Posted on 09/04/2001 2:58:32 PM PDT by Henry F. Bowman
SANTA CLARITA --
[human interest story of sympathy snipped]
Jake Kuredjian was shot and killed by James Allen Beck, investigators said, after federal agents tried to serve a warrant at Beck's Brooks Circle home. Beck -- a onetime police officer and twice-convicted felon -- opened fire on law enforcement officers, and Kuredjian was among the first officers to respond to the call for help from his fellow officers.
Kuredjian was shot once in the head while aiming his gun at Beck from behind a red Ford Explorer, [LA County Sheriff Deputy? Lt. Carl] Deeley said.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office found Saturday that based on the trajectory of the bullet, there was no doubt that Kuredjian had been shot from above. That rules out the possibility that surfaced this weekend that the deputy was shot by another law enforcement officer by mistake, Deeley said.
During telephone negotiations with sheriff's officials, Beck apologized for shooting Kuredjian, Deeley said.
"After the initial torrent, he apologized for shooting Jake," Deeley said. "But then he said he wasn't going back to jail and any officer coming in the house would pay for it. Then he was sorry again."
The shootout ended after officers fired tear gas into the residence. Then a fire, which investigators believe Beck set, broke out in the house, consuming it. Remains believed to be those of Beck were found Saturday in the charred ruins of the house, along with several guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to authorities.
Beck's former neighbors, who were terrorized by the ferocious gun battle for nearly three hours, greeted the slain officer's family Monday with hugs and handshakes, some crying with the deputy's brothers, Deeley said.
"The neighborhood adopted this family," said Deeley, a black band stretched across his badge. "It was very emotional."
Deeley acknowledged that deputies and other law enforcement officers -- perhaps late arrivals to the tumultuous scene -- had fired directly at the houses on either side of Beck's home Friday in error. Both homes are pocked with dozens of bullet holes and other damage.
"We'll do whatever we can to make things right," said Deeley, who noted that a final report on the shootout -- including a time line of events -- could take weeks.
They sure are awfully certain here. Now, considering that the deputy was two houses down (about 200 feet away), and that a second floor shot would come from about 10 feet higher than a ground floor shot, or 2.87 degrees of elevation. That means that if the deputy had his nose lowered by 1/4" from the assumed head orientation, a ground floor shot could have led to the same wound. People shoot with slightly different head angles, and it seems to defy logic to be so absolutely certain of a conclusion that rests on such a tenuous premise.
Let's just repeat that, shall we?
Well,
Did Beck have a history with the feds as an informant? Is that why he told neighbors he worked for the feds?
"The Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed Monday that Kuredjian died from a mortal head wound but said the official autopsy report would not be made public for at least several days."
Why all the misinformation on this topic. The coroner has made no determination on the friendly fire question, only one the Departments on the scene blasting away hundreds of rounds in a residential neighborhood have cleared themselves, not the coroner.
Why don't they put the quote in context? What was Beck told immediately prior to his 'confession'?
How many shots did Beck fire, and what caliber(s) did he use? How many did the police fire? What calibers did they use?
IMO, the police statements are still vague enough to allow some wiggle room if they need it later.
But I don't know why, even assuming the warrant was completely justified, they had to serve him at home. Why not pick him up far away from any supposed stash of guns?
There are a lot of questions that should be asked of the law enforcement folks. However, based on what I've seen so far, I think it's quite likely that he did shoot the officer, and I think he chose not to leave an obviously burning house. That's at least two mistakes on Beck's part.
Now hold on. My wife tells me that she read the transcript of that call (posted elsewhere on Freerepublic - please provide link or quote if possible - apparently it was on the 600+ post thread). The transcript essentially quoted the authorities telling Beck that an officer had been shot, and Beck saying that, gee, he was sorry to hear that (not quoting).
Does anyone remember "We are really sorry that your pilot lost his life when he flew into our plane"?
Sounds like these authorities are desparate to get the public to believe what the evidence does not really support.
Leni
I'm curious. Why are people so reluctant to think Beck didn't do this? Sheesh, it's not debateable that he was shooting, is it? Is it so hard to believe that he hit someone with a shot?
"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."
-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, 1950
"The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office found Saturday that based on the trajectory of the bullet, there was no doubt that Kuredjian had been shot from above. That rules out the possibility that surfaced this weekend that the deputy was shot by another law enforcement officer by mistake, Deeley said.
DEELEY SAID
Is Deeley the coroner? No, LA County Sheriff Deputy Lt. Carl Deeley is not the coroner. The coroner said expect a report in several days. What are these guys hiding?
If Beck was a felon in possession of firearms and the deputy died from friendly fire, I think everyone would understand such accidents are inevitable in such a serious undertaking.
If Beck was not a felon and the Deputy died by friendly fire as a result of the ATF serving an unconstitutional or illegal search warrant, the public would expect someone to be held accountable.
When will the Deeley be asked for specific verifiable information that would allow someone to confirm Beck was a felon? Such as a date of the felony conviction,the state and court, the judge, time served for the conviction, or where the time was served. Without those details we can no more believe Beck was a felon than we can believe the ridiculous trajectory theory. The bullet fragmented when it hit the visor, negating the conclusions of Lt. Deeley.
The police encounter started bad and ended worse. Everything in between was screwy. The police have looked like such idiots/incompetents/tyrants and the facts seem to shift whenever they are called into question.
Since the cops have come off as screwed up, it is just that much easier to speculate that the hit one of their own and had to cover it up.
Add to that that there is no indication that Beck was involved with any criminal plans (yeah, I know it's not lawful for felons to own guns, and that's another entire thread of its own!) and wasn't on the verge of hurting anyone. On Thursday he's a blowhard that the neighbors don't like. On Friday he's raided, trapped, and burned. And we get a lot of 'sh!t happens' attitudes.
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