Off duty cop shoots own daughter - not charged

frankie_the_yankee · Post by **frankie_the_yankee** » Wed May 30, 2007 2:22 pm

Check this out.

http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_150110920.html

Question. If you did this, do you think you would get off with no charges?

KNOW YOUR TARGET!!!!!

seamusTX · Post by **seamusTX** » Wed May 30, 2007 2:49 pm

Answer: Maybe.

If the daughter stated that she had sneaked out and back in, it is possible that no charges would be filed. It would be difficult to prove intent or criminal negligence by the shooter.

There's another lesson here: If you think an intruder is in your house, and other family members are present, it is important to locate them. The intruder may be a kidnapper or rapist going after someone in your house.

If this officer had stopped to look in on his daughter, he would have realized she was not in bed.

P.S.: I've read about many cases like this, where charges were not pressed or are dropped. I usually see them used as propaganda.

- Jim

Post by **Charles L. Cotton** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:11 pm

As a very general statement, it is unlikely someone would be charged in Texas for this type of shooting. You are absolutely correct, target identification is critical! As a good friend once put it, "there are very few things in life worse than getting shot by an attacker, but shooting someone you love my mistake is certainly one of them!"

Chas.

AV8R · Post by **AV8R** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:16 pm

Sadly, the officer involved must have been trained over and over again to ID his target before shooting. The basics are hard to master, but easy to forget under pressure.

Mithras61 · Post by **Mithras61** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:40 pm

Awakened by the light, Eric Scott took his department-issued pistol, found a rear door open that he had locked earlier, then spotted someone a person moving in the basement bathroom, police said. He fired once, shooting the teen in the knee. The bullet traveled up her leg and lodged in her thigh area, police said.

This is the bit that bothers me... how often does a burglar go to the bathroom?:?: If you think she wasn't using it, explain to me how a bullet fired into her knee went up into her thigh?

Sounds to me like she was seated & the shot went into the top of her knee joint & up into her thigh. If she wasn't sitting down, the angles seem somewhat unlikely to cause the bullet to bounce off the top of the knee joint and go up, because that would be a shot at a downward angle that glanced upwards off the knee and I don't see how that would happen (unless he was laying on the floor and shooting up

).

seamusTX · Post by **seamusTX** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:53 pm

Mithras61 wrote:... how often does a burglar go to the bathroom?:?:

More often than not. Seriously.

They have also been known to eat food and take naps.

- Jim

Mithras61 · Post by **Mithras61** » Wed May 30, 2007 3:56 pm

seamusTX wrote:
Mithras61 wrote:... how often does a burglar go to the bathroom?:?:
More often than not. Seriously.

They have also been known to eat food and take naps.

- Jim

I suppose they do, but in the middle of a job? I don't think many of them break in to use the facilities, y'know?

seamusTX · Post by **seamusTX** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:24 pm

Of course they don't break in to use the facilities; but you know what happens when you're nervous, and breaking into a house make one nervous.

Quite often they don't bother to use the toilet. Sometimes they make an extra effort to create a mess.

- Jim

pbandjelly · Post by **pbandjelly** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:25 pm

Mithras61 wrote:laying on the floor and shooting up

well, somebody was shooting up....

the bullet could have full well ricocheted to that position. the knee's a thick joint, lots of stuff for a bullet to bounce off of. didn't say how far up it went, either.

jimlongley · Post by **jimlongley** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:15 pm

What I get a kick out of is "Her father called 911 when he realized who he had shot, police said."

Does this mean he wouldn't have called 911 if it wasn't her?

This points up part of the reason I used to do my night time house clearing with my Navy issue knife, the big one. If I got close enough to cut someone, I would be pretty sure who they were.

My younger daughter sneaked out a couple of times as a young teen, but it was WAY against the rules for me to even peek in her door to check on her, from the time she was young she would come pretty close to dressing in street clothes to go the eight feet from her bedroom to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she was that modest. A couple of times when she snuck out I caught her, and once when she went out the back window (second floor too) and I knew it, I closed it and locked it. She had to ring the bell to get back in, which woke her mother up and SHE pretty much put a stop to the sneaking out.

Mage34 · Post by **Mage34** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:45 pm

I know this shouldn't be funny but, you know, I bet she doesn't sneak out of the house anymore.......

Venus Pax · Post by **Venus Pax** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:07 pm

Mage34 wrote:I know this shouldn't be funny but, you know, I bet she doesn't sneak out of the house anymore.......

That's exactly what I was thinking. She'll probably tell her friends, "Yeah, the last time I snuck out, Dad shot me. Really."

ETA: It will take the dad the longest time to get over doing this, if he ever does. One member of my family shot another family member several years ago. The bullet recipient, my dad, and I make jokes about it now, and the shooter is the only one that isn't amused.

pbandjelly · Post by **pbandjelly** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:44 pm

Mage34 wrote:I know this shouldn't be funny but, you know, I bet she doesn't sneak out of the house anymore.......

you're first (and only) post is one the best lines I've read in a while.
good job, sir.
*salutes*

Mage34 · Post by **Mage34** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:57 pm

pbandjelly wrote:
Mage34 wrote:I know this shouldn't be funny but, you know, I bet she doesn't sneak out of the house anymore.......

you're first (and only) post is one the best lines I've read in a while.
good job, sir.
*salutes*

Thank you, I try......

*Return Salute* Ready....two.......