Posted on 08/22/2003 3:37:32 AM PDT by Born Conservative
MOCANAQUA State police shot and killed a man who was swinging a garden rake at them while his horrified wife or girlfriend and neighbors watched, witnesses said.
Life Flight was called to help the man neighbors identified as Edward Vega, of 121 Italy St., after he was shot in the chest around 6 p.m. But the Life Flight doctor declared him dead, and the helicopter took off without him, said Dr. George Hudock Jr., county coroner.
A pool of blood and the garden rake remained in the middle of the road. State police strung crime-scene tape to block the street. A forensics team arrived on the scene, and a trooper began interviewing neighbors. The road was still closed off at 9:30 p.m.
It's unclear how the incident began. Channel 28 reported that state police said Vega and a woman who lived in the house with him had been fighting. The woman reportedly called police and said Vega was violating a protection from abuse order.
Neighbors, who said they feared to give their names or get involved, said they came out of their homes to see the man they knew as Ed in the roadway swinging tree branches at two state troopers.
They said Ed backed away toward his detached garage, where he dropped the branches, grabbed the metal rake and began swinging that at the officers.
That's when one trooper, about three steps away from the raging man, fired the shot, the neighbors said.
The man's wife or girlfriend ran into the street, crying and covering him with kisses, they said.
Neighbors recall friendly man
Neighbors said the couple had four children, with a fifth on the way.
Some neighbors said they had seen police cars at the house before.
But several said they were shocked by the shooting.
One weeping woman was gently escorted away by a trooper. Other stunned neighbors watched the troopers from their porches or the sidewalk.
Johnny Cielli, 81, of 102 Italy St., said the man he knew only as Ed and his family had moved into the neat white house with red trim just a few months ago.
Ed was a small man, weighing only 130 to 140 pounds, he said. Cielli used to walk by his house every day.
"I'd see him, and he'd always say 'Hi,'" Cielli said. "He had a little dog, and he'd tell me, 'Don't worry about the dog. He won't bite you.'"
Annette Knorowski, 56, of 126 Pond Hill Road, stared when she saw the police tape and heard what had happened.
"Oh my God, he was such a nice guy," she said.
She said she baby-sat two children in a house just down the street from Ed's home.
She would walk by his house while she took the youngest girl out in her carriage.
Ed always smiled and talked to her, she said.
Sometimes, he would walk with her on his way to do gardening work around the town.
"He told me it was a nice town, that everyone kept the street so nice and clean, that the people were so friendly," she said.
He was always busy, doing yard work for people, she said.
Another time, he stopped by the house where she worked and dropped off some flyers advertising a new house cleaning service he and his wife were offering, he said.
"He was a hard worker," she said. "He was always going someplace to do something for somebody.
"If he just had a rake, they shouldn't have shot him," she said.
State troopers said they would not release a statement about the shooting until their investigation was completed.
Hudock said he would be conducting an autopsy this morning at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
Why are you changing the subject? You asked if I read the word 'Berserk', I illustrated that the word was used in a article posted while I was framing a reply to an earlier post.
Eric started this idiocy of asking if I could read, and you seem to have jumped on the bandwagon. I believe I've shown that in both cases I've 'read' correctly.
FR is about expressing opinions. Sorry if you think I'm a jerk, but, in my opinion, cops executing guys with rakes is extreme. In my opinion, the cops performed their task poorly by not escalating force in a logical manner, exhausting the non-lethal solutions to their problem before resorting to shooting to death a man guilty of violating a court order.
It is quite true that I wish to call your suggestions stupid. The decision to become upset belongs to you alone.
By insulting my brother????
Relax. It was only a contingent insult. If he knows better than to shoot at moving arms and legs in a crowded area, then he's not been insulted at all. But if he doesn't know better, then he deserves the insult, and more.
Sit back, do your accounting, and let the rest of us help people who are in dire situations,
I don't see how sending bullets into the surrounding crowd "helps people." In fact, I'd say that following your stupid suggestions would make their situation even more dire.
you clearly are out of your league.
If stupidity is a requirement to play in your league, then I count myself very fortunate to be out of it.
Police do not train to shoot to wound. A police officer is trained to stop force with the necessary amount of force. If someone is using deadly force, a police officer is trained to stop this force with his/her own deadly force.
It could be easily shown that a garden rake could likely cause serious injury or death to the police officer. If he shoots, he shoots at center mass in the chest. Shooting that target area is most likely to stop the attack. The officer will now be required to demonstrate that deadly force was a necessary option based on the assault.
Period.
Maybe in the police state that you live in.
Thank God I'm in Texas then where there are AT LEAST 7 levels in the use of force and police have to follow those guidelines in terms of escalating force.
I do as well; which is why cops should be held to the same standard that WE are.
As for everyone else, here is the story of a REAL man, who knew HOW to shoot and knew WHEN to shoot. It's good stuff and will remind you of the good old days.
As far as I know, Jelly Bryce never once gunned down a scrawny little guy with branches in his hand, or a skinny little dude with a rake in his hand, or delirious little runt who was holding a puppy and waving it around in a threatening manner. No, he was something those other guys have no conception of and only believe exists in the movies.
Read now the story of The FBI'S Legendary Sharpshooter - Jelly Bryce :-)
You're in a populated area and you let a bullet loose with no target? That piece of lead has to land somewhere. That is why police officers do not fire warning shots.
Actually it can be escalated in a perfectly logical manner. If the cop can't keep his cool and uses his anger (or fear) to immediately escalate to the maximum lethal force that he possesses, he shouldn't be on the force.
And yes, cops do get paid to risk injury or death to keep the peace and enforce the law. Executing a guy with a rake does NOT qualify as good police work.
The rake corresponds to the nightstick ESPECIALLY when they outnumber the criminal. The knife and the gun demand the response with the firearm.
Was the guy wrong? Absolutely, but he should be alive to pay for his crime. This is a bad shoot.
No problem -- I had you pegged as a different barnyard animal anyway.
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