Posted on 06/04/2012 7:51:28 AM PDT by fella
Witnesses claim Dallas officer shot suspect in the back
by JONATHAN BETZ
WFAA
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 10:00 PM
Updated today at 7:35 A
DALLAS — Conflicting stories are emerging surrounding Saturday's killing of an armed man by a Dallas police officer.
Police justify the shooting as self-defense, although witnesses report the 21-year-old suspect was shot in the back as he ran from the officer.
John Husband III, 21, of Dallas, was killed Saturday afternoon outside an apartment complex in the 3600 block of Folklore Trail in Oak Cliff.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
Well, I can certainly point a gun at you over my shoulder as I run away. You could then fire at me and hit me in the back.
It’s fairly common for idiot criminals to do that with a gun, not caring who they hit or where they are pointing their gun.
“Shot in the back” doesn’t necessarily tell us much.
That is a real stretch. A guy running away cannot and would not blindly shoot in a direction about 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
“According to the witnesses, the officer didn’t make any effort to chase the suspect, just pulled out the gun and shot him.”
What state?
Who can’t shoot over their shoulder?
It’s easy if you don’t care what you hit.
I just tried it with a BB pistol and I had no trouble shooting directly behind me.
Heck, it doesn’t need to be direct, an officer or civilian would just need to see the barrel pointed back towards them.
Then they can fire at the perp.
NC
He’s using a mirror, but he cares what he hits.
The latest iteration; the link supplied with this thread is no longer valid.
At the bottom of the updated story, the following is appended:
Here is the complete statement issued Monday by the Dallas Police Department:
On June 2, 2012 John Robert Husband, 02/12/1991, was observed by Dallas Police Officer Leland Limbaugh #10051 driving into the Spring Ridge Apartments at 3600 Folklore Trail without signaling his intent to turn. Two occupants were in the vehicle with suspect Husband. Officer Limbaugh conducted a traffic stop and as he approached, he smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car. When asked if there were guns or weapons in the vehicle, suspect Husband replied there were not.
Officer Limbaugh requested suspect Husband step out of the vehicle. It was the officer’s intent to pat down suspect Husband to check for weapons. As suspect Husband stepped out of the vehicle and was turning his back to the officer to be patted down, Officer Limbaugh observed the handle of a handgun in Husband’s waistband. Officer Limbaugh grabbed suspect Husband’s hands, attempted to place them behind his back and told Husband not to grab for the gun. Suspect Husband ignored the officer’s commands and began to struggle with the officer, eventually freeing his right hand and reached for the gun in his waistband. Officer Limbaugh, fearing for his life, fired one shot with his left hand that struck suspect Husband near the left shoulder blade. Suspect Husband staggered and fell to the ground and the officer then took the suspect’s weapon, a fully loaded .40 caliber handgun, and placed it on the hood of the police vehicle while waiting for backup officers to arrive. When the backup officers arrived, the two additional occupants of the suspect vehicle were removed and suspect Husband was handcuffed.
Suspect Husband was transported to Methodist Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The handgun he had in his possession had been reported lost to the Plano Police Department. Marijuana was recovered from suspect Husband’s person. The additional occupants of the vehicle are identified as Xavier Bryant 09/27/1989 and Derrick Epps 12/07/1985. They were interviewed by detectives and released. Officer Limbaugh’s car was not equipped with a video camera. Approximately 92% of all patrol vehicles are equipped with dash cameras. Officer Limbaugh is currently on special assignment.
The Dallas Police Department Special Investigations Unit is responsible for investigating officer involved shootings. They have already interviewed witnesses to the incident, as well as the involved parties. They will also interview any additional witnesses, review physical evidence and results from the Medical Examiner in order to develop findings for the District Attorney to present to a Dallas County Grand Jury. This process is observed in all cases of police officer involved shootings to allow for the impartial arbitration of facts. Any eyewitnesses to the incident are encouraged to call the Special Investigations Unit at (214) 671-3664.
A cop would actually tell a suspect to put his hands behind his back AFTER noticing a gun tucked in the back of his pants and then place the gun on the hood of his police car while waiting for backup?
And on top of that,released the other suspects? At what distance was the suspect from the cop when he was shot?
Since I wasn’t there, I don’t know all the facts; but you are naive if you think a cop wouldn’t lie to save his butt.
Don’t believe everything the police tell you.
The office better have a good explanation on why he felt the suspect posed an imminent threat. Another question I have is distance of the suspect from the LEO when the shot was fired. We don’t need a bunch of trigger happy cops in this country.
It is also unbelievable that the driver of a car would drive with a .40 caliber hand gun tucked in the back of his pants. He would have put it under his seat or under the passenger’s seat once he saw he was being pulled over.
The police department is in full CYA mode. Will be interesting to see the ballistics and fingerprint reports.
Thanks for the update from the police dept.However, why didn’t the winesses see this struggle for the gun that the officer says happened? This also does not sound like protocal when one is arresting a subject. Also, the cop pulled him over for failure to signal?!? I have never known anyone who was pulled over for such a petty thing. Sheesh! Was this a cop looking for trouble? For someone who is rapidly losing faith in law enforcement, this does not help.
With full information this sure looks like a good shoot to me.
The cop’s story is bullshit and don’t be surprised if it turns out the gun was planted.
My brother is a 25 year veteran in a police force in Calif, and he would be the first one to tell you that there are a lot of bad cops out there. Whether it’s due to incompetence, laziness, or pure evil, it’s out there and to pretend otherwise is extremely naive. I think your questions are totally legit and need to be answered.
The first name of the black teenager who was killed by George Zimmerman is Trayvon, not Travon. And the city in Florida in which this incident took place is Sanford, not Stanford.
What happened to the link?
Officer Limbaugh requested suspect Husband step out of the vehicle. It was the officer’s intent to pat down suspect Husband to check for weapons. As suspect Husband stepped out of the vehicle and was turning his back to the officer to be patted down, Officer Limbaugh observed the handle of a handgun in Husband’s waistband. Officer Limbaugh grabbed suspect Husband’s hands, attempted to place them behind his back and told Husband not to grab for the gun. Suspect Husband ignored the officer’s commands and began to struggle with the officer, eventually freeing his right hand and reached for the gun in his waistband. Officer Limbaugh, fearing for his life, fired one shot with his left hand that struck suspect Husband near the left shoulder blade.
____________________________
If suspect had his back to the LEO, how could the LEO, who allegedly shot suspect in the back, see if the suspect was reaching for his waistband? Could the officer somehow see through the suspect?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.