Posted on 06/01/2002 5:15:13 AM PDT by kerosene
A coroner's jury needed 30 minutes Friday to determine a Las Vegas detective was justified in fatally shooting a 22--year-old Las Vegan on May 1.
The undercover officer, Timothy Schoening, testified during a coroner's inquest that he was on a stakeout May 1 near Eastern and Eucalyptus avenues when a pickup pulled up just a few feet from his undercover vehicle.
A man later identified as Phillip Michael Ramos, 22, was standing in the pickup's bed, pointed a shotgun at Schoening and fired. Schoening, who was not hit, discharged his 9 mm, striking Ramos five times.
Clark County forensic pathologist Gary Telgenhoff said one bullet entered the front left side of Ramos' chest and was responsible for his death.
Evidence presented Friday by Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Miller indicated Ramos had nothing to do with the reasons behind the stakeout Schoening and his colleagues were conducting that night. Schoening and other detectives from the Repeat Offender Program were conducting surveillance in another case when a call came out reporting a robbery.
One of the detectives saw a vehicle speeding through the area without its lights on. That led Schoening to flash his flashlight on the license plate of a parked vehicle associated with Ramos as part of a canvass of the area, and Ramos saw the detective doing that.
According to police testimony, Ramos and two acquaintances then got into a pickup and confronted Schoening, leading to the fatal shooting.
According to testimony from Las Vegas Homicide Detective James Buczek, Ramos' acquaintances then drove Ramos to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A nurse, Joe Sandy, plucked a shotgun casing from the bed of the pickup as Ramos' body was being removed. That later was presented by authorities as one of several clues proving Ramos discharged the shotgun at the detective.
It's a little-known part of affirmative action.
Now that's what I call gun control!
I would think it hard to keep focused on the front sight while someone is pointing a shotgun at you.
About as clear-cut a case of justified use of lethal force I've heard about for a long time. This Detective was pretty cool under fire.
Let's hope he's promoted for taking such action. Further east, a shooting "incident" is often a career-killer for the police officer - and No situation justifies use of lethal force!
Range-time, people, range time! If you can't hit the target with a freakin' shotgun at the same range he can hit... 5 times... surprised... while under fire... with a much shorter barrel... then you REALLY need to get out on the range. Fortunately, Phillip Michael Ramos will not be able to join a respectable range anymore. Apparently, he chooses his targets rather poorly, in addition to being such a horrible shot. I'd bet he didn't know the 4 Rules, either.
Shooting any kind of vegan is ok by me.
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