The deputy sheriff that was fired on Friday was today indicted for second degree murder.
At a subsequent bail reduction hearing it was stated that the shooter was serving as backup for the deputy that had the battering ram. There were windows in the door through which they could see the 18-year-old who approached the door and was reportedly holding the P/S 3 remote control in his hand. The shooter said that he thought the noise of the battering was a shot from the interior so he shot through the door, killing Mr. Strickland.
The shooter’s bail was reduced from $250,000 to $50,000 as he was not considered to be a flight risk. The DA will make no further comments outside of the courtroom.
No e-cite yet available for the radio news report.
Doesn’t matter if they thought it was a prank or not. The fact that someone has been photographed at some time in their life holding a gun should not subject them to a no-knock warrant. This kind of photographic exhibitionism is very common among college students, doesn’t make them dangerous.
Somehow, the police were able to arrest dangerous criminals for years without resorting to no-knock warrants. And as brickbat pointed out above, the odds of a cop getting shot are on the order of the odds of them dying from colorectal cancer … so getting a no-knock warrant because the suspect once was photographed holding a gun seems way out of line to me.
Finally, this was not a “tragic accident”, and in fact it was not an accident at all. An accident is when you drop your gun and it goes off and kills someone. Shooting blindly at a door when you know there is someone behind it is a deliberate attempt to kill or wound them, and is hardly accidental.
In fairness, it seems this was not a “no-knock” warrant
Presumably, the battering ram came after they police knocked & identified themselves.
Seems he was shooting through the door at the person he could clearly see standing behind it. There’s no question that was intentional. So, as it stands now it looks like this was a tragic murder committed by a tense officer in a tense situation. Where I come from we call that an ‘itchy trigger finger’. It is, evidently, a fatal condition.
On the bright side (if there is one), I don’t see any signs of weaselling. The former-deputy admitted to a colossal screw-up. Though the cynic in me says he did it in the hopes of getting off light, I’m at least satisfied that he stepped up & took responsibility for the shooting.
The latest radio news flash (5 p.m. EST): The grand jury that indicted Deputy Long says now that they did not intend to indict him for anything and that the jury foreman checked duh wrong box on duh ballot.
And yet, if you did what I do for a living, would you be willing to be one of those 150 officers? Or would you put your safety first in everything you do, so that you can go home to your family at the end of the shift?
Again, this was a tragedy and it seems to be a huge screw-up. It appears (man, that Grand Jury shit was bizarre) that the murder charge has been dropped, but I think a manslaughter charge would be entirely appropriate. We have to be held accountable when we’re wrong, and it does appear that this deputy was very wrong.