A Shooting
For some reason I like working shootings. I have worked my fair share. It is very rewarding when you are able to catch the shooter and put him in jail.
On Thanksgiving evening a couple of years ago I was working a slow lazy shift. We had made the rounds at various deputies houses eating. There was not much going on and there was very little traffic out.
About eight o’clock the quiet of the radio was broken by the dispatcher calling my unit number telling me to copy a shooting. My first thought was crap; it’s close to the end of the shift I am going to be stuck over. I told her to go ahead and she gave me the information on the call.
I was close in county terms so it took me about ten minutes to get to the call. While in route I had the scanner scanning the volunteer fire department that was responding. They beat me there. From the radio traffic I heard I knew the victim was not in good shape.
The dispatcher told me while I was in route the shooter had returned to his residence up the road from where the shooting had occurred. When I turned on the road where the shooting had occurred I saw a fire truck on scene and the victim laying in the middle of the road.
Since the firemen were treating him and there really was not anything I could do at that location I went to where the shooter was. He was on the phone with my dispatcher. When I arrived at his residence I had the dispatcher tell him to come outside, he did and I took him into custody without incident and recovered the gun that was used. I then transported him back to the shooting scene, which was about a quarter of a mile away. About the time I made it to the shooting scene the first assist deputy arrived on scene.
Since another deputy was on scene my involvement at the shooting scene was pretty minimal, I made sure nothing happened to the shooter. At one point a fireman came to me wanting to know what caliber of weapon had been used.
A helicopter ambulance responded and transported the victim to one of the trauma centers in the area. As the helicopter was landing the shooter asked me how the victim was doing. I told him I did not know but I didn’t think it was good that he was being flown to the hospital.
A short time later detectives arrived on scene. The shooter agreed to go to the station and talk with them. I transported the shooter to the station where he was interviewed by the detectives.
The shooter claimed the shooting was in self-defense. There had been an ongoing problem between the victim’s and shooter’s families over people speeding down the private dirt road their residences were on. Deputies had been out there numerous times because of the problem but there was little that could be done because the road was private.
The shooter went to the victim’s house to confront him over the victim confronting a member of the shooter’s family over speeding on the road earlier. Before going to the victim’s house the shooter armed himself with a .38 special revolver. During the confrontation the shooter pulled out the revolver and fired once striking the victim just below the eye. The shooter said there had been a physical confrontation and he had fallen to the ground and shot the victim. A witness disputed that claim, the physical evidence did not support it either.
After the detectives interviewed the shooter I transported him to jail and booked him in for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A few days later the victim died.
Several months later I had to testify in the murder trial. My testimony was pretty straightforward. My involvement had been recorded by my in car camera. My in car video was played and I was asked questions about what the tape showed.
A few days later the shooter was convicted of aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. I later learned there was a single juror who had a problem with convicting the shooter for murder so they settled on the aggravated assault charge. In the end he got as much prison time on the charges he was convicted of, as he would have gotten had he been convicted of murder.
The shooter had been in trouble for aggravated assault about twenty years earlier when he shot several people with a shotgun in some sort of dispute at an apartment complex. If he serves the minimum time required before parole he will be in his 70’s.
On Thanksgiving evening a couple of years ago I was working a slow lazy shift. We had made the rounds at various deputies houses eating. There was not much going on and there was very little traffic out.
About eight o’clock the quiet of the radio was broken by the dispatcher calling my unit number telling me to copy a shooting. My first thought was crap; it’s close to the end of the shift I am going to be stuck over. I told her to go ahead and she gave me the information on the call.
I was close in county terms so it took me about ten minutes to get to the call. While in route I had the scanner scanning the volunteer fire department that was responding. They beat me there. From the radio traffic I heard I knew the victim was not in good shape.
The dispatcher told me while I was in route the shooter had returned to his residence up the road from where the shooting had occurred. When I turned on the road where the shooting had occurred I saw a fire truck on scene and the victim laying in the middle of the road.
Since the firemen were treating him and there really was not anything I could do at that location I went to where the shooter was. He was on the phone with my dispatcher. When I arrived at his residence I had the dispatcher tell him to come outside, he did and I took him into custody without incident and recovered the gun that was used. I then transported him back to the shooting scene, which was about a quarter of a mile away. About the time I made it to the shooting scene the first assist deputy arrived on scene.
Since another deputy was on scene my involvement at the shooting scene was pretty minimal, I made sure nothing happened to the shooter. At one point a fireman came to me wanting to know what caliber of weapon had been used.
A helicopter ambulance responded and transported the victim to one of the trauma centers in the area. As the helicopter was landing the shooter asked me how the victim was doing. I told him I did not know but I didn’t think it was good that he was being flown to the hospital.
A short time later detectives arrived on scene. The shooter agreed to go to the station and talk with them. I transported the shooter to the station where he was interviewed by the detectives.
The shooter claimed the shooting was in self-defense. There had been an ongoing problem between the victim’s and shooter’s families over people speeding down the private dirt road their residences were on. Deputies had been out there numerous times because of the problem but there was little that could be done because the road was private.
The shooter went to the victim’s house to confront him over the victim confronting a member of the shooter’s family over speeding on the road earlier. Before going to the victim’s house the shooter armed himself with a .38 special revolver. During the confrontation the shooter pulled out the revolver and fired once striking the victim just below the eye. The shooter said there had been a physical confrontation and he had fallen to the ground and shot the victim. A witness disputed that claim, the physical evidence did not support it either.
After the detectives interviewed the shooter I transported him to jail and booked him in for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A few days later the victim died.
Several months later I had to testify in the murder trial. My testimony was pretty straightforward. My involvement had been recorded by my in car camera. My in car video was played and I was asked questions about what the tape showed.
A few days later the shooter was convicted of aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. I later learned there was a single juror who had a problem with convicting the shooter for murder so they settled on the aggravated assault charge. In the end he got as much prison time on the charges he was convicted of, as he would have gotten had he been convicted of murder.
The shooter had been in trouble for aggravated assault about twenty years earlier when he shot several people with a shotgun in some sort of dispute at an apartment complex. If he serves the minimum time required before parole he will be in his 70’s.
posted by TexasCop at 03:21
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