Four officers dead by gunfire in Charlotte, NC today. They were trying to serve a Federal warrant for a felon in possession of a firearm.

Around 1:30 p.m., members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were attempting to serve a warrant for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon at a suburban home in Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Chief Johnny Jennings said during a news conference. The suspect opened fire at the officers with a "high-powered rifle" as they approached the residence, according to Jennings.

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Just tragic….

"They" still just keep letting these savages out. RIP for the officers. Makes my blood boil.

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No baby we aint

Another case of letting felons out. Too many are roaming our streets with evil minds. What are we paying high taxes for?.

At this point in time, we need to show no mercy to the subculture who have no fear or respect for law enforcement and keep the felons incarcerated without parole options. We are losing good men and women nationwide because of the liberal policies that have allowed this to become an everyday occurrence. RIP LEO's.

May these officers Rest In Peace and may the injured officers fully recover.

Now I have to question Federal LE tactics. I realize it was 2 different agencies involved but here we had US Marshalls attempting to serve an arrest warrant for a KNOWN convicted felon KNOWN to be ARMED and they apparently attempt the arrest in broad daylight with only 3 officers. In Arkansas the BATFE utilizes a NO-KNOCK warrant at 6:00 am with a full compliment of SWAT on a SUSPECTED individual for selling guns without a license. You also have the FBI SWAT teams with armored vehicles and news media being used with no knock warrants at O dark thirty on political white collar suspects. Who is making these decisions? What agenda is driving these tactics?

The folks who are being ordered to execute these tactics deserve better.

What a terrible tragedy.

I was on the fugitive task force in New Orleans during the time of 400 plus murders there every year. We would sometimes hit four houses a day, and we only did warrants for murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, and rape.

In this case it looks like they shot it out with the guy in the yard, killed him, and came under fire from inside the house. The investigation will tell.

There’s a SWAT guy in the below picture with me because this knothead (murderer) barricaded as soon as we announced. SWAT rolled, the press came, I got my picture in the paper, and this dummy went off to Angola. Usually it was four or five of us, feds and NOPD, and that was it. If we did a SWAT roll for every warrant we’d have caught a lot fewer murderers.

Its hard to relay how crazy New Orleans was in those days. One day I caught my guy (murderer) first thing in the am, dropped him at Central Lockup, had breakfast with the boys at Betsy’s Pancake house, checked an address on the way back to the office and snagged another one (murderer), back to lockup, met the boys for lunch at Whitey’s, decided to push my luck and snatched murderer number three off his porch. After the first one it was just me and my partner.

Its all a balancing act. In the town I live in now a car theft arrest would probably get a SWAT roll.

I won’t criticize these brave coppers.

Attached Images

IMG_3699.jpg (45.6 KB, 122 views)

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Horrible. RIP and condolences to their families.

Sorry, set the house on fire, see who comes out. That’s why I don’t run anything. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

Yes, this is just terrible. I'll spare everyone the rant (maybe not) about Charlotte's defunding police, liberal pretrial release, revolving doors at jail and courthouse and rising crime. Some of that can happen anywhere. I do not know anyone on the US Marshal task force, but had nothing but positive interactions with CMPD, Matthews PD, and other local agencies. All doing the best they can. Just terrible.

Perp is dead
Got off easy

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This happened very close to my daughter's house, who rarely listens to the news. The only reason she was aware was when a friend in Atlanta and her mom called to ask if she was okay. Unfortunately, my daughter prefers to exist in ignorant bliss.

May they all RIP, sad times today Lot of broken hearts there, will say some prayers for the families and the police that were murdered. Larry

Sad that this is getting far less press than the ongoing Hamas occupation of university campuses.

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Only a cold warrior

I know nothing about police tactics and policy.

But IMHO, to maintain an ordered society everyone needs to know that unless you cooperate with legitimate police activity there will be severe consequences.

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If the reports of further shooting at the police after the subject of the warrant went down are correct, then we have at least one outstanding shooter.

EDITED TO ADD:

Seems like the police are backing off the second shooter scenario. Seems like the fog of war wasn't cleared before a statement was issued. Sorry, but that's just foolish.

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Release the Kraken

The "press" are saying a "high power" rifle was used. I doubt they have any concept of what that means. To me it means a .308 or 30.06, at least.

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No baby we aint

Yup. According to the WaPo:

"Investigators said they found an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun on the property.

Authorities said they are making progress investigating where the AR-15-style rifle and 40-caliber handgun were purchased and how Hughes, a felon, came to obtain a firearm..."

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"I drank WHAT?" (Socrates)

Sadly, a press officer might use "AR-15-style rifle" to describe an AR-10 so as not to have to explain what an AR-10 is. It's called dumbing down facts to the level of your audience.

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Release the Kraken

This is what soft on crime policies has brought us.

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Go ahead... make my day.

Not to take away from the needless deaths of the officers but who was in charge ?
Basic tactics were ignored.
Do not confront an enemy on their own turf where they have the advantage.
Usually they would follow the perp and stop him where the LEO have the advantage.
Am I wrong ?

I am a real fan of 'three strikes' laws - they work. Those who won't change get warehoused.

But that would officially acknowledge that there are incorrigibles among us who society cannot control. This causes certain hand-wringers much angst as the concept of the irredeemable is anathema to them. For those "in power" it implies a loss of control, equally unacceptable.

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Release the Kraken

Hindsight tells me that this should have been a SWAT call, IF it was necessary to take him at home. The moonbats like Balko and PERF have made police agencies reluctant to use SWAT or other appropriate tactics because of the moronic claims of "police militarization".

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NHI, 10-8.

I believe that street stops require a lot of fugitive task force type training that many LEOs simply don't have. If it's not done dead right it will result in damaged LE vehicles. That's a very visible line item in the accounts, and in a smallish department put a real crimp on actual patrols and response while the damage is put right.

In this case I noted that two of the officers killed were from the local equivalent of the department of corrections. Should they really be serving this kind of warrant? How much recent/relevant time do they have on the street? Perhaps the LEOs here can fill us in on that side of things.

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Release the Kraken

I am a fan of eliminating the serious problems permanently, Dirty Harry style.

Why should we have to pay room and board for serious, unfixable, urchin low lives forever? Same with Pedos. One and done.

People all think prison is horrible these days. It ain't paradise but they ain't breaking rocks these days either. They get stuff like TVs, computers, tablets, music, etc. It's not the Rooskie Gulags over here. Just saying.

If they take a low life like this in, they're often heralded as a King when they get to the pen because they took out enforcers for the man.

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Go ahead... make my day.

EVERYBODY deserves AMNESTY. Even habitually violent criminals.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

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I have never been on one, but I know that USMS task forces, with special appointments, often include DOC personnel here. As far as I know, only the Community Corrections Officers (think parole officers) can do so and only with additional training.

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NHI, 10-8.

The difference between cops (and firefighters) and everybody else is that when they leave for work, and kiss their wives and kids goodbye...they're always aware that it might really be "goodbye"...

May those brave officers rest in peace...

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Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins

Anyone know the real details? Marshalls I knew back in the 70s80s were tough and real smart when serving any warrant. Something is in my eyes….

This was a USMS task force, and the majority of those have special deputies who are local and state cops, not full time USMS personnel. We had a manhunt here a few years ago in some really rugged territory. When the USMS folks joined you could tell they were just plain serious.

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NHI, 10-8.

I lost seven friends/colleagues in my 30 years and every time I see another story like this it’s tough. Condolences to the friends & families of all concerned.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Four families are in Purgatory right now.

My last rookie (I was his FTO) was killed two years into his career. Because my wife and I were close with he and his widow, we stayed with her for some days until her family got there.

Because I learned the whole benefit package and how to keep vultures away, I got assigned to all LOD deaths for the next few years. It was awful, but essential. They finally assigned someone else, thank God.

I was the SWAT commander in 1989 when one of our team was killed and I was left to tell his wife after we secured the scene. I drove her to the hospital, stayed with her and drove her home. We’ve stayed close over the years and I’ve watched her boys grow up. One joined the department, but I can’t imagine her discomfort with that circumstance.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)