Oops! OK Officer confuses gun for Tazer, kills suspect

[Jumping Frog]

As the title says. I thought they usually carried the Tazer on the opposite side from the gun partially to eliminate confusion of the two and mostly because there isn't room for both on the strong side.

OK Officer kills suspect

One of those unfortunate events that will have ruinous effect on both the family of the wrongfully killed felon and the officer.

From the CA Bay area, BART Officer Johannes Mehserle killed Oscar Grant in a similar fashion in 2009, only Grant (unarmed) was already subdued, face down on the ground when Mehserle shot him in the back. Mehserle did prison time for that killing.

[C-dub]

Very unfortunate. I saw a Dallas County deputy last night that carried a taser and he did have it on his left side as cross draw with his sidearm on the right for strong side draw. Taser was bright(ish) yellow and I would think difficult to get mixed up. I don't know if this method of carry is policy or not. Maybe the taser shouldn't be carried for cross draw and carried for weak side draw. This would force the user to make the conscious choice to draw with their off hand.

[n5wd]

The one our SRO (school Resource Officer) let me hold a few years ago was lighter than my XD(m) 5" 9mm with 18 rounds (probably similar to many of the full sized Glocks with a nearly full magazine that many officers use around here as their duty weapon, or other similiar gun), but in a stressful situation, the weight difference would probably become less of a factor as the adrenalin flowing through that offiver's veins and arteries would certainly "amp up" his gross motor skills along with a corresponding decrease in weight differention. Wow- that's one heck of a run-on sentence!

In other words, the officer might not immediately notice the difference in weght.

[Excaliber]

Very unfortunate. I saw a Dallas County deputy last night that carried a taser and he did have it on his left side as cross draw with his sidearm on the right for strong side draw. Taser was bright(ish) yellow and I would think difficult to get mixed up. I don't know if this method of carry is policy or not. Maybe the taser shouldn't be carried for cross draw and carried for weak side draw. This would force the user to make the conscious choice to draw with their off hand.

I favor setting up the rig for weak hand draw for exactly this reason. It's a method that's also harder for a suspect to block than an across the body reach with the strong arm which, if blocked by closing in on the officer, denies the officer access to both the taser and the firearm. It requires significant practice for those who aren't at least semi ambidextrous.

[MechAg94]

Reading the article, it appears the suspect contributed to his own death to some extent. He ran from officers trying to arrest him. He then struggled with them repeatedly even after being shot. If the officer was pumped up, it was due to the suspect's own actions.

I would be curious as to how the officer managed to draw his gun by mistake. He was a reserve officer so I wonder how much practice he had with either weapon.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Reading the article, it appears the suspect contributed to his own death to some extent. He ran from officers trying to arrest him. He then struggled with them repeatedly even after being shot. If the officer was pumped up, it was due to the suspect's own actions.

I would be curious as to how the officer managed to draw his gun by mistake. He was a reserve officer so I wonder how much practice he had with either weapon.

If you were using that as a defense and I were a juror, it wouldn't go well. Translation: I hope his attorney has a better defense then that.
Has the officer been charged yet?

[VMI77]

Reading the article, it appears the suspect contributed to his own death to some extent. He ran from officers trying to arrest him. He then struggled with them repeatedly even after being shot. If the officer was pumped up, it was due to the suspect's own actions.

I would be curious as to how the officer managed to draw his gun by mistake. He was a reserve officer so I wonder how much practice he had with either weapon.

If you were using that as a defense and I were a juror, it wouldn't go well. Translation: I hope his attorney has a better defense then that.
Has the officer been charged yet?

If I was a juror, my question would be, what if I did the same or something similar, would I go to prison? Would such a defense exonerate me? We all know it wouldn't and shouldn't. A supposedly trained person with arrest powers and the presumption of serving the community should be held to at least the same standard, though really, it should be a higher standard.

[Cedar Park Dad]

Reading the article, it appears the suspect contributed to his own death to some extent. He ran from officers trying to arrest him. He then struggled with them repeatedly even after being shot. If the officer was pumped up, it was due to the suspect's own actions.

I would be curious as to how the officer managed to draw his gun by mistake. He was a reserve officer so I wonder how much practice he had with either weapon.

If you were using that as a defense and I were a juror, it wouldn't go well. Translation: I hope his attorney has a better defense then that.
Has the officer been charged yet?

If I was a juror, my question would be, what if I did the same or something similar, would I go to prison? Would such a defense exonerate me? We all know it wouldn't and shouldn't. A supposedly trained person with arrest powers and the presumption of serving the community should be held to at least the same standard, though really, it should be a higher standard.

Exactly - hence I would hope his attorney is more skilled then that.
Frankly your argument is pretty compelling. The annoying thing is we'll probably never get an update to the story.

[mojo84]

This may get ugly. If true, this kind of stuff that adds to public distrust and skepticism.

http://m.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/sourc ... l?mode=jqm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Falsified training docs?
Reassigned supervisors?

With all due respect to my elders and seniors on here, I'm thinking 73 is a bit advanced to be on the streets and involved in such operations.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /25866675/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[VMI77]

This may get ugly. If true, this kind of stuff that adds to public distrust and skepticism.

http://m.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/sourc ... l?mode=jqm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Falsified training docs?
Reassigned supervisors?

With all due respect to my elders and seniors on here, I'm thinking 73 is a bit advanced to be on the streets and involved in such operations.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /25866675/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My understanding is that he was a reserve deputy, basically as a favor for various donations he'd made to the department....and apparently not the only one.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage1 ... e2504.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bates apparently is not alone as both a donor and reserve deputy. While the Sheriff’s Office has not released its full roster, Clark said other wealthy donors are among the agency’s 130 reserve deputies.

“There are lots of wealthy people in the reserve program,” he said. “Many of them make donations of items. That’s not unusual at all.”

Bates has donated multiple vehicles, guns and stun guns to the Sheriff’s Office since he became a reserve deputy in 2008, Clark said. The Sheriff’s Office did not have an itemized list of donations made by Bates available Monday and deferred that question to the county commissioners’ office, which tracks those items.

[joe817]

This may get ugly. If true, this kind of stuff that adds to public distrust and skepticism.

http://m.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/sourc ... l?mode=jqm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Falsified training docs? Reassigned supervisors?

With all due respect to my elders and seniors on here, I'm thinking 73 is a bit advanced to be on the streets and involved in such operations.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /25866675/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with you on the 2 points mojo. It's gonna get ugly. Almost sounds like trading favors for Bates to be able to go on an operation like that. And yes, 73 IS to old to go on an op like that, IMO. And I'm one of those seniors. I'd never do it, unless it was to drive a vehicle, and STAY in it, if things started going south. Now that the 'falsified training records' have come out in the media, the media will be all over that like a frog on a junebug.