[Action starts at :30] I don’t make it a habit to second guess police procedure. Although I’ve had plenty of adrenal dumps in my lucky-ass life, I haven’t walked a mile in those shiny shoes. Still, I know that some of TTAG’s armed intelligentsia have served as law enforcement officers and soldiers. And many other of our readers are self-defense experts. So what’s wrong with this police procedure? Some salient facts [via pnj.com] . . .
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances surrounding a deputy firing his gun at a car with three unarmed adults and a 21-month-old boy inside.
We were screaming and screaming, ‘There is a baby in the car. There is a baby in the car. Don’t shoot,’ ” said Heather Tharp, 22, the baby’s mother, who was a passenger.
No one was injured in the incident that occurred Thursday night when Deputy Johnny Perkins and Deputy Jason Comans were called to a home in the 1200 block of Mazurek Boulevard near Olive Road and Cody Lane because the home owner feared a man was outside with a gun.
When the deputies arrived, they were told the man with the gun was in a Dodge Magnum.
The deputies drove to the nearby car, got out of their vehicles, drew their guns and ordered everyone to put their hands out the window of the Magnum.
Christopher Schroeder, 43, of Navarre was in the driver seat. Tharp’s boyfriend, Justin Schroeder, 22, of Navarre was a passenger.
When Justin Schroeder did not put his hands out the window and instead reached under his seat, Perkins fired his gun, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
The doors on the car open like a Lamborghini’s doors, rotating upward instead of swinging open. Justin Schroeder told deputies that he had reached down to get a better grip on the door to keep it from going up, according to the report.
When deputies searched the car, a weapon was not found.
The bullet that Perkins fired bounced off the hood of the Magnum, hit the windshield and cracked it, Tharp said.
It seems odd that Officer Perkins approaches the suspect vehicle with his gun drawn in such a casual manner. He eventually carries his weapon under his flashlight, but one wonders how a cop should approach a situation like this, physically speaking.
In terms of cover/concealment, Officer Perkins heads to the suspect’s car following an angle just to the left of the car in front of the suspect vehicle. Fair enough, right? He could duck behind the first car’s engine block for cover, if needs be. Me, I’d want to have that car for cover right from the git go.
When Perkins cuts right, does he still have cover? Deputy Comans seeks cover after his colleague fires. His gun is pointed down as he does so. Comans leaves his cover within seconds.
At the risk of seeming as PC as a Klan sticker on diversity day, why did Perkins miss?
