Disturbing Images From U.S. Park Police Shooting
(Photo by Davin Tarr)
DCist reported up a U.S. Park Police involved shooting of a man at 2nd and K Streets NE. According to the Park Police's own press blog (D.C. Police–you need this):
"On Monday April 13, 2009 at about 12:15pm, United States Park Police Officers were investigating a vehicle involved in a crime. This vehicle, with one occupant, the driver, failed to stop for the officers. A short vehicle pursuit, about two blocks, took place. The vehicle struck a fixed object on K Street at 2nd Street NE.
The officers attempted to apprehend the driver. These two officers were on foot after this crash. When they approached the suspect, the suspect drove forward and struck one officer with his car. The two officers fired their weapons. The suspect vehicle left the scene and stopped about a block away on 2nd Street south of K Street NE."
Both the officer and the suspect were taken to area hospitals and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Davin Tarr captured some of the stand off (but apparently not the incident that provoked the shooting). It still seems very odd. The photo above doesn't look good. WJLA is reporting that the suspect is 54-year-old Ronald Hughes. He did not have a gun. The TV station interviewed a witness who suggested Hughes was reaching for something when the officers opened fire:
"Added fellow witness Todd Morris, 'The officers got out and surrounded the car, telling [the driver] put his hands up, but to me, it looked like he [the driver] was reaching for something. They, like, shot through the windshield, like, 12, 13 times and they walked over to the car and looked, he pulled off again and went up the block.'"
(Photo by Davin Tarr)
(Photo by Davin Tarr)
8:08 pm
"The photo above doesn’t look good."
Why not? They're dragging a suspect out of a car. Nothing to see here. The bigger thing that doesn't look good was that Park Police shot through the window a dozen times and they guy is still alive. Someone needs to pull these guys in and send them to the range.
3:24 am
just to show you how stories get changed up.... especially about police... count the holes in the windshield...you see a dozen holes? i see two well placed shots in the middle of the windshield...
8:31 am
As for the windows and the dozen holes.. they could have easily shot out the driver's side window ( as it is not there in the photo.. that could possibly account for that statement).. regardless, the people that are crying that the suspect was "unarmed" since he did not have a gun are missing the HUGE fact that he had a friggin' car !! Cars kill many more Americans each year than guns.. this suspect WAS in fact armed with a deadly weapon and deadly force is justified to combat the use of a car as a weapon.. tactically though, officers should not have put themselves in a position to be struck by his car in the first place.. since he had been fleeing in a car they should have jammed his vehicle once he stopped... period.. that's basic police pursuit termination procedure... in the end, the suspect deserved what he got
3:03 pm
Could you put a more liberal spin on this, the officers did their jobs as trained and the idiot was using the car as a weapon. Simple compliance and doing what the officers instructed the suspect to do would have prevented his shooting. Unfortunately, "we can't fix stupid"
8:59 pm
god am i proud of these guys, good deal
1:18 am
just wondering... has anyone here have someone try to run them over??? OR better yet.. have someone take a picture of something that looks worse than the actual incident. Just wondering...
4:57 pm
Pull over and put your hands where they can be seen idiot. Growinup in the County, you learn that at a young age cause PG WILL shoot you with no hesitation. Guess he from outta town...