CLEVELAND (AP) — Police in Ohio released body camera footage Thursday showing an officer firing multiple rounds through a wooden privacy fence without warning at someone shooting gunfire into the air on the other side.
James Williams, 46, of Canton, was shot in the chest minutes into the new year and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The video was released by the Canton Police Department.
Problem with this story is that the newspaper folks keep saying he wasn't breaking any laws by shooting a gun in the air but he was in a city that for sure has a law agaisn't that and where the heck was the man thinking all those bullets where going to fall?
Didn't you know, they turn into fairy dust and unicorn farts. No one is ever killed on NYE by that kind of thing. It's pretty much illegal to hold some folks accountable for their criminality.
549.03 DISCHARGING FIREARMS. (a) No person shall discharge any air gun, rifle, shotgun, revolver, pistol or other firearm within the corporate limits of the Municipality. (b) This section does not extend to cases in which firearms are used in self-defense, in the discharge of official duty or in justifiable homicide. (c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
So the cop without knowing what was going on panicked and started blasting away. Yeah, the guy was wrong for shooting off a gun in town, but the cop is guilty of at least 2nd degree murder. I back the cops when they are right, but when they're stupid and should never have been on the force, no.
It does not matter if the guy was breaking the law or not. What matters is an out of control, pampered, snowflake of a cop shooting through a fence with no clue who or what was on the other side. What matters is the cop murdering a man with no warning and no attempt to solve the situation without killing the citizen. Yes, the citizen was breaking the law and should have been arrested. But the actions of the coward with a badge were just as if not even more dangerous as the ones taken by the citizen. This overpaid government thug should spend the rest of his miserable life in gen pop at the state's maximum security prison. Last I looked a 4th degree misdemeanor was not a capital offense and cops were not judge, jury and executioner.
I was in New Orleans some years back over New Years. It was obvious that there was a lot of gunfire. After I returned to Kansas, I was talking to another guy who had been there. He told me that a woman next door to him was struck and killed by a random falling bullet.
No, James Williams was killed for playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. His is a Darwin reward for being on the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder.
The shooter's bullet was going to come down somewhere in the city, with unknown effect, but certainly life threatening. That is, the shooter (had he hit someone) would have been guilty of reckless homicide...if he could have been identified. The cop was acting to protect citizens against an imminent threat of lethal harm. Further, I doubt the cop actually knew where the rounds were aimed, and could legitimately have thought they were aimed at him. The only argument I see against the cop returning fire is that he had no clear target- he was shooting into a fence, not at an identified shooter. Not good- but not different from returning fire when shot at through a wall or door. The shooter wasn't killed for a 4th degree misdemeanor; he was killed for being an active shooter.
Naw, I'm not buying that. You don't shoot at anything you can't identify, no difference if you're a cop or not. Period. What if the guy shooting into the air had a kid beside him? Or an unarmed adult? Hell, the guy could've been standing in the middle of a crowd as far as the cop knew. Regardless, the guy was killed for committing a misdemeanor. I'm not condoning his behavior, but at the same time, I'm not condoning the cop's, either.
A murder most foul!
ReplyDeleteProblem with this story is that the newspaper folks keep saying he wasn't breaking any laws by shooting a gun in the air but he was in a city that for sure has a law agaisn't that and where the heck was the man thinking all those bullets where going to fall?
ReplyDeleteDidn't you know, they turn into fairy dust and unicorn farts. No one is ever killed on NYE by that kind of thing. It's pretty much illegal to hold some folks accountable for their criminality.
DeleteCanton, Ohio
DeleteCity Ordinance
549.03 DISCHARGING FIREARMS.
(a) No person shall discharge any air gun, rifle, shotgun, revolver, pistol or other firearm within the corporate limits of the Municipality.
(b) This section does not extend to cases in which firearms are used in self-defense, in the discharge of official duty or in justifiable homicide.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
So the cop without knowing what was going on panicked and started blasting away. Yeah, the guy was wrong for shooting off a gun in town, but the cop is guilty of at least 2nd degree murder. I back the cops when they are right, but when they're stupid and should never have been on the force, no.
ReplyDeleteIt does not matter if the guy was breaking the law or not. What matters is an out of control, pampered, snowflake of a cop shooting through a fence with no clue who or what was on the other side. What matters is the cop murdering a man with no warning and no attempt to solve the situation without killing the citizen.
ReplyDeleteYes, the citizen was breaking the law and should have been arrested. But the actions of the coward with a badge were just as if not even more dangerous as the ones taken by the citizen.
This overpaid government thug should spend the rest of his miserable life in gen pop at the state's maximum security prison.
Last I looked a 4th degree misdemeanor was not a capital offense and cops were not judge, jury and executioner.
Copy that Chris. Once again an ill advised moment that the cops stamped with their indelible seal of death. "When dumb meets dumber."
DeleteAnd the penalty for a misdemeanor of the fourth degree shall be summary execution.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
I was in New Orleans some years back over New Years. It was obvious that there was a lot of gunfire. After I returned to Kansas, I was talking to another guy who had been there. He told me that a woman next door to him was struck and killed by a random falling bullet.
ReplyDeleteJust because there was a lot of gunfire in New Orleans doesn't mean that it was New Years.
DeleteSo, James Williams was killed for a 4th degree misdemeanor?
ReplyDeleteGood to know.
No, James Williams was killed for playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. His is a Darwin reward for being on the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder.
DeleteWell, is is Canton.....so.
ReplyDeleteThe shooter's bullet was going to come down somewhere in the city, with unknown effect, but certainly life threatening. That is, the shooter (had he hit someone) would have been guilty of reckless homicide...if he could have been identified. The cop was acting to protect citizens against an imminent threat of lethal harm. Further, I doubt the cop actually knew where the rounds were aimed, and could legitimately have thought they were aimed at him. The only argument I see against the cop returning fire is that he had no clear target- he was shooting into a fence, not at an identified shooter. Not good- but not different from returning fire when shot at through a wall or door. The shooter wasn't killed for a 4th degree misdemeanor; he was killed for being an active shooter.
ReplyDeleteNaw, I'm not buying that. You don't shoot at anything you can't identify, no difference if you're a cop or not. Period.
DeleteWhat if the guy shooting into the air had a kid beside him? Or an unarmed adult? Hell, the guy could've been standing in the middle of a crowd as far as the cop knew.
Regardless, the guy was killed for committing a misdemeanor. I'm not condoning his behavior, but at the same time, I'm not condoning the cop's, either.
Please tell me you're not a cop..
Deletego home ass hole
DeleteLet us pretend that Dad was standing beside his 4 little kids behind that fence . Does that clear up the matter for you ?
ReplyDeleteThe cop can't see his target and shoots blindly through a privacy fence. I'm thinking the cop is guilty of manslaughter and should do time for it.
ReplyDeleteCop freaked out. Unfortunately, he'll have several years to think about it. The shooter was a dumbass, but that doesn't carry a death penalty.
ReplyDelete