[tarawa]

Yeah, I know I could say "If only she had been carrying the gun on her, rather than in the trunk.", or any number of other things, but all I can really say is that I'm glad people still chose to stop and at least TRY to help......

[Sender]

"...Seattle's Fremont Summer Solstice Parade, where it's normal to see naked men on bicycles..."

Seattle, constantly recalibrating the definition of "normal"

[ReadMyMind]

Nudity is dangerous. That's why we've banned it.

[monday]

So what happened to the perp? Is he still running around naked, shooting people in the head?

[Tailback]

I'm sure this wasn't a hate crime either. Notice how the article mentions the race and blond hair of the woman running after the perp, but not the perp himself.

[Imal]

There are many intriguing facets to this tragic tale:

- The officer was shot with his own pistol.

- The race of the murderer was not directly disclosed in accordance with political correctness, even though race clearly was a factor in this criminals behavior, but the writers have no problem using the expression "white woman" ("...the man at times shouted incoherently about white oppression of African Americans. A white, blond-haired woman ran after him, calling him by name...").

- Armed citizens were on hand to aid the officer, but unfortunately couldn't intervene in time.

- Needless to say, gun prohibitionists will not so much as acknowledge these events ever took place, since Officer Herzog was shot with his own pistol, and the two armed citizens who came to the aid of the officer were not trigger-happy cowboys/cowgirls. And the pepper spray didn't work. And this guy threw off a crowd of people "like water on a duck's tail", meaning just about everything short of a gun wouldn't have stopped this guy.

- No mention of whether or not the murderer was caught or is still running around with a police pistol.

- The murderer is almost certainly schizophrenic. There have been several violent incidents involving the large number of schizophrenics in the Seattle area over the years. About four years ago, for example, one guy held police at bay with a samurai sword in downtown Seattle for eleven hours, resisting repeated pepper spray spritzes, rubber bullets (the ones that missed left permanent dents in the wall behind him) and fire hose blasts. They finally charged him with a ladder and used it to hold him down while they tie-wrapped him from head to toe.

All in all, a sad story. My prayers go out to Officer Herzog's family, friends and fellow officers. And a crisp salute to my fellow citizens who made the brave decision to get involved when the chips were down.

Imal

[mamelukesabre]

I wonder if the guy with the .38 that used his car as a sheild knows that a car won't stop a bullet. Even a 22 rimfire goes through a car door like it's not even there.

[Dialup Llama]

The spirit of flight 93. Warning to Al-Queda. Americans are not Hindu villagers.

[RWG]

the man at times shouted incoherently about white oppression of African Americans

So this is a hate crime although there is no mention of the perpetator's ethnicity. He must have been on PCP like Rodney King.

[grimalkin]

Scum update:

'I Just Wish I Could Have Taken Care Of Him That Day'
June 25, 2002
By Kevin Reece

KING COUNTY - The suspect in the execution-style shooting death of King County Sheriff's Deputy Rich Herzog was well known to police on the Eastside. His criminal record stretches back several years and covers hundreds of pages of court records. And more than once he's been arrested for naked tirades through the streets of Bellevue and other King County neighborhoods.

"And later on that night I found out it was him," said Bellevue Police Corporal Thurman Chinn speaking of suspect Ronald Keith Matthews Sr. "And I was just totally upset. I just wish we could have taken care of him that day."

The day he's talking about happened last September. Chinn and fellow officer Deb McQuade were called to an apartment complex at 126th Place NE in Bellevue. When they got there, Matthews stormed out wearing only a shirt and hat and went right at Officer McQuade.

"His hands were clenched up and he was yelling at me to shoot him and kill him," said McQuade. He was unarmed so officers tried pepper spray. It didn't work. He kept coming and hit the female officer twice in the face. Officers tried a taser gun next. It had no effect on Matthews either.

"Just the way he was acting which to me was crazy really, really crazy," said Chinn. He, along with two other officers jumped on Matthews's back but still couldn't subdue him.

"He was like the incredible hulk," Chinn told KOMO 4 News. "Tensed up, yelling, standing there like nothing was affecting him."

It took as many as nine officers more than ten minutes to wrestle Matthews to the ground. And what angers these officers now is that wrestling match only got Matthews a few months in jail.

"Assaulting an officer is supposed to be a serious offense. This is telling me that it's not," said McQuade.

And then, officers weren't warned that Matthews was back on the streets.

"If I'd have known that he was out I could have contacted King County," said McQuade. "I could have told someone this guy is crazy, he's in a rage, don't ever go one on one with him. It is impossible. No one can take this person alone."

"And that's where the system failed," said Chinn. "It failed us. It failed Deputy Herzog."

The officers also told KOMO 4 News that Deputy Rich Herzog shouldn't be second-guessed, that he had no idea what he was up against. They say they are all trained to use minimal force against an unarmed assailant but that in this case Herzog never had a chance.

"Deputy Herzog used the minimal force, " said Chinn. "It wasn't effective and it killed him in my opinion, dealing with this nut."

Matthews is being held without bail as the prosecutor decides what charges to file.

A memorial service for Officer Herzog will be held this Thursday.