Oklahoma troopers under fire after fatally shooting assistant pastor trapped in floodwater

Daily News ^ | 31 May 2015 | Nicole Hensely

[DUMBGRUNT]

A man was shot and killed by Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers who were only there to help him and his brother as they struggled to get a car through rising floodwaters, local reports said.

[kiryandil]

TexasTransplant wrote: See Post 5

referring to Post 5

sport wrote: Again, further proof if further proof is required, that involving the police only makes any situation worse.

Gee, TT - you gonna argue the other side of that coin - that involving the police DIDN'T make the situation worse?

We're waiting with bated breath for your incisive analysis...

[JohnBrowdie]

well, it’s not according to the dead guy. there aren’t many options after that. you’re trying awfully hard to convict cops.

[kiryandil]

Maybe they also gave a few beers for his brother to drink so they could arrest him for intoxication.

Maybe they needed a "charge" to arrest his brother, but we all know the polices would NEVER do anything like that...

Ever. LOL! :)

[txhurl]

Not a good sign.

[txhurl]

PING more shoot first, protect later bttt

[sport]

The jackboot lickers never give up, do they?

[sport]

Oh, they did. They deescalated the hell out of it. They deescalated that poor soul right into the graveyard.

[House Atreides]

“well, it’s not according to the dead guy. there aren’t many options after that. you’re trying awfully hard to convict cops.”
****************************************************************************************************
Well, there IS the brother (who is conveniently under arrest and apparently incommunicado). And the whole (very small and not fleshed out) explanation by the police so far does not pass the smell test. Several days have passed since the killing and they state they don’t know:

how many of the troopers opened fire

how many rounds were fired

just what “A handgun was found” means (on the pastor?, being “brandished”?, in the truck?, in a holster?)—and WHEN the handgun was “found” (”found” during the “confrontation”, after the death of the pastor, etc.)

just what, IF ANYTHING, the dead assistant pastor is alleged to have been doing with his weapon (i.e., did he have it in his hands, was he aiming it, was it holstered, etc)

nor

just what specifically “Some kind of confrontation ensued” means.

And I’m not trying to “convict the cops”, I’m pointing out where the police are being strangely silent on ANY details of this shooting. I agree with the dead man’s wife...RELEASE THE DASH CAM VIDEOS. Those are typically released within a day of incidents such as this.

[kiryandil]

I see the headline but the story gives absolutely no idea why guns were drawn.

“A handgun was found,” he [police spokeshole] told the Guardian. “I can’t verify whether it was being brandished but the deceased individual did have a handgun … the investigators are still trying to determine how many shots were fired. We know there was more than one but an exact number, I don’t have that information available yet.”

LOL! Check out the SIDESTEP! Soooooooo - was the gun in the guy's hand? In his truck? In the field several hundred feet away? I see an industrial strength smoke generator here:

click on the pic for a master's rendition of the Sidestep (Charles Durning)

"...We know there was more than one but an exact number, I don’t have that information available yet.”

Translation: "I was walking by on the street and they just hired me for this spokesman position like 5 minutes ago. They don't tell me nothing."

ROFL!

[kiryandil]

See my post #49. :)

[kiryandil]

Wonder if the potato chip companies will ever come up with a Boot Polish-flavor chip? It will be a big seller in some quarters... ;)

[House Atreides]

Great minds think alike...but you do it with humor. :^)

[Blogatron]

They were aiming for the dog.

[DoodleDawg]

I wonder how many FReepers will read the story or wait for more information before automatically assuming the police are guilty.

Having read other accounts of the killing I have a hard time understanding what could have prompted the police to shoot other than bad judgment on their part.

[Joan Kerrey]

What is happening at FR that so many here feel justified in bashing the cops before all the facts are in.

There are hundreds of possible scenarios that are possible that would affect one’s opinion.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Early reports are error prone.

That in itself can lead to a to a feeding frenzy of trolls.

At the periphery of the frenzy, troll baiters and more trolls...

Just like the nine circles of hell!

Welcome to the fifth circle, Anger.

Dante had it all worked out, a long time ago.

[DUMBGRUNT]

They had to kill him to save him.

YES!
Maybe even:

They had to kill him, to save him from himself.

[Delta 21]

Even in a flash flood,

calling the police WILL make the situation you are currently facing,

WORSE!

[Carl Vehse]

There are so many gaps, weasel words, and use of the passive voice in this and other news stories, that it is impossible to determine from them what really happened between the police and the two brothers.

Another news story, similarly filled with vagueness and speculation, quotes a person claimed to be Oklahoma Department of Public Safety spokesman Captain Paul Timmons as saying, "A handgun was found. I can’t verify whether it was being brandished but the deceased individual did have a handgun … the investigators are still trying to determine how many shots were fired."

[ladyrustic]

White lives matter too. Interact with out-of-control police forces, for any reason no matter how innocuous, at your own peril.

What, exactly, is their purpose again? From what I’ve seen in the news, it’s to write tickets for revenue purposes, direct traffic at road construction, collect evidence after a violent crime has occurred, and shoot people, sometimes in the back, for verbal disrespect, or daring to run from them.