WTF!!!? And then the officers are "qualified" but were "put in a position that they weren't qualified for?" What was that? Collecting newspapers?
I never heard the whole story before now.
These officers were only qualified to shoot dogs, harass motorist, and beat skateboarding teenagers senseless.
Shooting up newspaper carriers. That’s a whole different class. Different Merit badge entirely.
At the very minimum every officer in that shooting should have been charged with wreckless discharge of a firearm.
Because obviously they didn’t know Who they were shooting at!
That is not a mistake. To Everyone except Doughnut eating, steroid chewing RAMBO wannabes it is a crime and is charged all the time.
“I never heard the whole story before now.”
Me neither....probably because the LAPD knew it would portray them in an even worse light than the original story.
Seven homes hit? Nine other vehicles? Sheesh.
And what about the 20-something white guy who had his Honda Ridgeline shot up at another location?
Opening fire because they heard a sound? The h*ll you say! Within 15 minutes of any basic hunter safety course they will tell you never to "sound shoot." Whatever happened to that basic tenet of good firearms safety of "be sure of your target?" Where'd that go? These criminals heard a sound, assumed it was a gunshot and assumed they knew where it was coming from.
Then, just to compound their criminal behavior, even though they couldn't confirm gunfire or gunfire coming from the vehicle, and even though they couldn't see what they were shooting at in the vehicle they fired.
Based on rounds fired they all emptied their weapons - in a panic and in fear. You don't empty your weapon unless you're scared or in a prolonged firefight. These obviously were not measured shots engaging an enemy - there was no return fire. This was a panic, fear-driven spray and pray event. The hits on other vehicles and homes attests to that, these criminals weren't even aiming.
I hope those two ladies get millions from the department. In any settlement there are real damages and punitive damages. The real damages compensate the victim for what they've lost or been through. The punitive damages are a dis-incentive, a hard lesson to the guilty party and any others watching that you don't want to make the same mistakes. I hope these ladies each get the equivalent of say 3 to 5 years worth of the department's entire budget. Once the forces' insurance rates start skyrocketing, maybe they'll take their officers' behavior seriously. I would also go after the individual officers. I'd take their cars, their homes, every penny of savings and every dime they will ever make. They damn-near took innocent lives. They tried to kill but were fortunately inept at that part of their jobs too. They should be rotting in prison.