Interesting: SWAT Tactics at Issue After Fairfax Shooting
- Thread starter Wildcard
- Start date
Somebody's already mentioned the case of officer "Action Jackson", who, after being warned by his own students, pointed his pistol at a cadet and pulled the trigger, killing her instantly. Coincidentally, the cadet spent most of her adult life working the the law firm of an old friend of mine.
Two other GA cases come to mind, with different outcomes.
(1) Case in Columbus, GA, where Deputy Sheriff shoots innocent motorist (yeah, the gendarmes stopped the wrong vehicle in another drug "investigation") twice in head with MP5. Grand jury didn't indict. Since the shooter was white and the victim was black, this has become a hugely-contentious racial matter in Columbus. Cop is on video shooting the motorist.
(2) Leesburg, GA, Deputy Sheriff chases guy from behind pawn shop, after silent alarm caused dispatch to send deputy to investigate. Deputy Sheriff is holding pistol on suspect and shoots him once in the head, killing him. Deceased suspect is grandson of Sheriff's best friend. (They're no longer friends, because of this incident.) Deputy says that suspect wasn't obeying verbal commands and reached under his seat. Deputy says he's not sure why he fired, but thinks it was fear/reflexes, etc.
Deputy has been fired; indicted and will face trial for manslaughter. For some reason, the video camera was turned off at the time of the shooting. Another officer witnessed the shooting, but didn't have much to add, as she couldn't have seen whether the deceased suspect was obeying commands or not.
In the case that's the subject of this thread, there hasn't been anything posted that would indicate that the shooter was in a high-stress situation. He just screwed up. If a specially-trained SWAT officer isn't guilty of some kind of gross negligence in a case like this, then exactly what would he have to do to qualify for committing gross negligence?
Two other GA cases come to mind, with different outcomes.
(1) Case in Columbus, GA, where Deputy Sheriff shoots innocent motorist (yeah, the gendarmes stopped the wrong vehicle in another drug "investigation") twice in head with MP5. Grand jury didn't indict. Since the shooter was white and the victim was black, this has become a hugely-contentious racial matter in Columbus. Cop is on video shooting the motorist.
(2) Leesburg, GA, Deputy Sheriff chases guy from behind pawn shop, after silent alarm caused dispatch to send deputy to investigate. Deputy Sheriff is holding pistol on suspect and shoots him once in the head, killing him. Deceased suspect is grandson of Sheriff's best friend. (They're no longer friends, because of this incident.) Deputy says that suspect wasn't obeying verbal commands and reached under his seat. Deputy says he's not sure why he fired, but thinks it was fear/reflexes, etc.
Deputy has been fired; indicted and will face trial for manslaughter. For some reason, the video camera was turned off at the time of the shooting. Another officer witnessed the shooting, but didn't have much to add, as she couldn't have seen whether the deceased suspect was obeying commands or not.
In the case that's the subject of this thread, there hasn't been anything posted that would indicate that the shooter was in a high-stress situation. He just screwed up. If a specially-trained SWAT officer isn't guilty of some kind of gross negligence in a case like this, then exactly what would he have to do to qualify for committing gross negligence?
Ben Swenson
New member
Without additional evidence, I'd agree that a murder charge would probably be inappropriate.
However, in all your time at court have you ever seen a case where a non-LEO intentionally points a firearm at someone else and "accidentally" pulls the trigger and kills them and the shooter is not given so much as a citation for improper discharge of a firearm within city limits (or whatever the analogous charge is in your jurisdiction)?