that sentence is factually wrong?
If the police tell you to put down your gun, put it down!
Live theatre. The show must go on.
You do not know why this man died, thus the entire sentence is prejudice masquerading as judgement. You're a "libertarian" aren't you?
There is not enough information. We don't know who fired first. We don't know what the resident said to the cops. I do not have specific knowledge of Florida laws but would you think the cops culpable if the resident fired first? Does a Florida homeowner have a legal right to shoot anyone in his yard who fails to leave when ordered to?
Not when you are on your own property, and they aren't identifying themselves properly. Florida has the "castle doctrine."
People dealing drugs in your yard is a threat to you.
Florida follows the "reasonable man" standard, so the answer is "yes" in the correct circumstances.
Not good enough. If you have nothing to hide why not just surrender?
He didn't die of natural causes did he? He died from bullets shot from the undercover drug squad. The police admit that much. You can't put your head in the sand and deny facts in the hope that they will go away.
Sage advice < /snicker >
We're talking about the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office here...you'd be amazed at what they get away with by putting their heads in the sand and denying facts.
Sure.. if someone in plain clothes asserts that they are police you better do exactly what they say.
You would be an easy mark.
I asked whether the homeowner had the right to shoot anyone and your reply is that he would only have the right "in the correct circumstances". The article does not provide information sufficient to show whether the circumstances at hand would establish the homeowner's right to shoot in this case. Therefore you were wrong when you stated previously that the officers are shown by the known facts to be culpable.
It is also against the law to trespass. If they were on his property they need to face manslaughter charges. One thing is for sure they should be finished as cops.
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