Posted on 07/30/2013 3:23:16 AM PDT by Wolfie
Roy Middleton, Unarmed Florida Man, Shot By Police In Own Driveway While Retrieving Cigarettes From Car
Florida law enforcement officials are investigating reports that an unarmed man was shot by police in his own driveway while retrieving cigarettes from his mother’s car.
Roy Middleton, a 60-year-old resident of Warrington, Fla., was shot in the leg by Escambia County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday, the Pensacola News Journal reports. The shooting reportedly took place on Middleton’s driveway, as he attempted to retrieve a cigarette from his mother’s car. That’s when police arrived on the scene, investigating a report of a possible vehicle break-in, Fox 10 reports.
Middleton claims that he was searching the car for a loose cigarette when he heard someone say, “Get your hands where I can see them,” the News Journal reports. The 60-year-old initially thought a neighbor was playing a joke on him, but he turned to find Escambia County police standing with guns drawn.
The 60-year-old says that he exited his mother’s car with his arms raised, but police opened fire anyway, the News Journal reports. “It was like a firing squad,” Middleton told the paper. “Bullets were flying everywhere.”
Middleton remains in a local hospital and reportedly faces several weeks of recovery. “I’m just glad they didn’t hit me here or here,” he told the News Journal, indicating his chest and head. “My mother’s car is full of bullet holes though.”
“He was just coming home like he usually does. I don’t understand why they had to use so much force under the situation,” Middleton’s mother, Ceola Walker, told Fox 10. “I don’t understand how they could fire so many shots at him. He wasn’t resisting or anything and he was at his own house.”
Middleton added that he doesn’t understand what caused officers to perceive him as a threat and shoot him. “Even if they thought the car was stolen, all they had to do was run the license plate,” Middleton told the News Journal. “They would have seen that that car belonged there.”
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the Middleton shooting Saturday, but the incident is currently being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the News Journal reports. The deputies responsible for shooting Middleton have reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
Test every LEO involved with shooting for Steroids.
I once spent 10-15 minuets trying to snaggle a dime that had gone under my car seat.
Listen, my friend, when I was a young adult in the ‘60s, the hippie culture was constantly attacking the authority of anyone in law enforcement, because how can you have a socialist revolution without discrediting the existing power structure. Then as now, I am on the side of the rule of law. I do not want to see law enforcement discredited. I do want individual abusers of power reined in and punished, because when the police do bad things, they weaken the authority of the good guys, of whom there are many in law enforcement. Furthermore, as an attorney, I get to listen to each side tell their story. Any skilled spinner can make either side sound like the bad guy or the good guy. You have to reserve judgment until all the facts are in. Neither “holster sniffing” or “police state panic peddling” is helpful to the cause of preserving this Republic, which I hold to be a higher objective than proving any particular narrative from an incomplete set of facts.
Yes, combined with the fact that the fellow's head was *inside* his car when the cops approached. They probably startled him and he reacted normally. The cops didn't anticipate this reaction and opened fire in response.
Any untrained group of morons could have done that, which raises serious questions about today's law-enforcement training programs. Not just this sheriff's departmental training, but the standardized curriculum as offered by places such as Herzing College or University of Phoenix.
And then there's the issue of "first-person-shooter" video games being tweaked and used as police "training tools". We always see comments about these games influencing the kids who go postal on their classmates, but the same sort of video-based training can desensitize cops just as easily.
I’ve shot next to cops at ranges several times around the country. I’m surprised they can hit the backstop, much less the target.
My wife’s a better shot and she only gets to the range once a year or so.
No doubt they will be found to have been acting “within department guidelines.”
You obviously know more than what is posted in the original article. Please post the story you read that indicates who called the police? A link, too, or it didn't happen and you're talking out of your azz again, sport.
Ron White comes to mind.
Unfortunately, it cannot be found.
It's an attitude they are quite proud of...as long as they get to go home after shift, to h@ll with everyone else.
“Morgan said the deputies feared for their safety and opened fire, hitting Middleton in the leg.”
If Zimmerman HAD been a cop, he could have shot Martin at 50 feet, in the back, and been cleared...
So, it was fear that motivated the shooting, & one cop didn't even know the source of the shots, so he just started shooting at the "suspect". I suppose the neighbors are lucky the cops didn't have automatic weapons with high capacity magazines.
Perhaps these "men" need another occupation, say as toilet paper testers. Apparently, they were not scared as they boldly approached the "suspect", likely with guns already drawn. Doesn't the job of cop require caution & prudence? Couldn't they take the time to observe the situation from relative safety before approaching a "suspect".
If a shiny object in the hands of someone is justification for shooting that someone, then we are ALL just a hail of police bullets from death. What ever happened to the presumption of innocence? How many of us have had to rummage around in our cars in the driveway looking for something? I did it just the other day. Do I now need to fear cops will shoot me?
I guess this makes George Zimmerman an awfully brave man. He waited until his head was being bashed into the concrete before he pulled his gun. He had no idea what weapons Trayvon had, yet he patiently followed him. I guess had Zimmerman been a cop, he could have shot that shiny Skittles bag right out of Martin's hand & claimed he feared for his own safety.
When the police initiate the violence, they are committing a crime, pure & simple. This S&!T has got to stop! NOW!
Reasonable viewpoint.
That is the most disgusting article that I have ever read. How long do you think a company printing LEO targets or other public officials would last?
Sadly today good cops are the exception not the rule.
Around me, most cops only get to the range once a year, for their annual qualification. They're encouraged to get some additional range time in, but since it's not part of the union contract, they're not paid for it and most don't.
It used to be the case that police were unarmed, and civilians armed, because the early police were recruited from lower-classes, and were patrolling upper class areas. The NY police dept were not authorized to carry guns until 1887.
Garbage in... garbage out.
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