Harris County: Deadliest in U.S. for deputies (hurl alert)

Harris County sheriff's Deputy Shane Bennett paid with his life this week for our state's lack of gun laws. Shot during a home invasion, he was one of three deputies shot in the line of duty in recent weeks in Harris County. Tommy J. Bohannon's shooting (June 9) and Harris County Deputy Robert Spurgeon's shooting (May 15) make Harris County the deadliest in the U.S.

Members of violent gangs use guns to inflict terror on citizens and peace officers, although Texas voters have the ability to take these gangs' firepower away.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reports that Texas ranks No. 1 in the number of gun shows held yearly and fourth in gun trafficking.

Voters in Texas should care enough about our law enforcement officers and the safety of our homes and neighborhoods to pass a state law requiring something as sensible and enforceable as background checks for gun purchasers at gun shows.

This would mean that Texas would no longer tolerate allowing anyone - even those prohibited by federal law from purchasing guns - to buy guns at gun shows with "no questions asked."

Asking for these background checks at gun shows would put us in good company. A variety of national and state organizations - including the U.S. Association of Police Organizations, the League of Cities and the National Education Association all have endorsed similar legislation.

A recent poll shows that 86 percent of Americans support background checks at gun shows.

If anyone needs more convincing to support such a law, here are a few more reasons: Requiring background checks would not only make guns less available to criminals, but would reduce the number of illegal guns in circulation and increase the ability of law enforcement to enforce current laws.

It would also reduce the risk of gun violence for the mentally disturbed and young people.

And, decreasing illegal gun trafficking would, of course, help to better protect our peace officers

Bullet that killed deputy apparently not suspect's

By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

The gun used by a robbery suspect in a shootout with Harris County deputies last week does not appear to be the one that killed Deputy Shane Bennett, a Sheriff's Department official said Wednesday.

Capt. Dick Henderson said one of two suspects shot at the deputies, but his .380-caliber handgun apparently did not cause Bennett's fatal head wound.

"It makes us believe that it could have been friendly fire," Henderson said.

Henderson said three guns were fired in the June 12 shootout: Bennett fired his 9 mm pistol about four times; suspect Daniel Damian Jr. fired his .380-caliber handgun twice; and Deputy Sean Conrad fired his .45-caliber pistol about nine times. Suspect Carlos Alberto Ramirez did not fire his 9 mm gun, and Deputy T.L. Burks did not fire his gun, Henderson added.

Harris County Medical Examiner Dr. Joye Carter said the fatal bullet entered the back left side of Bennett's head. Ballistics tests are still to be done to determine what caliber the fatal bullet was.

Rosa Ochoa, who lived at the house in the 3000 block of Havner, said she saw Bennett lying face down with a bullet wound in the back of his head immediately after the shootout.

Sheriff Tommy Thomas has said the suspects' and deputies' positions would help investigators figure out who actually shot Bennett.

Responding to a 911 call June 12, Bennett was followed single-file by deputies Conrad and Burks into a dark house in northeast Harris County and confronted two masked, armed robbers, investigators said.

A gunbattle ensued in which Bennett, 29, Damian and Ramirez were killed.

Two residents, Rosa De La Garza and her 3-month-old son, Ray, were wounded.

Another suspect, Benjamin Gonzalez, fled the house before the shootout. A fourth, Christian Gonzalez, was in a getaway car, and the fifth, Richard Longoria, was in a lookout car.

Longoria and the Gonzalez brothers are charged with aggravated robbery and are being held without bail.

Damian was to the deputies' right and Ramirez was toward their left as they entered the room where the shooting occurred, investigators said.

Confusion reigned during the gunbattle, said Assistant District Attorney Chuck Noll, who is prosecuting the surviving suspects.

Noll said the deputies heard screams and went into the house, which was nearly pitch-black. They turned on their flashlights and walked through a few rooms.

Conrad followed Bennett and Burks was third in line. They walked through a bedroom, passed through a small utility room and then stepped through a doorway into a den. Conrad told investigators he then heard gunfire and he stepped back out of the doorway.

Then he stepped forward again and fired, believing he shot Damian. He said he could not remember if Bennett was standing when Damian was shot, Noll said.

Conrad and Burks are both on administrative leave.

Prosecutors have said they would file capital murder charges against the surviving suspects if the investigation showed their accomplices fired the fatal bullets.

If final reports prove Bennett was shot by a fellow deputy, the case of the three surviving suspects creates a legal quandary for prosecutors.

Neil McCabe, a criminal law expert at South Texas College of Law, said the surviving suspects could be charged with murder even if they didn't kill Bennett. But he said he did not know if they could be charged with capital murder because an intentional killing is required for that charge.

McCabe said prosecutors could argue that the dead suspects had intended to kill the deputies in the gunbattle, which would mean their accomplices in the break-in could be charged with capital murder.

"If a defendant sets in motion a set of causes that leads to the death, he can be charged with the death," McCabe said.

Here's what I just sent the Friendly Reader Rep, and my thanks to my ever-informed FReepers for some of my data!

Miss Woods is absolutely, totally, stunningly wrong. She's so very wrong that one has trouble deciding where to start.

First, our officers have died not because Texas lacks gun laws, but because the federal government does not uphold the gun laws it already has.

Second, Texas voters have no ability - legislative, physical or otherwise - to "take these gangs' firepower away." I invite Miss Woods to investigate the fact that when the crime rate rises, anywhere in the civilized world, the rise was preceded by a decline in private gun ownership.

Third, what the BATF reports about our gun-show frequency has nothing at all to do with home invasions. I invite Miss Woods to canvass gun-show attendees; if after asking 20 people, she finds five unemployed, I will eat my hat. (As a corollary, I would note that gun buyers at shows still must produce Form 4473 at the time of purchase; ergo, there is no such thing as a no-questions-asked transaction at a show.)

Fourth, background checks at gun shows have nothing at all to do with home invasions. I invite Miss Woods (again) to visit with some inmates who have been convicted of home invasions and ask where they got their guns; if any procured one at a gun show, I will eat my boyfriend's hat.

Fifth, I question the premise that the National Education Association and the League of Cities are "good company," given their socialist proclivities.

Sixth, mandatory background checks at gun shows demonstrably do NOT have any of the effects Miss Woods claims. I invite Miss Woods to read John Lott's excellent book, "More Guns, Less Crime."

Seventh, the fact that some poll somewhere reflects Miss Woods's agenda is irrelevant. Finally, I invite Miss Woods to peruse Darrell Huff's classic "How to Lie with Statistics", and I promise that even for her, it will be an easy read.

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