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Texas officer who shot armed 93-year-old fired
The Houston Chronicle ^ | 05-10-2014 | The Associated Press

Posted on 05/10/2014 4:20:01 PM PDT by PaulCruz2016

HEARNE, Texas (AP) — Officials in a small Central Texas town voted Saturday to fire a police officer who shot and killed an armed 93-year-old woman during a confrontation at her home.

The city council's unanimous vote to dismiss Officer Stephen Stem came after a meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes, KBTX-TV reported.

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 93yearold; abuseofpower; cop; lawenforcement; shooting; texas
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To: livius

yeah, this isn’t a cut and dried cop was wrong situation like so many others we read about. the 93 year old isn’t a small child wth a gun either. i only wish that cops would sometimes try a non-lethal shot - since they are “experts” - as opposed to always shooting center of mass. in this case it may not have been possible.


61 posted on 05/10/2014 5:29:05 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: PAR35
The nephew as reported in this article said she fired two shots.

snip

But Golden's nephew, Roy Jones, told the TV station in the Bryan-College Station area
that his aunt became upset when she was denied a driver's license renewal and armed
herself when he refused to return her car keys. Jones said he called 911, and
he said Golden fired two shots before the officer who responded shot her.

62 posted on 05/10/2014 5:32:35 PM PDT by deport
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To: Ben Mugged

“She was carrying the gun and had threatened to shoot her son unless he returned her car keys. When the officer told her to drop the gun she fired twice into the ground before the officer fired at her. He could have used a taser instead.”

LOL! The safest place for that officer to be standing was the spot that the old lady was aiming at :)


63 posted on 05/10/2014 5:37:22 PM PDT by snoringbear (E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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To: COBOL2Java

shotgun who kept yelling at him “I’m gonna KILL you!” He knew that he wouldn’t if he hadn’t by that time, and by the time he got near enough, he grabbed the rifle away from him.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shotgun or rifle? Help us out, thanks.


64 posted on 05/10/2014 5:38:18 PM PDT by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: HANG THE EXPENSE

Uh, not so much. Former pimp, drug dealer, gang member that advocated killing cops.


65 posted on 05/10/2014 5:43:39 PM PDT by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where?e)
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To: bike800; Lazamataz

You aren’t familiar with Laz’s posts, are you?

He’s quite the personality on FR.
And, a personal hero of mine.

;-)


66 posted on 05/10/2014 5:44:24 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Uninstall Fascist Firefox. Get Pale Moon.)
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To: loungitude

Both. It was a shifle.


67 posted on 05/10/2014 5:48:23 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Early 2009 to 7/21/2013 - RIP my little girl Cathy. You were the best cat ever. You will be missed.)
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To: snoringbear

I still don’t get why the nephew didn’t give her back her keys, let her calm down, and get her professional medical attention. I would not call the cops on crazy granny. If my granny pulled a gun, I would give her the keys. Knowing some stroke victims, dementia patients all you have to do is give them a cookie and time to cool down. She won’t even remember what happened. Gives you ample opportunity to sanitize the area of sharp objects or guns and get her help. I would never ever call the cops on granny gots a gun.


68 posted on 05/10/2014 5:48:24 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deco et Vives)
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To: COBOL2Java; willywill; PaulCruz2016; FreeperCell; gaijin; wonkowasright; moovova; ...

Nephew: Woman, 93, fired shots before being killed
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3154338/posts


69 posted on 05/10/2014 5:49:04 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I will raise $2M for Cruz and/or Palin's next run, what will you do?)
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To: Secret Agent Man
yeah, this isn’t a cut and dried cop was wrong situation like so many others we read about. the 93 year old isn’t a small child wth a gun either. i only wish that cops would sometimes try a non-lethal shot - since they are “experts” - as opposed to always shooting center of mass. in this case it may not have been possible.

I've seen circus acts where the guy catches a bullet in his teeth. If a cop cannot do better than a SIMPLE CIRCUS ACT, he has no business on the force.

70 posted on 05/10/2014 5:49:39 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Early 2009 to 7/21/2013 - RIP my little girl Cathy. You were the best cat ever. You will be missed.)
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To: livius

I absolutely loathe excessive use of force by LEO’s, but if your recounting of events is accurate, this was justifiable.


71 posted on 05/10/2014 5:49:47 PM PDT by EricT. (Everything not forbidden is compulsory.)
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To: Lazamataz

Yup, Flintbolt, got it.
Thanks,


72 posted on 05/10/2014 5:51:52 PM PDT by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: zeestephen

She sure looks black in the picture.


73 posted on 05/10/2014 5:52:17 PM PDT by beelzepug (You can't fix a broken washing machine by washing more expensive clothes in it.)
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To: loungitude

Sorry, don’t remember. It was in another one of these posts.


74 posted on 05/10/2014 6:01:28 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: ican'tbelieveit
read an article today where her “kin” got her into this situation by calling the cops on her for pulling a gun on them... and then she popped off a few shots at the cop.

She was a feisty spirited little old lady. So she fired a few rounds off at the cops. Why the hell didn't the cops just leave, and the relatives wait her out, and eventually get the gun from her? I mean, come on. The solution to this would have been to walk away, and THAT's the solution that would have been taken (and no doubt has been taken) in any sane community where this rather amusing human drama has played out and will play out. Does anybody think this is the first time a cantankerous old grandma has taken a pot shot at an officer? Puhleeeeze.

But to drop the ol' lady because the cop feared for his life after she winged a few shots at him?

Candy ass cop with way flawed priorities. He could have protected his own life just as well by leaving her as shooting her.

Disgusting.

75 posted on 05/10/2014 6:04:57 PM PDT by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: PaulCruz2016

I’m going to pine in here and I’m not doing so lightly:

I’ve read all the comments through what was 61 at the time. This thread has a bit more information than the first I read. I’m just assuming at that time I was too busy to click on the parent link of the OP, as my understanding of the shooting then was patently wrong.

First, aside from the known facts in the case, a “City Council Investigation” is NOT a Grand Jury. There has been NO Grand Jury on this matter. The CC held an ‘emergency meeting’ and reacted by firing the officer for what I deem (from what I’ve read at this link and others the past half hour) a ‘justifiable shooting’.

That stated, a summary:
1. White cop shoots armed black woman
2. White cop gets fired without due process

Sorry, but anyone that finds that justifiable is patently wrong. And I’m one of those that is likewise alarmed at ‘cops patrolling like the US is Afghanistan’ and concerned by duty officers’ body count in cases of ‘unarmed’ victims.

Wait for the Grand Jury. There’s just no sense in getting all caught up in that community’s emotional reactions (which are race-based, btw)...watch this video and look at the community members in attendance at the CC meeting

http://www.click2houston.com/news/hearne-pd-officer-terminated-after-fatal-shooting/25916724

I’ll also just poke a reminder here: Family members called police on the gal because they were ‘threatened’ and presumably afraid of her with the gun. She then confronted an armed officer with predictable results.

If the situation was different, white guy or gal & white cop (no racial overtones), I’d call it either ‘suicide by cop’ or ‘Darwinism’...IMHO.


76 posted on 05/10/2014 6:06:13 PM PDT by logi_cal869
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To: Finny

I don’t disagree. We need to demand a change to the training of our police. Plenty of non-lethal means to handle these situations. Getting a bit of background on people they are encountering; in a town like this the town knew this woman, so it wouldn’t be hard to do.

But, given our current operating procedure, it wasn’t a clear abuse of power. She was shooting, cop didn’t know what he was encountering because procedures aren’t in place for that, so he used lethal force.


77 posted on 05/10/2014 6:07:35 PM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
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To: DariusBane

Those were my thoughts as well.

Generally speaking, one doesn’t pull a gun on family members or policemen. No doubt she had some dementia.


78 posted on 05/10/2014 6:14:36 PM PDT by berdie
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To: MaxMax
Officer is white in a town with a majority black population and an Hispanic mayor.

He had already shot and killed a known gang member in his gang-ridden town less than two years before.

The mayor called for his job before the incident statement had even been taken.

79 posted on 05/10/2014 6:20:58 PM PDT by wideawake
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To: logi_cal869

“That stated, a summary:
1. White cop shoots armed black woman
2. White cop gets fired without due process”

1. White cop shoots 93 year old black woman.
Hey, long as we’re summarizing might as well get the correct perspective.
2. White cop gets fired without due process.
Hell, I got fired without due process. And I didn’t kill anyone. Lest of all a 93 year old woman. So no, I’m not crying for the cop.

The son-of-a-bitch shoots a 93 year old woman and you’re worried that he lost his job? A cop shoots my Grandmother and that’s gonna be the least of his worries.

Un-be-frickin’-levable.


80 posted on 05/10/2014 6:50:34 PM PDT by saleman
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