Well, I never thought I'd think the better of the Denver comPost, but contrast their reporting of this incident with the one by the Denver Rocky Mountain News.
In particluar -
DP: "Though the group quickly put the big guns away, it continued with a pistol training session, Torrez said. Pistols cannot shoot as far as rifles."
RMN: "Fully automatic guns send bullets greater distances than do ordinary guns, he said, adding that the officers will never again shoot that kind of weapon at that location."
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0801j.htm
By Jim Hughes
Denver Post Staff Writer
Aug. 1, 2000 - Bullets from a police training exercise flew into a Weld County neighborhood Sun day morning, the result of an introduction to automatic weapons gone awry.
Police officers from Dacono, Frederick and Firestone were practicing with borrowed automatic rifles in a training session for the Tri-Area Containment Team, a regional tactical unit, Frederick Police Chief and team leader Jim Torrez said Monday.
They were shooting at targets on private land between Colorado 52 and Weld Coun ty Road 14 east of Fort Lupton, in an area where a rancher lets them practice, he said.
"We wanted to familiarize ourselves with what automatic weapons were like," Torrez said. "What happened was, there probably were some rounds that got away from the guys. They might have got over the berm we were shooting into. When we found that out, we immediately stopped and put away the automatic weapons."
Mark Franzen, who complained about the shooting, was in his yard cleaning up after a barbecue he'd hosted the night before when the shooting sent him to the ground. At first, the crackling sound of automatic gunfire didn't scare him, but the unmistakable whizzing sound of bullets overhead did, said the life-long hunter.
"We're used to it out here in the country," he said. "I even do it. That's part of the reason I live out here. We go out in the field with a shotgun and shoot clay pigeons. But when we choose a place to shoot a weapon, we look down range. We want to make sure there's nothing in the way. It's called responsible shooting."
Though the group quickly put the big guns away, it continued with a pistol training session, Torrez said. Pistols cannot shoot as far as rifles. Franzen said he lives about a mile and a half from the site.
Torrez said he was glad to have only scared Franzen and his neighbor, Hope Candelarie, who also was out in her yard and witnessed the errant fusillade.
"I think it was a close call, and it's something I definitely regret," he said. "It won't happen again." Candelarie was out weeding with two of her young grandchildren when the automatic gunfire came through.
"I just heard bullets zooming by," she said. "So I told my grandkids, "We better go in before somebody shoots us.'" Torrez said his tactical officers were practicing in the area because the shooting range they regularly use was unavailable Sunday. The range near Franzen's neighborhood normally is only used for pistols, he said.
Franzen said he was surprised when he learned it was police officers shooting such powerful weapons so carelessly.
"Those guys, if anybody, should know that weapons are dangerous and that you have to handle them properly or somebody can get hurt," he said. "When you're shooting, you always want to be cautious of what's down range, and I'm down range from them." He said he wasn't angry at the police, just hoping they would be more careful with their guns.
"That's what the police do. If you're out playing and you're doing something you're not supposed to do, they say, 'Hey, don't do that,' or they arrest you," he said. "All I'm trying to say is, 'Hey, don't do that.' "
And though Torrez said he had had trouble reaching Franzen on the phone Monday, he did have an answer to Franzen's request.
"We won't be doing this again," he said.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post.
Here the Rocky Mountain News' spin: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/0801targ4.shtml
Cops' stray bullets hit nearby barn
Rural training exercise frightens Weld County neighbors, who call 911
By Karen Abbott
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Mark Franzen was working outside his Weld County home Sunday morning when bullets started whizzing by, hitting his steel barn.
"I thought to myself, 'There's some crazy fool out there,"' he said Monday.
Franzen's neighbors, a grandmother and young children, took cover. Franzen called 911.
He wanted the cops to find out who the shooters were.
It turned out the shooters were the cops — about a mile and a half away firing fully automatic guns.
Six or seven officers were shooting the weapons at a dirt berm. Did some of the bullets go over it and travel as far as Franzen's home? It's possible, the officer in charge, Frederick Police Chief Jim Torrez, said Monday.
"They were just weapons that one of the guys who supplies our bullets to us had several of, and he asked if we would want to test-fire them to see what it's like to fire a fully automatic weapon in case our officers ever have to face them," Torrez said.
He said the two-hour Sunday morning event was a training session conducted on rural property the owner has loaned to police for that purpose.
Torrez leads the TACT police group for the towns of Frederick, Firestone and Dacono. TACT stands for Tri Area Containment Team, and the group is like a SWAT team, Torrez said.
Firestone officials referred inquiries to Torrez. They said no officer from their city serves on the team.
Dacono Police Chief David Montgomery could not be reached Monday.
"Luckily, I am all right," Franzen, 43, said Monday afternoon, after telephoning various law enforcement officials. He wasn't sure authorities were taking his complaint seriously.
"What scares me is the possibility of what could happen," Franzen said.
"I want them to just change the situation. I don't have a problem if they still shoot there. I just have a problem with them accidentally letting bullets get away. I just want that to stop."
Torrez said it has stopped.
He said the Sunday shooting session ended about 10:30 a.m. when a Weld County sheriff's deputy, alerted by Franken's 911 call, arrived.
"We immediately shut it down," Torrez said.
Fully automatic guns send bullets greater distances than do ordinary guns, he said, adding that the officers will never again shoot that kind of weapon at that location.
"I thought it was real important for our TACT guys," Torrez said.
"However, if we do it again, we would probably do it at a different location," he said. "Probably more isolated."
Contact Karen Abbott at (303) 892-5188 or abbottk@RockyMountainNews.com.
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co.
In particluar -
DP: "Though the group quickly put the big guns away, it continued with a pistol training session, Torrez said. Pistols cannot shoot as far as rifles."
RMN: "Fully automatic guns send bullets greater distances than do ordinary guns, he said, adding that the officers will never again shoot that kind of weapon at that location."
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0801j.htm
By Jim Hughes
Denver Post Staff Writer
Aug. 1, 2000 - Bullets from a police training exercise flew into a Weld County neighborhood Sun day morning, the result of an introduction to automatic weapons gone awry.
Police officers from Dacono, Frederick and Firestone were practicing with borrowed automatic rifles in a training session for the Tri-Area Containment Team, a regional tactical unit, Frederick Police Chief and team leader Jim Torrez said Monday.
They were shooting at targets on private land between Colorado 52 and Weld Coun ty Road 14 east of Fort Lupton, in an area where a rancher lets them practice, he said.
"We wanted to familiarize ourselves with what automatic weapons were like," Torrez said. "What happened was, there probably were some rounds that got away from the guys. They might have got over the berm we were shooting into. When we found that out, we immediately stopped and put away the automatic weapons."
Mark Franzen, who complained about the shooting, was in his yard cleaning up after a barbecue he'd hosted the night before when the shooting sent him to the ground. At first, the crackling sound of automatic gunfire didn't scare him, but the unmistakable whizzing sound of bullets overhead did, said the life-long hunter.
"We're used to it out here in the country," he said. "I even do it. That's part of the reason I live out here. We go out in the field with a shotgun and shoot clay pigeons. But when we choose a place to shoot a weapon, we look down range. We want to make sure there's nothing in the way. It's called responsible shooting."
Though the group quickly put the big guns away, it continued with a pistol training session, Torrez said. Pistols cannot shoot as far as rifles. Franzen said he lives about a mile and a half from the site.
Torrez said he was glad to have only scared Franzen and his neighbor, Hope Candelarie, who also was out in her yard and witnessed the errant fusillade.
"I think it was a close call, and it's something I definitely regret," he said. "It won't happen again." Candelarie was out weeding with two of her young grandchildren when the automatic gunfire came through.
"I just heard bullets zooming by," she said. "So I told my grandkids, "We better go in before somebody shoots us.'" Torrez said his tactical officers were practicing in the area because the shooting range they regularly use was unavailable Sunday. The range near Franzen's neighborhood normally is only used for pistols, he said.
Franzen said he was surprised when he learned it was police officers shooting such powerful weapons so carelessly.
"Those guys, if anybody, should know that weapons are dangerous and that you have to handle them properly or somebody can get hurt," he said. "When you're shooting, you always want to be cautious of what's down range, and I'm down range from them." He said he wasn't angry at the police, just hoping they would be more careful with their guns.
"That's what the police do. If you're out playing and you're doing something you're not supposed to do, they say, 'Hey, don't do that,' or they arrest you," he said. "All I'm trying to say is, 'Hey, don't do that.' "
And though Torrez said he had had trouble reaching Franzen on the phone Monday, he did have an answer to Franzen's request.
"We won't be doing this again," he said.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post.
Here the Rocky Mountain News' spin: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/0801targ4.shtml
Cops' stray bullets hit nearby barn
Rural training exercise frightens Weld County neighbors, who call 911
By Karen Abbott
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Mark Franzen was working outside his Weld County home Sunday morning when bullets started whizzing by, hitting his steel barn.
"I thought to myself, 'There's some crazy fool out there,"' he said Monday.
Franzen's neighbors, a grandmother and young children, took cover. Franzen called 911.
He wanted the cops to find out who the shooters were.
It turned out the shooters were the cops — about a mile and a half away firing fully automatic guns.
Six or seven officers were shooting the weapons at a dirt berm. Did some of the bullets go over it and travel as far as Franzen's home? It's possible, the officer in charge, Frederick Police Chief Jim Torrez, said Monday.
"They were just weapons that one of the guys who supplies our bullets to us had several of, and he asked if we would want to test-fire them to see what it's like to fire a fully automatic weapon in case our officers ever have to face them," Torrez said.
He said the two-hour Sunday morning event was a training session conducted on rural property the owner has loaned to police for that purpose.
Torrez leads the TACT police group for the towns of Frederick, Firestone and Dacono. TACT stands for Tri Area Containment Team, and the group is like a SWAT team, Torrez said.
Firestone officials referred inquiries to Torrez. They said no officer from their city serves on the team.
Dacono Police Chief David Montgomery could not be reached Monday.
"Luckily, I am all right," Franzen, 43, said Monday afternoon, after telephoning various law enforcement officials. He wasn't sure authorities were taking his complaint seriously.
"What scares me is the possibility of what could happen," Franzen said.
"I want them to just change the situation. I don't have a problem if they still shoot there. I just have a problem with them accidentally letting bullets get away. I just want that to stop."
Torrez said it has stopped.
He said the Sunday shooting session ended about 10:30 a.m. when a Weld County sheriff's deputy, alerted by Franken's 911 call, arrived.
"We immediately shut it down," Torrez said.
Fully automatic guns send bullets greater distances than do ordinary guns, he said, adding that the officers will never again shoot that kind of weapon at that location.
"I thought it was real important for our TACT guys," Torrez said.
"However, if we do it again, we would probably do it at a different location," he said. "Probably more isolated."
Contact Karen Abbott at (303) 892-5188 or abbottk@RockyMountainNews.com.
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co.
