It seems that this blog entry somehow caught the eye of the editor of a weekly feature called Surfing USA: A selection from the week's blogosphere, which is found in the Forum section of the Sunday Bee. For a humble blogger like myself, I have to admit that I am pretty excited to see one of my posts published in the major newspaper for the 37th largest city in the United States... hmm, when I explain it that way, it kind of sounds pathetic doesn't it? Eh, heck with it - I'll take my kudos where I can scrounge them!
Now, on to other happenings in the news. Do you remember the story that broke the other day about a deputy and his police dog being shot and killed during a traffic stop? On Friday, a SWAT team tracked the (alleged) perp down. For the record, here is the (alleged) perp's mug:
So this genius raises his pistol at the SWAT team, and not just any old pistol, but the one he (allegedly) took off the dead deputy. For his efforts, the perp - identified as one Angilo Freeland - was shot 68 times by the nine-member SWAT team. There were 110 shots fired in all.Frankly, I am shocked and saddened by this incident. If you do the math, only 62% of the SWAT team's shots found their intended target. If that's the best they can shoot, they need to spend more time on the firing range.
Good Day to You, Sir
4 comments:
An explanation for the inclusion in the Sunday Forum blog watch summary:
The Bee is exploring ways to expand the Opinion section at sacbee.com. One of the first ideas was to figure out a way to feature regional blogs. In the six weeks I've been working on this project I've put together a reading list of more than 160 blogs. So far all I've been able to do with all this reading is fill a 700 word hole in the Sunday paper.
I have a development server where I'm testing different ideas. You can follow my progress at http://ipsosacto.com
That is a rather pathetic percentage of hits for a SWAT Team. I love how unapologetic Sheriff Judd was. He said “That’s all the bullets we had, or we would have shot him more.” I love that quote!
I don't have the article in front of me, but I remember reading that he was in very thick brush. I suspect that once he actually went down, they all kept firing until they emptied their guns (which is typical and part of their training). But I'll bet that once he was laying flat, some of the officers simply couldn't see him, but fired where they thought he lay. Plus, I have to account for the natural nervousness of the moment.
I just gotta give mercy where I think it's due...I can't imagine what their hearts must go through when they are hunting wicked men like that.
I'm not saying they have an easy job or that I don't feel for them being under those conditions, but they're trained to be under that kind of stress and still be accurate, although your bushes/ground theory sounds very plausable.
Post a Comment