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Oh no... do NOT fire without considering your backstop... cop kills 5-year-old kid aiming for snake

unrequited

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I'm about to throw up after reading this, it's not an easy read.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3449692&page=1


abc_koco_haley_070805_ms.jpg

Cop Shoots at Snake; 5 Year Old Dies
Officials Believe Cop's Stray Bullet Killed 5 Year Old Fishing With Grandfather

NOBLE, Okla., Aug. 4, 2007 —


A stray bullet fired by a police officer trying to shoot a snake hit and killed a 5-year-old boy fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

Austin Haley was fishing with his grandfather, Jack Tracy, Friday evening when Tracy said he heard a shot and saw a bullet hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing.

Moments later, a second shot was fired that hit Austin in the head.

A Noble police officer who had responded to a report of a snake in a tree apparently fired the deadly shot while trying to kill the snake, according to City Manager Bob Wade.



KOCO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City, wants to hear your thoughts on this story. If you live in Noble, please send your comments to news@koco.com.

Tracy said he initially thought he and his grandson were under attack by someone trying to kill them, so he put the boy into the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

The boy was taken to an Oklahoma City hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A resident of the Crest Lane neighborhood called police after discovering a large snake in a tree, Wade said.

"I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged," Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there."

Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

"This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated. ... We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else," Wade said.

A state investigation has been launched into the shooting, and it appears the fatal shot was fired by the officer, said Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown.

"We have no reason to believe it's not," Brown said. "But there certainly will be an investigation."

Tracy has little doubt about what happened.

"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you -- if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

They make snakeshot ffs, but regardless, if anybody sees a snake in their tree, DON'T SHOOT IT DOWN with people bullets. People bullets kill people. Don't shoot it down period. Why are police responding to animal control calls anyways?
 

CPL_in_WA

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That is not an easy read. I have a4 year old brother. He likes fishing. :cry:

Since when was the snake threatening?

Why was a police officer standing under a tree with a snake in it?

Since whendoes the protocol for an animal control call, call for the dispatch of a police officer, and the killing of the pest? How does one get threatened by a snake in a tree? If the snake was a danger to the officer(s), it MUST have been on the GROUND, right?

god...:banghead:
 

Doug Huffman

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"When you're a hammer then everything looks like a nail." When you're an armed 'hammerhead' then ... all bets are off. There's something fishy about this snake-in-the-tree story.

Now, if it had just been a charging pitbull, then the owners could ask for a civil remedy.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns and the truth. NRA KMA$$
 

MetalChris

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Don't cops carry shotguns in their squad cars? Wouldn't that have been a better choice?

I hope these folks get a massive settlement, but they probably won't...
 

CPL_in_WA

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USAF_MetalChris wrote:
Don't cops carry shotguns in their squad cars? Wouldn't that have been a better choice?

I hope these folks get a massive settlement, but they probably won't...

Holey Snakes, Batman!! :lol:Sorry... couldn't help it.

Is there a LE SOP for snakes-in-trees?
 

hogleg

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Read this sad story this morning. I was thinking the same thing, why was this trainedofficer shooting at a snake stuck up in a tree with anything other than a shotgun. Even then, Knock it down then blast it if you must.

Granted they may have been out in the boonies but what goes up must come down. I keep a box of shot shells for my revolver for just this sort of thing. Not good for defense but will get rid of those pesks in a hurry without harming much else. I can't see him keeping his job after this.
 

MetalChris

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hogleg wrote:
Read this sad story this morning. I was thinking the same thing, why was this trainedofficer shooting at a snake stuck up in a tree with anything other than a shotgun. Even then, Knock it down then blast it if you must.

Granted they may have been out in the boonies but what goes up must come down. I keep a box of shot shells for my revolver for just this sort of thing. Not good for defense but will get rid of those pesks in a hurry without harming much else. I can't see him keeping his job after this.
Apparently he wasn't all that trained...
 

Pa. Patriot

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hogleg wrote:
Granted they may have been out in the boonies but what goes up must come down.

Not to re-kindle an old tired debate :) But remember that a handgun bullet fired above the maximum ttajectory angle (nearly straight up) typically will not have enough energy to kill in it's decent. Only energy of it's terminal velocity same as if it was dropped from a tall building, etc. At best a couple hundred ft/sec.

Problem in this scenario, I'm sure, was a high angle trajectory. Officer firing up into a tree but at say a 50 or 60- degree angle (not 90deg/straight up) THESE are the rounds that reach earth with a portion of their initial velocity still going for them and can be lethal. Well, obviously :(

Falling bullet physics aside, this COP should have known better.
It was a dumb thing to do particularly in light of the reason he did it. A snake? As others have pointed out. Call animal control, knock it out of the tree or use birdshot.
 

hogleg

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Iforgot my sarcastic font on the "trained" part. I just can't believe this LEO didn't follow one of the main shooting rules. KNOW WHAT IS BEHIND WHAT YOU ARE SHOOTING AT. We don't have the details but I am assuming that this was a pretty low angle shot like more off to the side rather than up. Either way,terrible loss.
 

Pa. Patriot

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hogleg wrote:
... but I am assuming that this was a pretty low angle shot like more off to the side rather than up. Either way,terrible loss.

Exactly, and unacceptable too.
I don't think it was an accident (as the PD will predictably find) but rather was negligent.
Shooting for a non life-threatening event at a target with no safe backstop is negligent no matter how you slice it.
 

UTOC-45-44

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This is what you get with "WELL-TRAINED" officers:cuss: around and I bet he has a Glock as well:uhoh:.

When I see an officer around cuz I usually walk the other way cuz he/she might be so "well-trained" the Damn Shooter goes of in the Damnholster somehow:banghead:.
 

UTOC-45-44

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openryan wrote:
This is why you need a vest to go fishing, duh.

ROTFLMAO...

The Story however is EXTREMELY sad and worrysome, to have these wreckless gun-toting cops not only making streets unsafe but also our solitute and tranquility.

THIS IS THE VERY REASON I WANT TO BE ABLE TO CARRY IN NATIONAL PARKS, I MEAN INCASE A RANGER DECIDES TO GO WILD ON A MONKEY IN A TREE:celebrate,(after a Beer or two).
 

openryan

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Yes, it was a very unfortunate event of circumstance, I know the cop was not trying to injure the boy, and did not even notice them.

But he was negligent, he should have been aware what was well behind his target, it was careless.

Did this city/town have an animal control unit?
 

GreatWhiteLlama

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I keep thinking of the thread where a few "us" tried to argue for mandatory training for all gun ownership as though it would eliminate asshatery.

There will always be those who will find a way to prove that Darwinism is alive and well or hurt others while trying... :uhoh:
 

glock36

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"Now, if it had just been a charging pitbull, then the owners could ask for a civil remedy."


Charging dog... any dog not just a certian breed. thank you
 

Lew

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hogleg wrote:
Hmmm wonder if his name was Barney ? Andy would be pissed.
Barney wouldn't have had a second shot...

This article immediately made me think of Doug Huffman's sig line. Are we equal? He'd better get strung up for this.
 
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