leo shooting

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_787dda2c-d69c-5382-9af1-3905f9b26f20.html


off duty non-uniform open carrying in st louis city...?

Seriously, police get off too easy with claims like "i thought i saw.." or "it looked like..." If their perception and situational awareness is that bad, they should be fired and held responsible for their actions. If you're half blind or stupid like the cops involved in these situations, you should not take on a role that requires heightened situational awareness. To top off manslaughter, another responding officer loses control of his patrol car!? STLKeystone Cops.

Sad story.

There is also a couple lessons to be learned out of this as well. I never carry my wallet or cell phone near my gun. The wallet stays on the left and the cell phone stays in a breast pocket. I was talking to another OCer awhile back and I mentioned to him why I carried my wallet opposite of my gun; he decided it was a good idea and switched his wallet to the opposite side. It wasn't a week later that we were stopped on the plaza and he was asked for his ID. It just made the whole process much easier. Also, when communicating with LEOs be very loud and clear in your actions and intentions, and especially be mindful of your hands.

^Exactly! Nothing near the gun. People are itchy these days.

1. Yea, Kern should not be keeping his badge near his gun.
2. He probably forgot his usual line of "I'm a Deputy Sheriff." Or it was just ignored and considered the 'ranting gibberish of another armed citizen'.
3. More importantly, why was he still carrying a gun while (supposedly - if its true) intoxicated? Even though it may be legal for him to do that its really, really stupid in my personal opinion.
4. Dark at the scene? Cops and their cars have more lights on them then I own. Why was it still dark?
5. Witness - claims - seven or eight shots, Kern was hit three times...what the hell happened to the other four or five? I am going to assume the officer wasn't running towards Kern when he shot him...3 times...so if he wound up six feet away, and then close enough to nudge him while he was lying in a fetal position, he was pretty damn close.
6. Officers policy seems to be "Shoot first, Cover Your Ass Later." For myself, there has to be immediate, otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to innocent people before I even start a draw. And thats not pulling a trigger, thats a draw.
7. Police need to be held equally responsible for their actions as we are held to ours. When the life of a citizen is lost, there are no favors, there are no exceptions, there are no excuses. He was alive, and because of your actions he is dead. Almost as though police are paid hit-men now. Shooting incident=money without going to work.

unless he pulled out his gun they had no right to shoot IMO.

if that was any one of us we'd be in prison on a slaughter charge

Police think the law is for the citizen,not them.This is another example of how they are above the laws of citizens.He should be charged with manslaughter at least.This incident reminds me of the officer in St. Joseph that shot another one while in the mids of training excersizes.It was his buddy and friend ,but he still shot him in the back fataly.No charges were brought up on the officer who shot the other,by the prosecuter or by the deceased family.Now if a civilian or somebody else would have done the same thing,I would wager,the prosecuter would have charged the person with at least manslaughter charges,and the deseased family would be crying for justice to be served.Its sad and shows a double standard,that shouldnt exist,or why does it exist?If the pulic outcry was loud enough on matters like these,maybe things would start to change.