Posted on 07/30/2015 8:35:36 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
An off-duty New Jersey state trooper chased after three unarmed teenagers and shot at them early Sunday after they accidentally knocked on his door, officials said Wednesday.
Trooper Kissinger Barreau told investigators he believed the teens were trying to break into his Sparta home, CBS New York reported. Police said they are investigating the shooting, but Barreau remains on active duty and hasn’t faced any charges.
One of the teens, 18-year-old Jesse Barkhorn, said he and his friends were dropping people off after a party Sunday. They mistakenly knocked on the trooper’s door, having mistaken it for a friend's house, around 2 a.m., then ran back to their car after they heard a man screaming at them through the door.
As they turned their car around a cul-de-sac, they noticed a red dot following them in the darkness — and realized it was the laser sight of a firearm. Then they saw Barreau standing outside with his personal gun.
“At this point we’re freaking out, ‘It’s a gun, it’s a gun,' ” Barkhorn said.
“I was like, 'Dude, get out of here.’ ”
As they drove away, the trooper gave chase and fired at least three shots at them, with one hitting the car’s front tires.
None of the teens were hit or injured, but all three were found by police about two miles away and kept in custody for more than nine hours before being released without charges.
Barkhorn told NJ.com they were treated as criminal suspects — getting searched repeatedly and handcuffed — and they could tell police dogs and helicopters were used to track them down.
Barreau, who has been on the force for six years, told investigators he identified himself as a police officer as he ran after the car, but Barkhorn said they never heard him say that.
Well, hey...it’s Sparta!
NJ Where gun control is for the peasants not the JBTs, and Fat Boy Christie likes it that way.
Yet another demonstration of why only professional law-enforcement personnel should be allowed to own firearms.
this cop is not going to be a cop much longer...shooting at a target that is not a threat to you is a big no.. no... he is lucky he did not hit anyone if they were driving away.....of course we only have the kids word that going to the door was a mistake in dropping someone off.
It hit both of them? Now, that's impressive.
Random people knocking on your door late at night/early morning, in a small town..
Yeah, my first reaction would be that the teens were up to no good. I’d have my pistol ready...
A modest proposal:
There should be an open season on teen hunting, say during the summer school break.
Set aside “protected wilderness” areas and if they wander off they’re fair game.
This will be a good socialization lesson- for the survivors, anyway.
Of course my lawn is always forbidden territory!
Yup, ever read: In Cold Blood?
Not true. He's a cop. He could have shot them all in the back and he would be found not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Two AM is never a good time to go around ‘knocking on doors’. That said, the officer may have overreacted. There is not enough information to determine that. I’m sure it sent a chill up their teenage spines seeing that red laser dot sniffing them out. Yikes! Scooby Do! If this was innocent, my guess is the kids were half drunk or high and sort of giddy from their Afterparty.
OTOH the usual criterion for use of deadly force, at least as applied to us plebes, is that one faces imminent deadly harm. Kids being in a car, driving away, doesn’t quite rise to that level, and if one of the kids had been hit and it were a mere peasant firing the gun, you can be sure of criminal charges against the peasant. Maybe even just for the shots fired, come to think of it. Attempted murder, or something. Reckless endangerment, negligent discharge, unlawful use of a firearm ... but, since it was a cop and not a peasant, no charges.
(*sigh*) How many idiots are in law enforcement these days?
White kids, no media hype.
And you would have what? answered the door pointing your gun at them?
I put up with some aggravating mischief, kids ringing my doorbell and running away. It never crossed my mind to shoot at them.
Out of control LEO.
Sparta NJ?
Not exactly surprised.
And I'd guess these kids NEVER knock on some stange door at 2:00am ever again.
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