Retired cop arrested for shooting

Seriously though, this was bad. For the first thing, the cop knew himself that he was retired from the LA department, which screams CALIFORNIA! Did he think he was in Idaho?

Yep. If the stories my buddy tells me are half true, in Northern Idaho the DA would have organized a whip round to get the guy more practice ammo.
 
Hm. He is only 61, but he "retired" about 25 years ago?

That's not exactly uncommon. Plenty of guys retire at various "steps" in their pensions, and move on to second careers.

I will say, however, that this particular dude is a case study in the importance of one's appearance while CCWing.
 
Let's just say at one time stealing a man's horse was a hanging offense...
My Grandmother witnessed a horse thief hanging when she was a little kid in Wibaux, Montana. This was in the 1890s. Kids weren't supposed to be there but she and older sister went anyway. The memory bothered her her whole life.
 
Don'tcha just love stories like this? I know I do. I know it's terrible, but for some morbid reason, I just find it humorous when someone else's good sense goes out the window.:D

It reminds me of an incident several years ago in the town where we used to live.

Josh was a high school kid and my good buddy. He was a hard worker and went on a couple of pack trips with me. He liked working with the livestock, and like I said, a heckuva good worker.

Josh worked part time after school at our local feed store. One afternoon when Josh was manning the store by himself, some bozo walked in and started helping himself to a bunch of stuff without paying for it. Josh caught him, but the guy tried to make a break for it, taking all the items with him.

Josh wasn't very big, but he was wiry and tougher than wang leather. He took the guy down and started beating the livin' powahden out of him. When Josh finally let him up, the guy was able to drag himself to his car and drive away. Josh gathered up all of the stuff and restocked the shelves.

Josh didn't call the police and neither did the crook, fortunately.

Josh didn't tell the feed store owner about it, but one day as the owner was going through the security footage, he saw the whole scenario unfold right there on camera.

He called Josh in and told him that he appreciated his loyalty to the company, but next time, just get the license plate number and call the police.

Still, I'll bet that shoplifter will think twice next time he decides to shoplift. Likewise, I think the shoplifter in the OP's story will think twice about shoplifting after being shot in the neck. From what I understand, once you've been shot once, you aren't real keen about it happening again.

Bottom line, I still kinda like to see the bad guy get some sort of "come upance," even if it's done wrong.:D
 
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Too bad for the retired LEO. I do not know where that would be a legal shot. For the LEO's sake, I am glad that miscreant's injuries are not more serious.
 
Seems like even if the ex LEO had been active LEO it would be a bad shoot. A shoplifter running from the scene? Let's hope there's more to this story to exonerate the man, otherwise he should be in prison for a long time. At least the thief wasn't killed.

Something similar happened to the City councilman and store owner in Lakeland, Florida a few months ago. They are prosecuting him for the death of the shoplifter.
 
My Dad was a teenager in rural Texas during WW2. One night a neighbor shot a chicken thief dead and the Sheriff gave him (the neighbor) a box of .30-30 ammo (which was in short supply) and told him to keep up the good work.

Times sure have changed.

BTW, I hate thieves but I wouldn't have shot the shoplifter because it's against the rules.
 
Hm. He is only 61, but he "retired" about 25 years ago?

I'm 63 and retired in 2000 with more than 21 years of service. A number of folks I worked with joined the military at 17-18 and bought back up to 5 years of military time toward retirement and were retired normally (2-5 years military, 15-18 years police) at ages 38-39.
 
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Dude needs a psych work-up and some remedial training at minimum.

I. and I hope I can live up to this, will never shoot somebody over a thing unless that thing, in their possession, might reasonably be used to endanger me or mine.
 
Why is it important?

I think the short answer to your question is that our hero (a term used to describe the guy from Mass that stopped a car from running someone over, without shooting) has likely been adopted by the anti CCW crowd as their poster child, to portray us all as irresponsible and dangerous...which is what I think anyone who shoots at a fleeing shoplifter is. In of all places California. This guy couldn't have tarnished responsible gun carriers more if he tried.
 
I agree that the story as we know it is problematic, but this fella' is actually being judged here by his appearance? I doubt any poster in this thread would want an appearance standard applied to him/her when it comes to exercising their 2nd Amendment right. "It's okay to carry, as long as you look like I think you should . . . ":rolleyes:

I think the short answer to your question is that our hero (a term used to describe the guy from Mass that stopped a car from running someone over, without shooting) has likely been adopted by the anti CCW crowd as their poster child, to portray us all as irresponsible and dangerous...which is what I think anyone who shoots at a fleeing shoplifter is. In of all places California. This guy couldn't have tarnished responsible gun carriers more if he tried.
 
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I agree that the story as we know it is problematic, but this fella' is actually being judged here by his appearance? I doubt any poster in this thread would want an appearance standard applied to him/her when it comes to exercising their 2nd Amendment right. "It's okay to carry, as long as you look like I think you should . . . ":rolleyes:

I don't think we are judging HIM by his appearance. We are just judging his appearance to be an additional problem for him.

But it is certainly worth remembering that people in general do.

Not just police officers who may encounter you with a gun in your hand, not knowing whether you are a good or bad guy. But also people on a jury who may see that tape. And if I saw a guy looking like the man in that tape showing no badge but waving a gun around and yelling that he was a cop, I'd be more likely to draw mine than to comply with his instructions. That's just human; we respond to external clues.
 
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I agree that the story as we know it is problematic, but this fella' is actually being judged here by his appearance?
I think we are saying we are going to be judged by those NOT here based on what he is wearing.

People are judged on appearances first, always, even by those that say they aren't. Otherwise, I would go to work in shorts and a wife beater.
 
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