Bad LEO situation in TN

[Itstjs]

Like I said before, I feel the partner did his job in this one. He assumed his partner was shot [hearing a shot and seeing his partner go down] its a pretty basic assumption. Youve already got raised alertness with the fact a man flees, hes driving reckless, they had no idea why this man ran. Like I said before, your basic assumption is drugs, alcohol, guns, or a felony warrant on this man.
You approach with caution, i.e hand on weapon, you hear the shots, [you draw your weapon] see your partner go down, [the hard part is to determine if he was shot, or if it was a misfire (i guess?)] He made the call, and presumably felt his life or the life of his partner was in danger and open fired.
I applaud this man, yes the BG was killed when it didnt need to happen, but thats the life with a LEO you make some mistakes, and this one may have caused him his job, or at the most, some jail time.
Either way, I say he made the right call, he had no idea what had happened. If anything, as soon as his partner fell and accidentally discharged his weapon, he should have been on the radio letting the others know what happened.

[ecocks]

I have to say that sofar I go with the unfortunate turn of events scenario brought on by the first extremely poor decision to run from the police.

In this tale the only mistakes that seem to be accepted as fact are that the guy led them on a high-speed pursuit, eventually wrecking his car and the second officer believed his partner had been shot and gone down while approaching the vehicle. The other possible mistakes need to be proven, at least they would to me if I were on the jury.

I cannot imagine that the preceeding head-on collision and "high-speed chase" didn't cause adrenaline and RAS that the individual was engaged in illegal activitiy. In my state, the high-speed chase is a felony resisting arrest, so without knowing TN's legal setup, it strikes me as just fine that the officers prudently drew their weapons as they began approaching the vehicle and suspect. Of course, they should have their finger off the trigger but I see no evidence that they were not doing so up until the moment that the first officer fell and the first shot was fired.

As for the discharged firearm at 2:30AM, in the dark, after a high-speed chase, at the scene of an accident, with an uncertain amount of visibility and an officer in the overwatch position (possibly still moving into place) whose partner went down at the time of the shot, I would have to hear and see (remember this is on two video cameras) a lot more before determining negligence on the part of the police. Even the discharge itself could be more a result of a bad fall under poor conditions than a simply determined, "He had his finger in the trigger started to go down and squeezed off a shot."

I'm withholding the impulse to rush to judgment, but initially this seems plausible, if unfortunate, and the only easily identified poor decision-making is at the feet of the victim.

[Cobra]

One problem I see, the driver was shot and killed after the chase concluded. Nothing was said about the driver fleeing or attempting to flee AFTER the SHOT was fired. Imagine yourself (not as a police officer) trying to protect yourself and you "accidentally" shoot an unarmed person, what do you think your consequences will be? This is an "ACCIDENTAL" shooting? Sounds like a shoot first / ask questions after it's too late. In my opinion, the second officer was reckless at least. I'd hate to be in that area when my vehicle matches the description of a wanted vehicle and I'm stopped and killed over "mistaken identity" because some Barney Fife thinks his partner has been shot at.

[Cobra]

One more thing ....... what if a person is being commanded to obey a police officer's verbal commands? This suspect doesn't comply - is shot and killed. AFTER the killing, the suspect is discovered to be deaf. Assuming is a very dangerous slippery slope to travel.

[Cocked _and_Locked]

You can rationalize this all you want. It was dark, he was fleeing felon, yada, yada. It don't amount to a hill of beans. Bottom line undeniable cold hard fact is it was a bad shoot. Shouldn't have happened. There's so many ways it could have gone "right" if the LEO's had been better trained and/or followed proper procedures. All I see is a couple of numbnuts who rushed in like a pair of Keystone Cops and killed a guy.

[Cobra]

Well said Cocked and Locked ....