Trooper Accidentally Shoots Man (Homeowner in Shower in PA)

The Morning Call (New Jersey) ^ | March 5th, 2004 | David Slade

[Travis McGee]

State troopers, alerted by contractors there might be a burglar in a Schuylkill County home they were working in Thursday, cornered a man in the upstairs bathroom and accidentally shot him while trying to arrest him.

The man turned out to be the homeowner.

David L. Freed Jr., 51, of Wayne Township was hit in the shoulder by a bullet from Trooper Kirk Kirkland's .40-caliber handgun, Trooper Ray Albert said. (Click link for rest.)

[genefromjersey]

Just for the record, the newspaper is from NJ. Schuylkill County is in Pennsylvania,and the trooper was PA state police.

[JOE43270]

John Lott talks about this in his books. Police get to the scene afterword and have to figure out who the bad guy is. This doesen't mean polce don't need their weapons but the police do have a problem in this area.

[NukeMan]

The point is, if you wait for state despotism, you have waited too long. Police cannot make mistakes, in these circumstances. For over forty years, the US military handled nuclear weapons, flew them all over the world, had them at the ready, and NEVER made a mistake with them, because proceedures were in place to prohibit misstakes because one mistake was all you got. The same holds true with dynamic entry into the homes of citizens.

Your first point is excellent, and sums up the situation in a way that had so far defeated me. Unfortunately, we have actually made mistakes with nuclear weapons(!), dropping some and having the conventional explosives trigger portion detonate....really!

[Gringo1]

Can you say giant f*cking lawsuit that the state will have no choice but to settle for big $$$$?


And rightfully so I'd say.

[Copernicus]

For over forty years, the US military handled nuclear weapons, flew them all over the world, had them at the ready, and NEVER made a mistake with them, because proceedures were in place to prohibit misstakes because one mistake was all you got. The same holds true with dynamic entry into the homes of citizens.

While your larger point is valid, be real careful when you make sweeping generalizations about Nuclear Weapons Handling Procedures. A least a few incidents still remain classified and there were in fact several highly publicized incidents during the Cold War.

Just a "heads up"

Best regards,

[brityank]

Just for the record, the newspaper is from NJ.

THE MORNING CALL
101 North 6th St.
Allentown, PA 18101
(610) 820-6500
Home Delivery Info
Local: (610) 820-6601
Toll-free: (800) 666-5492

Left on the page half-way down.

[genefromjersey]

Sorry 'bout that,BUT: the trooper was Pennsy State Police-not ours.Our guys take enough flak from the "You're profiling our people !" crowd, without getting jumped on by the KABA crowd too.

[xsrdx]

As if... I needed... yet another reason to detest New Jersey.

On my short list of states, to be traded for a player to be named later.

[Sofa King]

So his gun just "went off"?

These are the people who the gun-grabbers want us to rely upon to defend us against criminals!

I feel safer already!

[xsrdx]

yet another reason to detest New Jersey.

Oops, looks like this was PA.

I still don't like NJ.

[Doc Savage]

Favorite story. Drove my wife to Newark airport on a Sunday AM. Traveling back on 78 with two small children in car. Traveling in right hand lane doing 50 in a 55mph. NJSTrooper follows me for 3 miles, then pulls me over. 10AM.
Tells me to get out of the car. Asks me how much I had to drink this morning. I tell him I had a glass of milk and an ice tea. Says I'm drunk. I tell him he's nuts and that I've been watching him tail me for 3 miles. Says he wants me to take the breathalyzer test and walk the line. I tell him he's nuts. Just then his shoulder radio go off and I hear him called to an accident scene. Steps into my face, hand on his gun, tells me, "This is MY road. I own it! I don't ever want to see you on MY road again!!" Turns around, jumps in his car and tears off. I think I laughed for 5 minutes before I could start the car. What a putz!
Saw too many Highway Patrol episodes I guess!

[bvw]

Bad coffee.

[brityank]

That was my point; Jersey has enough of its own bad apples, it doesn't need any help from PA. (Also why I had the Admin change the headline).

[genefromjersey]

Well, Doc,there are always a few idiots in any organization,and the NJSP is no exception; but they DO try to weed them out during selection,and they do review their performance pretty carefully.

Unfortunately there is always the idiot-often just out of the academy-(which is, by the way,one of the toughest police training courses in the world)-who thinks it's his/her job to swagger. (About like the idiots who make their misssion-fresh out of Boot Camp-to fight with any "doggies" or "swabbies" in the house.)

Most of the idiots settle down fairly soon,but a few of them crash and burn.

(We're a "state police family" by the way,and proud of it.)

[dallasgop]

Might be time for that trooper to adjust his med's.

[B4Ranch]

ROTFLMAO

literally!

[harpseal]

Police have filed no charges against Freed, but said they are investigating

Now lets see what charges they could file against him. Wasting water because of showering too long? Not wanting to surrender to armed invaders in his home? I was not aware of either of these being felonies.

[neverdem]

I cannot hear and I'll be put down for the offense of not complying with a lawful order.

Sorry to read about your hearing loss. I just have a loss in the high frequencies, but you made me remember when I was a kid being threatened by a NYPD cop for "failure to comply".

[Fresh Wind]

My apologies, I confess to not having read the unnecessarily excerpted article. It looks like there is enough blame to spread around to all involved, including the victim.

[Nick Danger]

Please keep this thread up to date... I need to go take a shower. It might be a while, too. It's hard to rinse the soap off with that Kevlar vest in the way.