• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Fairfax County Police open fire on a man armed with a shotgun in his own house

swatpro911

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
418
Location
Home of the Heros, Virginia, USA
Fairfax County Police said a 34-year-old Centreville man was shot to death after he refused to drop his gun and approached their officers.

Police spokeswoman Officer Tawny Wright received two calls — one from inside the house and one from a neighbor — for a domestic disturbance at a town home in the 6100 block of Kendra Way around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. Police arrived and saw several broken windows and the garage door was open. A man was inside the garage with a shotgun, Wright said.

The man approached the officers, who ordered him to stop and drop his weapon. The man refused and continued toward them, and one or more officers fired on him, Wright said.

Police tried to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs...lice-shoot-kill-centreville-man#ixzz1SlplReEj
 

thebigsd

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
3,535
Location
Quarryville, PA
Ah, this article has more detail then the other one being discussed. In this case it seems the officers were justified.
 
Last edited:

user

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,516
Location
Northern Piedmont
After having read that article, I still don't know anything. Who was "the man"? Was he the homeowner? Did they ask him whether he was the homeowner before they shot him? Was he simply shot for failure to obey the order (of questionable legality), or was he shot for having presented an imminent threat of serious bodily injury? That is, what, exactly, did he do with the gun that was threatening to the cops? Since the only witness against the cops is now dead, I'd say the burden of proof is on them to demonstrate that they had a good and lawful reason to shoot the guy.

The trend is to require that everyone other than the cops be disarmed in the presence of the cops "for officer safety" is a load of hogwash, in my opinion. If "the man" was the homeowner and was carrying the shotgun in a safe manner, (point the muzzle in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, preferably unloaded or action open), and not presenting any imminent threat, then I'd say this is a case of second degree murder. If any one of those conditions was not present (the guy was not the homeowner, was not carrying safely, and especially if he did something, whether intentionally or carelessly, to make the cops think there was a real threat) then it's justifiable homicide.

But there are no facts in that article that tell us, one way or the other; since the cops are the only source of relevant fact for that article, I think it suggests that they feel that they've got something to hide.
 

NovaCop

New member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
471
Location
, ,
The cops aren't going to release details until a thorough investigation (like all murder investigations regardless if it involves the police). Did anyone else read in the article that two separate sources called the police regarding a domestic disturbance? One was even inside the house (if you accept the article at face value), which given many circumstances would allow for a warrantless entry into the house (community care taking doctrine).

Lol at the comment that a shotgun with the breach open is not a threat. Conspiracy theories, blood thirsty Fairfax Pd wanted to execute someone.
 

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
Lol at the comment that a shotgun with the breach open is not a threat. Conspiracy theories, blood thirsty Fairfax Pd wanted to execute someone.

[video=youtube;Td4RHvyAFsM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td4RHvyAFsM[/video]
 
Last edited:

user

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,516
Location
Northern Piedmont
Here's another question: was the man who was shot capable of normal hearing? That is, if he was hard of hearing or even deaf, he may not have perceived the cops' commands to put the gun down, and if so, then they may have shot him without giving him a real opportunity to comply.
 

NovaCop

New member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
471
Location
, ,
Here's another question: was the man who was shot capable of normal hearing? That is, if he was hard of hearing or even deaf, he may not have perceived the cops' commands to put the gun down, and if so, then they may have shot him without giving him a real opportunity to comply.

LoL those damn officers should have given him instructions in sign language. Hmm maybe he was blind too? So a deaf man being involved in a domestic disturbance and seeing uniformed officers coming towards you isn't enough of a hint to drop a shotgun you are carrying. A lot of speculation going on here..
 

Thundar

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Messages
4,946
Location
Newport News, Virginia, USA
Is a law abiding citizen required to surrender a fundamental right upon demand of NOVACOP? no.

Is the NOVACOP mentality to shoot armed people that do not do what NOVACOP says? seems so.

Would NOVACOP present an imminent threat of serious bodily injury to the armed law abiding citizen? yes.

Who is justified in shooting in such a situation?
 

user

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,516
Location
Northern Piedmont
LoL those damn officers should have given him instructions in sign language. ...

Or maybe a minute to watch him and see what he's up to before shooting him.

...So a deaf man being involved in a domestic disturbance and seeing uniformed officers coming towards you isn't enough of a hint to drop a shotgun you are carrying....

What domestic disturbance? There were noises and someone called the police. The police entered the home and found a man, presumably the homeowner, in the home. No, there's no hint to the homeowner who's supposed to be there, and lawfully entitled to carry whatever items of personal property he may feel like carrying, including weapons, in his own home. Now, I'm wondering whether the police were presenting a threat to that man; were weapons already drawn, and was the cop's finger on the trigger? In other words, did they enter a man's home brandishing firearms such that he would have been lawfully entitled to have blown them away?

...A lot of speculation going on here..

Exactly right. I am in complete agreement. It's almost all speculation, and that points to the main issue: no information forthcoming from the police. What are they trying to hide, and why? Is there something they should be telling us? (The last two sentences are intended as humor, since those are things that cops use on people they pull over on fishing expeditions to find "contraband".) But the fact is, all we know right now is that cops entered a guy's house and shot him. Possession of a weapon in his own home is not a valid reason to shoot, nor is the failure to obey a command that was not lawfully given. All we have is speculation. I see that as the main problem.
 

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
Novacop always has hissy fits when HIS department gets their *** in the ringer.

This time it appears they shot another Cop which is a little like cannibalism.
 

Marco

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
3,905
Location
Greene County
After having read that article, I still don't know anything. Who was "the man"? Was he the homeowner? Did they ask him whether he was the homeowner before they shot him? Was he simply shot for failure to obey the order (of questionable legality), or was he shot for having presented an imminent threat of serious bodily injury? That is, what, exactly, did he do with the gun that was threatening to the cops? Since the only witness against the cops is now dead, I'd say the burden of proof is on them to demonstrate that they had a good and lawful reason to shoot the guy.

The trend is to require that everyone other than the cops be disarmed in the presence of the cops "for officer safety" is a load of hogwash, in my opinion. If "the man" was the homeowner and was carrying the shotgun in a safe manner, (point the muzzle in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, preferably unloaded or action open), and not presenting any imminent threat, then I'd say this is a case of second degree murder. If any one of those conditions was not present (the guy was not the homeowner, was not carrying safely, and especially if he did something, whether intentionally or carelessly, to make the cops think there was a real threat) then it's justifiable homicide.

But there are no facts in that article that tell us, one way or the other; since the cops are the only source of relevant fact for that article, I think it suggests that they feel that they've got something to hide.

1+
In the 70+year history of the Fairfax County police, no officer has been charged with a crime for shooting someone in the line of duty.



blood thirsty Fairfax Pd wanted to execute someone.

Let's ask the Eye Dr and the former Green Beret.
 
Last edited:

nemo

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2006
Messages
275
Location
Winchester, Virginia, USA
Is a law abiding citizen required to surrender a fundamental right upon demand of NOVACOP? no.

Is the NOVACOP mentality to shoot armed people that do not do what NOVACOP says? seems so.

Would NOVACOP present an imminent threat of serious bodily injury to the armed law abiding citizen? yes.

Who is justified in shooting in such a situation?


Took the words right out of my mouth.
 

jnojr

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Messages
42
Location
Reston, VA
Here's another question: was the man who was shot capable of normal hearing? That is, if he was hard of hearing or even deaf, he may not have perceived the cops' commands to put the gun down, and if so, then they may have shot him without giving him a real opportunity to comply.

Umm, if someone comes at me with a weapon, and I tell them to drop it and back off, and they don't... what am I supposed to do? What if he hears, but speaks Swahili? Do I need to find a Swahili translator?

Uniformed police yelling at you is pretty much universal for "Put the weapon down".
 

NovaCop

New member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
471
Location
, ,
Umm, if someone comes at me with a weapon, and I tell them to drop it and back off, and they don't... what am I supposed to do? What if he hears, but speaks Swahili? Do I need to find a Swahili translator?

Uniformed police yelling at you is pretty much universal for "Put the weapon down".

What? You support the police actions of self defense? You should be ashamed, jk. Good luck trying to express common sense on this board, it's a losing battle.
 
Top