Will stitch you from sternum to crotch in 1 sec:
Posted on 10/29/2013 9:59:16 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff's officials say the Northern California deputy who fatally shot a 13-year-old boy is a firearms instructor who has trained his law enforcement colleagues in the proper use of force for nearly two decades.
Sonoma County spokesman Assistant Sheriff Lorenzo Duenas said 48-year-old Erick Gelhaus has been an instructor and rangemaster for the county for 19 years.
He also teaches pistol, carbine, shotgun and rifle lessons for Gunsite, a private company in Arizona, according to the company's Web site.
Gelhaus, a 24-year sheriff's office veteran, is a frequent contributor to S.W.A.T. magazine, a monthly firearms publication.
Duenas confirmed that Gelhaus is one of 26 gun instructors for Sonoma County.
He has not only given shooting lessons but also has provided instruction on the proper use of force, Duenas said.
To do that job, "you've got to be good at instructing others," Duenas said, adding: "You have to be able to instruct others on policy and procedures and use-of-force policy issues."
Gelhaus shot and killed Andy Lopez last week in Santa Rosa.
Investigators say Gelhaus mistook the pellet gun Lopez was carrying for an assault rifle....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yes. Many. Orange tipped toy guns.... A good idea gone bad (not a primary source, so doubly not trustworthy, but could be true)
An orange tip is meaningless. Orange tip or not, the kid would have been shot. Officer felt threatened, and acted. He'll argue the feeling was reasonable and justified; dead kids parents will argue the opposite, city will settle for a few million bucks, and nothing else changes. Cops will shoot to kill if they feel threatened, period.
The police have developed an non chalant attitude about the taking of someone’s life is one of the things that have changed.
“Where they in a high crime area? “
Yep. Bad area. Not South Central bad. White folks may travese it day or night, but you are pushing the envelope at night. Largely illegal Mexican populace.
This is being offered as cover. They are trying to create the belief that the guy was so well trained that even he was fooled by the air gun.
So say the reporters. Kid didn't do what he was ordered to do, and turned around, raising the muzzle of the gun. Not a high crime area. But, near a city, so I'm sure the mind set of the cops is not "rural." The conclusion of "over react" will always be a subject of conflict. Some will say the reaction was appropriate, others will opine the opposite.
The training is "When in doubt, take 'em out"
Will stitch you from sternum to crotch in 1 sec:
Could part of this be ‘roid rage on the part of Gelhaus? After all, the cop in Tranna several months ago who killed the teenager on the streetcar, was part owner of a gym and there has been a suggestion the steroid use.
I was trying to figure the timeline posted on the first 20 page. Those are seconds at the end, not minutes?
• 1514:15 hrs – Sonoma County Sheriff’s Dispatch created an incident of a suspicious person in the area of Moorland Ave. and West Robles Ave.
• 1514:19 hrs – The Deputies call for emergency assistance from other Deputies in the area
• 1514:25 hrs – The Deputies notify dispatch that shots have been fired
• 1514:41 hrs – Emergency medical advised to respond to the scene
——So....in about 30 seconds the deputy called it in, shot the kid and then called for an ambulance? That sounds like that spoofed airline pilot’s name, Sum Ting Wong
Those who can.......
It was actually 6 seconds: 1514:19 to 1514:25
I've been following this closely since it happened about a mile from me, and has resulted in widespread protest in our (usually very calm semi-rural) area. Only one deputy fired, not the second one. (The one who didn't fire was a "trainee" for the dept but has several years' experience in law enforcement.) The entire engagement, from the time the deputies stopped the car and started shouting at the boy (from the back) to drop the gun, until they began shooting, took a grand total of ten seconds. The shots were all on the boy's right side except for one on the left bicep, I think. They *said* that as he was turning toward them, his gun barrel raised and the one deputy cut loose, fearing he was about to be shot. However, the entire thing was very rushed, and it seems to me that what may really have happened is that the boy didn't even comprehend what was going on behind him, and as he turned to see what all the commotion was (not even realizing they wanted him to drop his "weapon," which I'm sure he didn't think of as such), the deputy cut him down.
Contrary to what some people have written about this area, it is not at all rife with gang activity. There is some, but the fatalities have mostly been from Vietnamese gangs, not Latino, and they don't live in this area of town. The particular street this happened on is semi-rural and the open field he was in is a place where children frequently play, lacking a close park.
The best word I can come up with for this deputy is "hasty." I can't write the terms I'm thinking to myself here on FR.
Yeah, it took him more time after the shooting to call the amberlamps than the total time he spent getting out of his car, allegedly ordering the kid to drop it, determining that the kid had heard and not complied, and shooting the kid with seven of eight rounds fired.
Was not responding to commands to put down his weapon???
The entire engagement, from the time the deputies stopped the car to when the one shot the boy, took ten seconds.
Most people, especially harebrained teenage boys, take a few seconds to comprehend what is going on around them, let alone respond in a timely and appropriate manner. So using this idea of “shoot them as they turn around,” almost ANYONE, especially an INNOCENT person who does not have mayhem on his mind, is likely to be shot by LEOs.
Does this seem morally right to you?
Your comment confirms what I’ve been thinking for a while: we need a national conversation on the rules of engagement for LEOs. The ones we have right now are not working well too much of the time.
I have to agree that some of the new Airsoft guns look so much like real guns it’s unbelievable.
My son’s is modeled off an M4, and all of the accessories work, up to and including the ejection port dust cover that pops open when the bolt is cycled OR when you pull the charging handle. Magazine ejects and adjustable stock has the same latching mechanism as the real thing.
The ONLY way even a practiced eye could tell it’s a toy is by the orange “flash suppressor” and the apparent lack of weight in how the kid is hefting it.
I’d be hard pressed to articulate in court why the cop should have known my boy had a toy rather than a real gun, and believe me - I have no love lost for many of the law enforcement agencies in my state.
Sounds like Mr. Gun Range Expert is in bad trouble for an unjustified shooting resulting in death.
Damn straight!
That’s the picture of the pellet gun.
Now show a picture of an identical real AK47 — with the screws in the gun stock, the shortened silver barrel with the air tube.
And remember — he is a firearms expert who trains other LEOs.
Whether or not the gun was mistaken for a real one is not even the problem. The problem is the gunmnan decided that the boy “might” point the gun at him. By his reasoning anyone that has a gun on his person or something that might possibly be mistaken for some sort of gun is fair game and can be shot by a cop. With just a tiny stretch of that, anyone who is not naked, “might” have a gun on him which he “might” point at the bloodthirsty cop. Of course the current reality is that a police officer may shoot anyone he damn well please in any situation. The cop just has to remember to tell the next person on the scene, “I felt threatened,” and the shooting is prima facie justified. The cop then gets a well deserved extra paid vacation.
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