Police vehicles at the scene of the crime. ABC News.
Police responding to a home intruder call in Colorado shoot and kill man who shot and killed the intruder. ABC News. A naked man broke into the house of Richard "Gary" Black's family. The man began strangling Black's 11 year old grandson and the boy's father and Black tried to save him. Black then drew his firearm and shot the intruder, killing him. Police had been called by a member of the family and when they arrived they shot and killed Black. Black and his grandson were taken to the hospital but Black did not make it. Black was a decorated military veteran who served in Vietnam and a former federal agent.
My Comment:
What an absolute disaster and the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Having to go through something like this and surviving only to get shot by the cops that came to help you is horrible. Successfully protecting your family but getting shot and killed for your trouble? Unthinkable. This is about the worst case scenario for both the family and the police.
It's very obvious that this was a good shoot, as far as Black shooting the intruder goes. If a naked man breaks into your house that should always be a good shoot as far as I am concerned. Not only is a break in good evidence that something bad is going to happen, when the guy is naked it just makes the implications even more clear. And it's completely obvious when a crazy naked guy is choking your young grandson to death (who was in the bathtub, more bad implications) you are good to shoot him dead. I think it is very clear that Black saved his grandson's life since he had to go to the hospital afterwards and given that the intruder was naked he might have saved him from other terrible things as well...
As for the cops though, they screwed up and screwed up bad. I'm usually on the cops side but it's pretty clear that they did the wrong thing here. Especially since they had the description of the intruder and were alerted to the fact the suspect was naked and what clothing Mr. Black was wearing. Black may have been walking out of the house with a gun in his hand but given the data the cops had they should have at least given him a chance to drop the gun. If he was given that chance and didn't shooting him might have been justified but without information saying that is the case I don't know if this is a good shoot. And if Black had put his gun away and was unarmed? No way the cops should have shot.
So why did the cops shoot? Perhaps it was the "fog of war" effect. I can see how the cops might have confused the description of Black with the description of the attacker. They could have also just been shocked to see a man with a gun coming out of the house. Keep in mind they actually heard the gunshots that killed the intruder so they might have thought that Black was the shooter. Since it was the middle of the night that could have been a factor as well. Given the scenario I am not surprised that they shot. That's a reason, not an excuse, but man I wouldn't want to be on either side of this situation. It's a nightmare for the cops too.
How do gun owners protect themselves in this kind of situation? Without more data about what Black did with his gun, it might be pertinent to state the obvious. If he had his gun out after the intruder was down, he should have holstered or cased it. But if he didn't have his gun out? Only thing I can think of is to either get on the ground with your hands away from your gun and pockets or put your hands up until the cops show up, which might not be possible if you think the suspect is still dangerous or might have a friend. In this kind of crazy situation there might not be much to do.
The whole thing reminds me of a local case that was fairly similar. It was a hostage situation at a motorcycle shop and when one of the hostages escaped with his CCW gun out he got shot by the cops. The suspect in that case got convicted for his death and the cops had a better excuse since he matched the general description of the suspect but even so it was an ugly situation.
What should happen to the cops in this case? I am not sure. Without more information about if Black was armed when he exited the house I can't say for sure. If he was armed than this is just a tragic case that nobody should probably be punished for. But if he wasn't? The cop(s) should probably lose their jobs and could face civil and criminal consequences as well. Still, it's a hard case all around and the kind of worst case scenario that both cops and armed civilians hate.
No comments:
Post a Comment