News from the Northwest.
http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/2000/08/17/deputyshot.html
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>ASSOCIATED PRESS and KIRO 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS
PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- The Clallam County sheriff's office issued a concealed weapons permit three years ago to a man now charged with gunning down Deputy Wallace E. "Wally" Davis.
The permit, good for five years, allowed Thomas Martin Roberts to carry a loaded pistol and have one in his car despite his history of mental illness and frequent brushes with the law.
Roberts could not legally be denied the permit or barred from buying guns. State and federal gun restrictions apply to people who have been committed to a mental ward by a judge or convicted of certain crimes, including domestic violence.
"Yes, we knew he had weapons," said Fred DeFrang, the sheriff's chief criminal deputy. "Our general knowledge in the department was that he had weapons at his house."
Roberts, now undergoing a 15-day mental evaluation at Western State Hospital, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the death of Davis, who was hit by a shotgun blast Aug. 5 while answering a disturbance call at the troubled man's house.
In a court appearance last week, Roberts referred to himself as "his majesty, Pharaoh Thomas."
Although neighbors said Roberts killed cats, shouted uncontrollably on his porch and fired gunshots from his house, the sheriff's office had no choice about issuing him a concealed pistol permit because an extensive criminal check came up blank, Sheriff Joe Hawe said Wednesday.
"We lack the ability to get mental health information," Hawe added.
Deputies assume there is a gun in every house in the county, and Davis had successfully handled previous incidents involving Roberts, the sheriff said.
"As far as I am concerned, we just had a false sense of security," Hawe said.
An internal investigation may change procedures for answering calls about people known to be mentally unstable or known to have guns, he said.
For example, it has not been required to notify a deputy that a person has a concealed pistol permit, DeFrang said. "We're going to take a hard look at (the incident) and see if we could have and should have acted differently," he said.
There are 4,186 concealed pistol permits issued in Clallam County -- about one for every 16 residents -- and 1,516 in neighboring Jefferson County, or one for every 18, the Peninsula Daily News reported.
On each permit, applicants are asked if they have been confined to a mental health facility for more than 14 days for treatment. At least twice, in 1996 and in 1999, Roberts was involuntarily sent for a mental evaluation, Prosecutor Christopher Shea said. The man was held for 72 hours, medicated and released.
If he had been formally committed by a judge, it would have been illegal for him to possess firearms.
Court records show that in 1996, Roberts' then-wife, Madonna Sue, complained that "he held me down and restrained me with his arm ... on my throat." A fourth-degree assault conviction would have cost Roberts his gun rights, but the case was dismissed after he underwent a domestic-violence counseling program, records show.
After his arrest, officers said they found three rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun and about 400 rounds of ammunition in his house. No handguns were found.
In the preceding 13 months, deputies had responded nine times to the home, either because of complaints about Roberts' behavior or because of calls he placed to 911. None of the incident reports mentioned guns.[/quote]
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"Anyone feel like saluting the flag which the strutting ATF and FBI gleefully raised over the smoldering crematorium of Waco, back in April of ‘93?" -Vin Suprynowicz
http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/2000/08/17/deputyshot.html
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>ASSOCIATED PRESS and KIRO 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS
PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- The Clallam County sheriff's office issued a concealed weapons permit three years ago to a man now charged with gunning down Deputy Wallace E. "Wally" Davis.
The permit, good for five years, allowed Thomas Martin Roberts to carry a loaded pistol and have one in his car despite his history of mental illness and frequent brushes with the law.
Roberts could not legally be denied the permit or barred from buying guns. State and federal gun restrictions apply to people who have been committed to a mental ward by a judge or convicted of certain crimes, including domestic violence.
"Yes, we knew he had weapons," said Fred DeFrang, the sheriff's chief criminal deputy. "Our general knowledge in the department was that he had weapons at his house."
Roberts, now undergoing a 15-day mental evaluation at Western State Hospital, is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the death of Davis, who was hit by a shotgun blast Aug. 5 while answering a disturbance call at the troubled man's house.
In a court appearance last week, Roberts referred to himself as "his majesty, Pharaoh Thomas."
Although neighbors said Roberts killed cats, shouted uncontrollably on his porch and fired gunshots from his house, the sheriff's office had no choice about issuing him a concealed pistol permit because an extensive criminal check came up blank, Sheriff Joe Hawe said Wednesday.
"We lack the ability to get mental health information," Hawe added.
Deputies assume there is a gun in every house in the county, and Davis had successfully handled previous incidents involving Roberts, the sheriff said.
"As far as I am concerned, we just had a false sense of security," Hawe said.
An internal investigation may change procedures for answering calls about people known to be mentally unstable or known to have guns, he said.
For example, it has not been required to notify a deputy that a person has a concealed pistol permit, DeFrang said. "We're going to take a hard look at (the incident) and see if we could have and should have acted differently," he said.
There are 4,186 concealed pistol permits issued in Clallam County -- about one for every 16 residents -- and 1,516 in neighboring Jefferson County, or one for every 18, the Peninsula Daily News reported.
On each permit, applicants are asked if they have been confined to a mental health facility for more than 14 days for treatment. At least twice, in 1996 and in 1999, Roberts was involuntarily sent for a mental evaluation, Prosecutor Christopher Shea said. The man was held for 72 hours, medicated and released.
If he had been formally committed by a judge, it would have been illegal for him to possess firearms.
Court records show that in 1996, Roberts' then-wife, Madonna Sue, complained that "he held me down and restrained me with his arm ... on my throat." A fourth-degree assault conviction would have cost Roberts his gun rights, but the case was dismissed after he underwent a domestic-violence counseling program, records show.
After his arrest, officers said they found three rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun and about 400 rounds of ammunition in his house. No handguns were found.
In the preceding 13 months, deputies had responded nine times to the home, either because of complaints about Roberts' behavior or because of calls he placed to 911. None of the incident reports mentioned guns.[/quote]
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"Anyone feel like saluting the flag which the strutting ATF and FBI gleefully raised over the smoldering crematorium of Waco, back in April of ‘93?" -Vin Suprynowicz
