Tacoma police chief shoots wife, kills himself

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^

[Bogey78O]

This violence will continue till we take guns out of the hands of children...er...regular citizens...er....cops...er... ban all guns!

/sarcasm

[freebilly]

It's Charlton Heston's fault....

[FirstTomato]

Kids with parents at war are at a distinct disadvantage in life, and now with their parents dead, perhaps it will get worse, but with luck perhaps they will find a new life with people who love them more than they love to hate each other.

Every single person who is the son or daughter of parents at war knows the incredible pain these people bring to every aspect of life.

And anyone who is the product of a "happy" family will NEVER understand.

[cmsgop]

We need to ban Police Chiefs.....

[marktwain]

We obviously do not know the truth of everything that happened, but I wonder if he might have been pushed over the edge by the knowledge that if his wife prevailed in court, his career would be over.

There is a strong bias in favor of women in these cases, and it is clear from the article that he knew it.

Nothing justifies his actions, but I just wonder. I knew a man in somewhat simular circumstances whose family was being destroyed. It appeared that he and his wife were whistle blowers, and the county attorney was using the Lautenberg law to destroy them.

His wife made the stupendous mistake of calling the police, (probably had watched too much TV) apparently to intimidate her husband after an argument. Once the police were called, it was totally out of her hands. The attorney for the husband believed that the wife was threatened with the loss of her children if she didn't come up with the desired statements to convict the husband. The wife was pressured into requesting a restraining order (she was a Mexican national). With the restraining order, the husband had no where to live, and no communications with the wife. The prosecutor's office kept asking for delay after delay, which had the effect of gradually eroding the funds the husband had borrowed from his parents for his defense. It was a very bad scene.

So, I just wonder.

[TalBlack]

This is off topic but: It occured to me while reading this story in the paper that I'd like to see a study on the number of civilian legal gun owners who use them in this way as compared to the number of cops who end up using them this way. I wonder because offhand I have the sense that cops seem to do this an awful lot.

[TalBlack]

You're right to wonder. I know guys whos wife resorted to calling cops at the slightest pretext during an argument. Divide and conquer applies here, and the Gov't is BOSS.

[cake_crumb]

"I think that people are saddened it got to that stage and unhappy that it happened here, and unhappy that it happened at all."

He thinks. Doesn't sound to me like he thinks much at all. That wussy, PC statement makes me sick.

Restratinging orders are useless anyway. You're more likely to be dead long before the police respond. And when the plaintiff is the police chief...forget it.

I pray she pulls through.

[friendly]

The divorce "system" in the US is corrupt and exceedingly evil. The lawyer industry profits vast money from the crooked courts. In my locale (Nassau County, NY) many of the judges are retired divorce lawyers.

[cake_crumb]

And another thing : is there something wrong with the water supply around the Tacoma area? Where was Rachael Corrie from?

[HairOfTheDog]

A man shoots the mother of his children and then himself, in the middle of the afternoon, in front of his screaming children, in a strip mall parking lot, and a few people here are blaming divorce courts.

The man lost it. No screwed up court system causes this. Good grief.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Yes, parents at war do bring a tremendous amount of pain into this world. Lets pray that the kids recover from this.

The existing divorce system needs a radical overhaul. It is bringing too many families to this end of events. The domestic violence occuring in court under the guidance of the legal system must end.

[firewalk]

The victims were the chief of the Tacoma Police Department and his wife.

The police chief was not a "victim" of this shooting.

[cake_crumb]

"...the lawyer industry...."

Well said. It is an industry, and it IS evil. I've known of so many cases where a couple split up, and if left to their own devices would probably have gone the no fault route and even maintained some sort of 'friendly' working relationship for the sake of their children who are the only real victims.

As soon as a LAYWER gets involved, expecially when he smells a practically unlimited amound of funds to be gained from dragging the case out for years and years and years, the MISERY compounded by this evil, greedy individual is incalculable. Corrupt, greedy lawyers give all lawyers a bad name.

[friendly]

Post #15: excellent and totally on the mark.

[MinuteGal]

I believe the article stated the wife is alive, altho in critical condition at the hospital.

I pray for her sake and the childrens' sake that she pulls through without lasting physical damage.

It's just awful those poor kids had to experience this.

Leni

[FirstTomato]

the wife is alive

---
Oh. I somehow missed that. thanks.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

So much for the concept of personal responsibility. (Can you buy a t-shirt that says "The Gavel Made Me Do It"?)

[cake_crumb]

"Restratinging" was supposed to be "restraining". Yeeesh. It looked ok when I proofread it...