DNR Officer Fatally Shoots Man

[fish-aholic]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...073101185.html

[Charkbait]

Yeah I saw this on tidalfish, what a shame. There is a real war going on over there between the commercial guys and the rec guys. Between the $280 fine given for 31 illegal fish and the pound net battles and now this...ugh.

[fish-aholic]

Yeah I found it on another site too, there is a huge debate going on over there about whether this was justified or not....I'm under the opinion that there has got to be more to the story that we aren't being told....I'm all for the use of deadly force in the right situation.....but there are times that its not neccessary.......we may never know all the details.

[Charkbait]

I heard the guy charged the officer with a tire iron, deadly force is warranted in that case, a man with a tire iron would kill you in one blow. Other watermen said he was a little crazy as well, you never know how it could have been avoided or handled differently.

[Sam]

Well, there doesn't seem to be enough information in the report to make a clear decision. I would only deem lethal force if the man made an aggressive move towards the officer with the tire iron in hand. It really is the "peace officer's" responsibility to maintain order and it's hard to tell whether that was possible in this case without more information. Threatening (Verbal) a police officer is not against the law...

Either way, it is a disaster.

[Steve]

"Simns said the watermen told him "everybody down there kind of knew [Sherwood]. He was kind of eccentric, [and] they didn't consider him dangerous."

Talk about a "she said, he said, they said".....
What a crock, that "President" should have kept his mouth shut. He is supposed to support the watermen, not say damaging remarks about them..
Oh well, dead men tell no tales.... If any, we'll only get one side of the story....

[igormothra]

I don't have much knowledge on this topic, but wouldn't you think that an officer should shoot to wound except in extreme cases..... we are only gonna "get one side of the story" and that buggs me more than a little.. I belive an officer has every right to defend themself, but shouldn't they excercise a little dicipline while firing thier weapon? Maybe a shot in the leg would have put this guy down(it would put me down) don't know just thinking out loud

[Charkbait]

From what my buddies have said, they are trained to shoot to kill and not wound in those situations. Makes sense, if you are going to shoot someone your life better be in grave enough danger that it needs to be fatal. For all we know it could have been 5 ft away by the time shots were fired which would mean he gave the guy ample time to back down.

[Sam]

Yes, they are trained to aim for center mass.

[gonefishin]

My comment to this--for what its worth--- is none of us was there, so please don't judge the officers actions too fast, unless you have been in his shoes-----think of the disrespect and threatening comments that they put up with all the time----( and I am not saying that cops don't do wrong, alot do and should be punished, but we as a society have gotten to blame the cop first, when lethal or excessive force has been used ) Then just try to step aside and think??? if I had a guy coming at me with a tire iron in a threatening manner would you defend yourself and yes they are taught to fire center mass---( I would --in a heart beat-- and I double tap center mass and head ) remember there is absolutely no respect for law enforcement officers nowadays--it seems------------thats not an excuse but remember there is always two side to a story--we can only hope they match-------------------Kirk

[Steve]

LEOs are not "taught" to do a head shot, too easy to miss it in a dire and quickly unfolding situation. No, they don't go for the legs either. Too easy to miss moving legs, bounce off the pavement and hit an innocent. They need to quickly remove the imminent threat.

I will not judge the officer, the investigation by his superiors will do that. I will not say he was right or wrong.
What I'm looking at is that the officer had to make a split second decision, one that his life depended on. It's too easy to sit in the air conditioning, unthreatened and safe, and make an armchair call after the fact.

We don't know what the threat was that he percieved but it was enough to invoke a lethal response. This was not a rookie with a trembling hand but a real person with experience in fear of his life.

And you can bet his hands and body were trembling afterwards. That split second decision to take a life is something he will have to live with and I am truly sorry for that. You cannot imagine how that will eat at him forever....

[lipyanker]

I have lived the real story.the use of deadly force is one of the experiences an officer dreads yet is a reality everytime i put my uniform on.we train for it several times a year. we dont practice trick shots we aim for center of mass(K5) we want to put our target down if you start aiming for limbs and weapons your chances for a miss are multiplied and that means the bad guy gets another chance at you or that stray round may find another target.
It's easy to second guess the officer but after two warnings and the deceased kept swinging at him you gotta put him down so you can make it home to your loved ones.
And remember a object is determined to be deadly by the estimated amount of damage it can do to an individual when used as a weapon ( pillow -tire iron)
my prayers for the family.

[fishchile]

I missed what the officer was responding to?

[fish-aholic]

I don't think it said. That is part of the story we are still waiting for......The details were very sketchy in the article.

[fishchile]

Did anyone here anymore on this story???