cop shoots rider in back

[MO-BUSA]

my question is and offense to a leo, but why would you shoot the guy in the back without making positive that it was a gun when you already have the drop on the guy with his back turned, the guy would have had to been the worls best shot to turn and fire on the officer, when the officer already had his gun drawn...

 

[rusheriv]

It's either lack of procedure, inadequate procedure, failure to follow procedure or poor training. Mix one or more of those with an officer all hyped up after a chase and it's all downhill from there.

The officer should have not left the patrol vehicle until he'd given instructions to the rider via the PA. Instructions such as "Turn off the bike and toss the keys in the grass." followed by "Get off the bike, remain facing forward with your hands in the air." At that point the officer would exit the vehicle, approach the rider (hand on sidearm), instruct rider to place hands behind head, quick pat-down, and then discuss what's going on.

When pulled on bike, I immediately pull over, lift visor as I shut down the bike, remove the keys with left hand, extend arms to the sides with keys dangling from hand and await instructions from the officer. Never had a weapon drawn or pointed at me.

When pulled in vehicle, I immediately pull over, shut down the vehicle, remove the keys and place on console, roll down window, place hands on top of steering wheel and await instructions from the officer. Never had a weapon drawn or pointed at me.

 

[Vega]

Ottawa Hills, Ohio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Okay, so this "village" has around 5,000 people living in it. (That's pretty low as compared to say Los Angeles with over 3.8 million.)

Do you guys think there is a good chance the officers knew who the guys were on the bikes? I mean how many guys own Harleys in a small village?

It kinda looks like they knew who they were following and waited for them to do something wrong...

Is it just me, or does this look like attempted murder to anyone else? I mean, there's a good chance they knew who they were and they didn't even try to help him after they shot him. (And I can't find ANY argument as to support shooting him.)

Recap:
-Small town cops.
-Followed for almost 3 minutes before pulling them over.
-No warning, just fired on him.
-Let him BURN under the bike.

What's that look like to you? Personal grudge maybe?

Just my two cents...

 

[Vega]

 

[Ruben]

I have now seen the video, and watched the video of the person who was shot testify.

1. Those guys had to know there as a cop behind them at the light. When they gunned it at the light, mistake or not, they had already made the officer nervous.

2. The rider had his right hand on his hip, EXACTLY WHERE HE WOULD BE CARRYING A PISTOL underneath his shirt, and made a lifting guesture right when he was shot. I believe the officer had a bead on him, and when the guy made a move that could either be totally innocent, or reaching to pull, the officer made a split second choice and pulled the trigger.

3. The rider stated he was in the process of putting the bike in neutral when shot...I call BS...the bike was in neutral already, or he could not have been sitting there with his hand on his hips when shot.

After watching the video, i give the benefit of the doubt to the officer. If he made the statement in the complaint, that would be improper.

I was stopped last fall nearby; I had been speeding down a twisty road, and passed the officer. He had to go up the road a bit and turn around and come back for me, and I did not know he was behind me. He called it in as I was coming into town, and another officer came in behind me. I did not see any police for at least 4-5 minutes after I crossed this officer. I was not speeding or making any wild moves when the officer finally got close enough to pop his lights and make the stop. I had my tunes on in my helmet and could not hear any commands (or his siren; but i saw the flashing lights). I raised my arm so he'd know I saw him, calmly pulled over, turned on my emergency flashers, shut my bike off, lifted my visor , PUT MY HANDS AWAY FROM MY BODY where the officer could see them AND WAITED making no fast moves. No the officer did not draw on me as it was clear I wasn't going anywhere. When he got to where I knew he was in hearing range, I clearly told him that I cannot hear him could I please remove my helmet. After ensuring he gave me the ok, i slowly took my helmet off and removed my earbuds. When it came time to talk to him, i told him that my tunes where in my jacket pocket and asked him for permission to turn it off.

I still got the ticket only 10 over. Told him I hoped he knew I wasn't running. He said that so many sportbbikes do and the potential was there so they wern't sure until I stopped. But if he was in the mood to do a felony stop, it might have been different situation because he may not have paid any attention to me communicating I could not hear him. If he had pointed his gun at me I would have slowly put my hands on my helmet.

Come on seriously.... Give the benefit of doubt to the officer...

Wow... I'm in awe...

So just because people ride motorcycles and break some BS revenue generating speed limit law... they should get shot for it in the back... LEOs can shoot if frustrated / under pressure... What the hell...

Rant over ... Plain and simple... LEO shoots another unarmed citizen.. this time in the back... wow

 

[V-Max 2 Busa]

Personally not being a criminal nor a gun enthusiast I cannot recall giving any thought as to what I should or should not be doing with my hands when being stopped for minor traffic violations, guess I will in the future though. When being stoped for a traffic violation do police officers really expect Joe motorcyclists or any motorists for that matter to put his hands in the air or out to his sides immediately to indicate that he is not a gun toting criminal that intends on shooting him? Funny I do not recall this being mentioned in DMV driver training handbook. Although there is more than likely more to this story than is being revealed the video appears to be a clear case of shoot first ask questions later, just plain scary!

 

[Postal]

IMO this cop was wrong and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Generally I am on the side of the law because I have so many friends in law enforcement, but this is just a bad decision by the cop.

P.

 

[RACER_X]

so "the cop was totally wrong" guys, do the bikers have any responsibility for the outcome?

 

[Goodwrench]

so "the cop was totally wrong" guys, do the bikers have any responsibility for the outcome?

Riders are responsible for speeding off and at the most a traffic violation. There was no threat to the offending officer. He had his vehicle as a "shield" in case of any agressive actions by the rider, he also had the advantage of already being in a postion to fire his weapon. He could have easily used his PA and directed the rider to shut the bike off and put his hands on his head, or deployed his taser(if issued by his department) if he felt there was a threat. Bad situation for all involved, but this person does not need to be in a law enforcement position if he is that "trigger happy" just my .02

 

[BIG GUY]

Holy smokes I cant believe what I just saw as you say.
Talk about adrenalin overload clouding proper thought !
First thing is this is prime reason no matter what stop...just stop cuz no penalty is worse than that .
Take off and you open yourself up to what happened and what seems to be a terrible terrible "mistake" maybe ?
I dont know and I wasnt there but he eventually stopped and put his hand on thigh as we all do when we stop but cop not wanting to risk himself shot him .
Hopefully some LEOs here can say what they would have done if same happened to them.
Would not want to be on that jury at all.

They were stopped and then took off. After that I cant defend them cuz what happens happens.
Further down the road cops would have put stop strips in road and he would have crashed at speed anyway.
looks to me like both made the mistake of their lives.

They did take off at a high rate of speed, but the officer did not lite them up until after they took off. The rider in my eyes did not make a move for any type of weapon. I think the officer jumped to a conclusion about the rider before the rider even got the kickstand down.

 

[skydivr]

Come on seriously.... Give the benefit of doubt to the officer...

Wow... I'm in awe...

So just because people ride motorcycles and break some BS revenue generating speed limit law... they should get shot for it in the back... LEOs can shoot if frustrated / under pressure... What the hell...

Rant over ... Plain and simple... LEO shoots another unarmed citizen.. this time in the back... wow

The rider put his hand on his waistband and lifted UP, same motion as to draw. In the dark, in the heat of the moment...I'm sure the officer wishes he could have that bullet back, but...unless there is something else in his past record that would indicate he had a problem with being overzealous, yes I'm still going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to see what the past record is on these dudes riding too.

 

[SLO MO]

Really how can anyone defend this, actually they didn't even take off that fast, the guy is sitting still looking at his buddy that almost crashes one hand on the handle bar and the throttle hand on his thigh, the cop obviously says something and he turns his head to look at him (sit in your chair or bike with an arm on your thigh as many of us do turn your head and watch your arm), it does the same as his does, really i could see if he flipped his whole body around and extended his arm out and backwards but this guy simply looks back turns around and is shot in the back stop defending the crap!

This has been going on for years, simple abuse of power and poor decision making by a trained professional, if you cannot handle stressful situations you should not take a job that thrusts you into them. It's the same old story of how can we justify this shooting, It amazes me how people try to find some way to make it right, just like the BART officer that shot the guy laying faced down and handcuffed in the back.

 

[Ruben]

Where's the reason to shoot cuz I missed it ??

Guess I should change my mind shake the hand of the officer and say... "I understand Mr LEO... in the heat of the moment .... I mean he did put his hand on his waist... You had all the right in the world to shoot him in the back and then tell him to raise is hands up in the air after you plugged him with that round"... It was the right thing to do... Wanna go have a doughnut and some coffee later on... Good Job BTW

Okay that was a little dramatic...
.... amazing though ... poor guy will suffer for the rest of his life cuz of this senseless and stupid gargantuan mistake...

 

[V-Max 2 Busa]

If hand on hip is a threatening gesture then anything could be interpreted as a threatening gesture.

 

[k03gsxr750]

I was on board with the officer just having to make a tough call until after I watched a running motorcycle lay on a the guy for almost 2 minutes, when questioned the response of "It's your friend, you get the bike off" seriously?!? How can you defend that.

 

[larra]

that cop is a dangerous man,who should be locked up. Seriously if that was justified,then they have a free hand to execute people at will the only excuse they need is that they suspected that the guy was about to fart a nuclear missile out of his ass...

 

[dmrowe]

that cop is a dangerous man,who should be locked up. Seriously if that was justified,then they have a free hand to execute people at will the only excuse they need is that they suspected that the guy was about to fart a nuclear missile out of his ass...

+1 This guy should never have been issued a uniform and a badge but then I suppose this little hamlet of Ottawa Hills doesn't get to choose from the cream of the crop either. Skydivr, really how would you like to have this guy patrolling your streets? Give him the benefit of the doubt? I question why he was ever given the opportunity to 'protect and serve', hair trigger and a itching trigger finger. Next time you get pulled over put your hands in the air and see what the cop does, if he didn't have reason to worry before he will then....or he will just laugh his *ss off.

 

[Vonderbach]

May I remind all of you that our view (dashcam) was not only a different angle but also a lesser quality than the officer's vision?

This does not exonerate either person, but I think it's unwise to sit in judgement without hearing the entire story, which I'm is unfolding in front of a jury. I think it's fair to assume that there's more to the story than just what we see on this video, regardless of whom is at fault.

 

[skydivr]

His hand was NOT on his thigh when the shot occurred...it was on HIS RIGHT HIP WITH CLENCHED FIST (as in grabbing something) MAKING AN UPWARD MOTION (as if pulling). If the officer had a bead on the guy when he did it, it would not be a stretch that he pulled the trigger.

Look thru the officer's eyes and see what he saw. I didn't say it was a good choice. I didn't say the guy was gonna walk out of this scott-free. If he said what they say he said, then he's in a lot of trouble. The officer made his mistakes (escalation) LONG BEFORE the shot.

IF I were a police officer (and I'm not I KNOW I don't have the patience for it), and that guy made a movement which I personally interpreted as a grab/draw for something under his shirt on his GUN HIP, I can see where I might have pulled the trigger too.

Don't make it personal, I just don't agree with apparently most everyone else.

 

[outlawbusa]

Simply speechless~!~