LAPD officer shoots son, ruled self defense

imported post

I live in the city of Monrovia where this happened last night.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-monrovia-lapd-son,0,3100003.story

If the average citizen defended himself from an attacker with a picture frame by shooting the attacker and killing him, we would be prosecuted. No, we don't know all the circumstances here, but I'm just saying...

imported post

moleculo wrote:

I live in the city of Monrovia where this happened last night.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-monrovia-lapd-son,0,3100003.story

If the average citizen defended himself from an attacker with a picture frame by shooting the attacker and killing him, we would be prosecuted. No, we don't know all the circumstances here, but I'm just saying...

Click to expand...

Until all the facts are known, yes you are "just saying".......I'm not trying to be confrontational here, but you seem to have assumed that this guy was not immediatelyonly because he was a police officer......The DA has a lot of time to press charges in a casethat will be heavily watched.......Just because he was not immediately charged does not mean a full investigation and charges resulting from that investigationwill not follow.

If any of us were attacked by someone wielding"large object" in our homes, we too would probably use whatever force we thought necessary to defend ourselves. The reserve officer could be 5'05" / 120 and the son could be 6'05" and 300 for all we know...

imported post

I am in no way saying that people don't have the right to defend themselves in their home. We don't know the circumstance so this guy may very well be fully justified in his use of deadly force.

Perhaps my use of the word "prosecuted" was really what I meant.

If you or I used deadly force on someone attacking us with a picture frame, we would likely be arrested or at least be subject to a lengthy detention right up front. We might never be prosecuted by the DA if their investigation shows the actions truly were a justified use of deadly force in self defense. The average citizen in a case like this, especially in L.A. County, is almost never presumed to be justified for using a firearm for self defense. Too often the presumption is that the person defending themself is in the wrong unless the attacker also has a gun. What I want is the same standard of law to apply to everyone. If a cop's actions are presumed to be justified up front, then every law abiding citizen should be treated the same way by the cops, as well.

imported post

moleculo wrote:

I am in no way saying that people don't have the right to defend themselves in their home. We don't know the circumstance so this guy may very well be fully justified in his use of deadly force.

Perhaps my use of the word "prosecuted" was really what I meant.

If you or I used deadly force on someone attacking us with a picture frame, we would likely be arrested or at least be subject to a lengthy detention right up front. We might never be prosecuted by the DA if their investigation shows the actions truly were a justified use of deadly force in self defense. The average citizen in a case like this, especially in L.A. County, is almost never presumed to be justified for using a firearm for self defense. Too often the presumption is that the person defending themself is in the wrong unless the attacker also has a gun. What I want is the same standard of law to apply to everyone. If a cop's actions are presumed to be justified up front, then every law abiding citizen should be treated the same way by the cops, as well.

Click to expand...

Fair enough.......Justified should be justified no matter who you are....

imported post

I find it interesting that it took the police only 10 hours to determine it was self defense. For normal citizens they are almost always arrested first and then go through years of investigation and thousands upon thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Its nice though that in this case the police were able to finish all examination of the crime scene and evidence in only 10 hours. For instance, did the police confirm the sonsfinger prints on the picture frame ? Did the police do any DNA testing for flesh material under finger nails of either subject ? Did police use laser technology to determine angle and path of bullet ?



If they can do all of that work in 10 hours then uh........hmmm

imported post

Multiple witnesses, history of son being violent towards family members or others, prior calls regarding son & father could all be things that solve this quickly. I'm sure there will befurther investigation. Like others have said, we don't know all the facts. The question I have is: Was he UOC'ing at the time? (probably not)

From what I recall, crimes are solved all the time in less than an hour on TV. :celebrate

imported post

haha such bull if anyone of us non LE people shot someone in our house with a picture frame we'd be pinned as murders without question.

imported post

The butler did it in the parlor with a wrench.

imported post

No real comment on this being a good shoot or not, didn't read the story. This must be an incredibly difficult time for this guy and his family. I can't imagine a more horrible decision.

imported post

Amen, I'm sick of the police bashing from some of you, especially in light of what just happened here. We have no idea what happened, and maybe something can be learned from it, something not. However, flippant comments are unnecessary at best, and at worse show a real lack of compassion.

coolusername2007 wrote:

No real comment on this being a good shoot or not, didn't read the story. This must be an incredibly difficult time for this guy and his family. I can't imagine a more horrible decision.

Click to expand...

imported post

I, too, completely misunderstand why there is so much police bashing on this site.

As far as the shooting, time will tell, but damn...the man somehow found it necessary to stop the advancing threat of his SON. If that's not difficult, I don't know what is.

imported post

Having just had another son just 3 weeks ago, and having another one that is 6, I can't imagine what could make someone do this, and the circumstances. I think we need to take the politics sometimes out of this and just be....HUMAN.

imported post

My OP wasn't intended to be "cop bashing". It sucks that this guy had to shoot his own son or anyone in self defense.

The OP was a commentary that we should all expect equal treatment if or when we are required to protect ourselves, too.

imported post

There is nothing wrong with highlighting the difference between what should be and what is. While it is unfortunate that this man may have been in enough danger to shoot his own flesh and blood, it is nevertheless interesting that he was given such a quick and speedy investigation and left alone, not denuded in the court system.

imported post

So last night at dinner, my step daughter (freshman in college) asks me if I heard about this incident. Apparently all of her friends are talking about it. She tells me that she went to school with this kid who is/was a senior in high school & 17 years old. She said she knew him: about 5'9", 160 pounds maybe less. He had a reputation on campus as a "nice guy", never got in trouble at school, and a good student. Apparently something was different about the home life.

imported post

This smells fishy to me. I hope this guy can live with his decision. Hopefully the rest of his family can live with it.

I see him being a cop as a non-factor as far as the incident. However, it should concern all of us when it comes to the investigation. No need for tin foil hats, but I believe the police investigation needs more scrutiny than usual ANY time LEOs investigate another LEO.