Another Questionable Police Shooting...

[zipinitaly]

Usually I read about police shootings and pass by them giving benefit of doubt to the officer. I am not sure why this one is bothering me, maybe because it is so close to home. But it all ended up w/a 54 yr old woman dead....

Eyewitness statements claim the officer had his gun in one hand and the other on the door handle. Also, the Jeep had manual roll up windows....just a sad story. I will think about this if I am ever stopped and had a serious talk w/my wife about being stopped. This just scares the shart out of me!

Police: Officer who shot woman was being dragged - The News Desk


Police: Officer who shot woman was being dragged


RELATED:Fatal police shooting was first in 66 years


BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

State police say the Culpeper town police officer who shot and killed a woman Thursday did so after his arm became trapped in the window of her vehicle as she began driving away.

According to Sgt. Les Tyler, the officer had approached Patricia A. Cook, 54, of Culpeper, while she was parked the Epiphany Catholic School parking lot on East Street. The officer, whose name has not been released, was responding to a report by school authorities about a suspicious person in the lot.

“While attempting to retrieve her identification, the woman suddenly closed her driver’s-side window, trapping the officer’s arm, and started driving away, dragging the officer alongside,” Tyler said in a news release Friday.

The state police is investigating the shooting.
A witness reported seeing the officer with his gun drawn yelling, “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

Carpenter Kris Buchele, who was working in a second-floor apartment in an adjacent house, said he then saw the officer fire through the glass as the Jeep Wrangler started south on East Street.

The officer then ran into the street and fired as many as five more rounds before the Jeep rolled into a utility pole about 70 yards away, Buchele said.

Cook was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the officer was slightly injured.

Police have offered no explanation as to why the woman was parked in the school lot, which is immediately adjacent to East Street.
.
By Phil Jenkins on February 10th, 2012 1:29 pm



..

[Super_Dave_D]

I am not a huge cop fan at all but what would we expect him to do if he was caught in the door. I don't know.

[masraum]

Hmm, yeah, this one doesn't strike me as that weird. Just because it was a woman, and she was 54, doesn't mean she was a sweet old granny. You'd have to be pretty nuts (or with malicious intent) to roll someone's arm up in a window and drive out of a lot and into the street with them shouting and waving a gun around.

[zipinitaly]

What about the extra 5 (at least) shots fired into the vehicle as it rolled away?

[willtel]

Originally Posted by zipinitaly

What about the extra 5 (at least) shots fired into the vehicle as it rolled away?

She was circling back for a clear path at him!

From what I have seen if you endanger a cop they are allowed to kill you.

If you are in a situation where your life is in danger you are allowed to use deadly force until the threat is over. If you pursue someone or shoot someone fleeing you will be charged. It doesn't work the same way for cops.

I will say that many older females who haven't been in trouble have a sense of entitlement and feel they don't have to respond to police if they have done nothing wrong.

[LakeCleElum]

Zip - What would you have done. Just enjoy the ride?

[Tobra]

Bust out the window with the butt of the pistol.

There is no justification for shooting at her as she drove away, none.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Bust out the window with the butt of the pistol.

There is no justification for shooting at her as she drove away, none.

We don't have enough information to know that for sure. She could have had a dead body in the car, or a bound and gagged live body, or a bomb or ....

[Rick Lee]

This would be a good shoot except that the only thing more dangerous than a nut behind the wheel of a moving vehicle is a dead nut behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. If the cop feared for his life, how much better off did he think he'd be, still stuck in the window with a dead body not controlling the vehicle?

[willtel]

Apparently they are also allowed to execute people for crimes they may commit later.

Suspect shot by OC deputy was US Marine | abc7.com

An Orange County Sheriff's deputy shot a Marine inside his car while his two young daughters were in the back seat.

The driver's-side window of an SUV was shattered by at least one bullet. The Orange County Sheriff's Dept. says Marine Sergeant Manny Loggins was shot inside his vehicle in front of his 9- and 14-year-old daughters seated in the back.

"Here to explain and not to defend: The perceived threat in the deputy's mind that the girls lives would be in danger if he were allowed to leave," said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

The department alleges the Loggins, 31, crashed his SUV through a gate at San Clemente High School before 5 a.m. Tuesday. An Orange County Sheriff's deputy parked nearby quickly pulled up and called for backup.

"All during this time the deputy is giving him a set of commands which he is ignoring," said Amormino.

Investigators allege Loggins then walked to the athletic field where he stayed for up to five minutes. Loggins then returned to his SUV, ignoring the commands of the deputy, who now had his gun drawn.

"Because of the irrational behavior of Mr. Loggins, his failure to obey commands, the threat perceived by the deputy was for the safety of the children," said Amormino.

Authorities are not saying how many times the deputy fired but confirm Loggins did not have a weapon.

The entire incident was caught on the patrol car's dashboard camera. Officials say the deputy is a 15-year veteran of the department.

According to Camp Pendleton, Loggins enlisted in the Marines in 1998, serving as a transportation management specialist. He was not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Officials say Loggins until recently was enrolled in a night and weekend vocational nursing program at Stanbridge College in Irvine.

The college released a statement saying: "Our condolences go out to his family, especially his wife and children, as well as to his classmates, friends and colleagues," wrote Yasith Weerasuriya, Stanbridge College president.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating the shooting, which is standard procedure for any deputy-involved shooting.

[masraum]

Wow, that really sucks for the two girls. I can't imagine much that would be more traumatic.

[willtel]

As usual it seems there are two sides to every story. I wonder why the eye witness account is so different that what the police claim happened?

Patricia A. Cook Dies In Culpeper Police Officer Involved Shooting In VA | wusa9.com

An eyewitness to a fatal police shooting in Culpeper, Virginia is contradicting the State Police version of the story.

Kris Buchele says he saw a Culpeper Town Police officer shoot 54-year-old Patricia Cook to death in the Epiphany Catholic School parking lot at around 10 a.m. Thursday, February 9

Buchele is a carpenter who was working on the house next door. He says he heard loud arguing outside and looked through a window where he had a clear view of the school parking lot. Cook was in her Jeep Wrangler.

State police say Cook rolled up the window, catching the officer's arm inside, and then dragged him.

Buchele says it didn't happen that way. He describes an encounter which looked and sounded like the officer shooting a person a point blank range, not because he feared for his life, but because the woman did not obey his order to stop rolling up the window.

"He was right next to the vehicle. He had one hand on the door handle and one hand on his weapon. And she was rolling the window up. And they were exiting out of the parkng lot.

The window was half way up he said 'stop or I'll shoot.' I really didn't think he was going to do it. But she got the window all the way up and that's when he shot. And then she took a left out of the parking lot here and he stepped out in the street and fired five more times," said Buchele.

Buchele says the officer was not dragged and that he shot her before she drove away. He says he didn't have his arm caught because the officer's left hand was on the door handle and right hand was holding a weapon. Also, he says he distinctly saw her roll up the window all the way before the officer shot out the glass and killed her.

"I'm angry, frustrated, sad, and fighting back tears right now, " said Gary Cook, Pat's husband of eight years. He doesn't understand why a police officer would shoot his unarmed wife multiple times.

"Personally I think it may be an overreaction, maybe excessive force, but I can only surmise that," Cook said.

Cook says he doesn't know why his wife was in the parking lot of the Epiphany Catholic School. Their couple's pastor at Culpeper United Methodist Church thinks she may have been there searching for work with children because she loved her volunteer role teaching Sunday school at their church.


Gary Cook is filled with questions along with grief over his wife's killing. He is contacting an attorney to pursue possible legal action.

No charges have been filed. The Virginia State Police are investigating with the assistance of Culpeper Police and the Culpeper Sheriff's Department.

Virginia State Police say that the police officer had his arm caught in her driver's side window, and was dragged alongside the vehicle as she drove away.

According to Virginia State Police, at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, Culpeper Police got a call about a suspicious women sitting in a Jeep Wrangler in a church parking lot in the 300 block of North East Street. The officer started talking to Patricia A. Cook, 54, of Culpeper. State police say that for some reason, while the officer was trying to get her identification, Cook "suddenly closed her driver's side window trapping the officer's arm and started driving away dragging the officer alongside."

Police say the officer repeatedly asked her to stop but the car kept going. Then shots were fired, and the Jeep wrecked in the 200 block of North East Street.

Cook was shot by the officer and died at the scene.

Her remains have been transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Manassas for examination and autopsy, police said.

"The Culpeper Town Police and Culpeper County Sheriff's Office are assisting State Police with the ongoing investigation," police said.

[Rick Lee]

Too bad the eyewitness didn't capture it on his phone. Cops will win this one. The Fairfax Co. cop that killed an unarmed and compliant neighbor of mine a few years ago skated for it, though the county (my taxes) paid millions.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by willtel

As usual it seems there are two sides to every story.

Yep. I would think it to be fairly easy/routine to determine the position of the window when shot via balistics, etc. If the regulator was all the way up on the vehicle, that is even more compelling. If he is telling the truth, there should be bruising on his arm from the window, and drag marks on his shoes/gear as well.

The "arm got trapped" thing also stinks. First, why was his arm (let alone his hand) past the window threashold anyway? Second, I find it hard to believe that he couldn't react in time to remove his arm/hand from a MANUAL roll-up window.

[Tobra]

In both those stories, the one with the woman and with the Marine, I suspect the LEO tale is lacking in veracity.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

The "arm got trapped" thing also stinks. First, why was his arm (let alone his hand) past the window threashold anyway? Second, I find it hard to believe that he couldn't react in time to remove his arm/hand from a MANUAL roll-up window.

Must admit I'm a bit perplexed by that myself.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by tobra

bust out the window with the butt of the pistol.

There is no justification for shooting at her as she drove away, none.

this

[willtel]

The officer in this case has been charged with murder.

Culpeper Police Officer Charged in Fatal February Shooting | NBC4 Washington

A police officer in Virginia faces a murder charge in the February shooting death of an unarmed motorist.

A grand jury charged Town of Culpeper Police Officer Daniel Harmon-Wright, 32, of Gainesville, Tuesday evening with murder, malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle, malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle resulting in a death and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

“Without commenting on the particulars of the investigation, over the course of the month of May, this special investigative grand jury heard from more than 45 witnesses, received more than 100 separate exhibits and were presented with reams of documentary evidence,” said Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Fisher, the special prosecutor appointed to the case.

“We asked the Virginia State Police for an unbiased and thorough investigation into the Feb. 9, shooting incident involving Officer Daniel Harmon-Wright during which Patricia Cook died," Mayor Chip Coleman said. "We got that from the state police."

Shortly after the Feb. 9 shooting, Virginia State Police said the officer fired his weapon when 54-year-old Patricia Cook rolled her Jeep window up on his arm, drove off and began dragging him in a Catholic school parking lot. He had been investigating a report of a suspicious person, police said.

An eyewitness previously told News4's Pat Collins that the officer had one hand on the door handle and another on his gun.

Gregory Webb, attorney for Patricia Cook's husband, Gary Cook, told News4 Cook had a "manual, roll-up window" and posed no threat to the officer.

In an exclusive interview with News4's Shomari Stone, Gary Cook reacted to the news of the charges. "On one hand, it feels relief. And on the other hand, it's showing me that progress is going on," he said.

The grand jury also indicted Harmon-Wright’s mother, 55-year-old Bethany Sullivan, of Orange, on three counts of uttering and three counts of forgery of public documents. Their investigation revealed her alleged role in attempting to purge negative information from her son’ personnel file. She had been an administrative secretary to the chief of police when her son was hired.

She was arrested without incident Tuesday night and released on $5,000 bond per count.

Frustrated by the pace of the investigation, Gary Cook filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages against the officer earlier this month.

Gary Cook's lawyers also discovered the officer has an alias, Daniel W. Sullivan, so the wrongful death suit lists both names.

Harmon-Wright had been on administrative leave with pay, but he was suspended without pay immediately upon the indictment.

[CahoonTiffa]

this one doesn't strike me as that weird.

[Jagshund]

I would guess he was pretty ticked about the whole arm-window bit and decided to voice his displeasure with his sidearm. Quite human. If he'd been carrying an axe rather than a pistol he'd have probably still chased after her.

There are those who would likely argue that human emotion has no place in policing. And they'd probably be right!