Acorns Away
The Realm of Reasonable
Chicago ShotSpotter
Super Bowl Parade Shooting
1. Acorns Away
I do not feel bad making a joke of this. Especially because no one was injured.
A deputy in Okaloosa County, FL was walking back to his patrol car.
He mistook an acorn falling on his vehicle for a gunshot.
He shot at his own patrol car - emptying an entire magazine.
A man under arrest, was handcuffed in the backseat. And thankfully, somehow, survived.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper.
The deputy was a rookie and had previously attended West Point and served two tours in Afghanistan.
The call that he was on - was a stolen vehicle incident where the offender was in custody in his patrol car. Deputies had evidence that the offender had posted a picture of him holding a gun in the car - just prior to arrest. At this point the gun had not been located. Even though the offender had been searched the deputy was concerned that the gun was still possibly concealed by the offender and he was walking back to the patrol car to conduct a more thorough search.
It was at this point that acorns began falling from the tree above - hitting him and his patrol car. The deputy believed that he was being shot at by the suspect in the backseat of the police car. The deputy returned fire - emptying an entire magazine and rolling around on the ground yelling, “I’m hit!” - like Kramer by the “second spitter”.
The deputy resigned during the internal investigation and will not be prosecuted.
More concerning is that there was a Sergeant on scene who also began to fire her weapon at the patrol vehicle - because she saw the deputy shooting.
2. The Realm of Reasonable
Two deputies in Harris County, Texas opened fire on a woman who was walking towards the door armed with a gun.
Here’s the question…
Was it reasonable for the officers to believe that the woman approaching the door with a gun - was an armed burglar?
If so. How long should police wait to fire their weapons?
At 0200 hrs on February 3, 2023 Harris County, TX deputies were dispatched to a call at an apartment complex. Deputies finished up the initial call and they were contacted by a resident who reported a residential burglary in a second floor apartment.
Deputies made their way to the apartment and observed broken glass on the ground and that a window screen had been removed. This evidence would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that a burglary may have taken place at the apartment.
The deputies then knocked on the door and announced their presence.
At that point a female (later identified as Eboni Pouncy) inside of the apartment approached the door holding a handgun. Deputies were able to observe this through the window. As Ms. Pouncy approached the door deputies fired their handcguns. Ms. Pouncey was struck five times but she survived.
It turns out that Ms. Pouncy had permission from the owner to remove the screen and break the window to gain access to the apartment - as she had lost the key.
Questions
Was it reasonable for the deputies to believe that a residential burglary had taken place?
Yes. There was glass on the ground and a screen was removed.
Was it reasonable for deputies to believe that Ms. Pouncy was an offender of the residential burglary?
Yes. If it is reasonable that a burglary had taken place - then a person inside of the residence would likely be the offender.
Was it reasonable for deputies to be in fear for their safety as Ms. Pouncy approached the door holding a handgun?
Yes. Deputies had reason to believe that Ms. Pouncy had just committed a felony and she was walking towards the door holding a gun. This is after the deputies knocked and announced their presence.
Now What?
The issue is not that the deputies properly identified a dangerous situation.
The issue is how the deputies responded to that deadly threat.
Writing this article I have the luxury of time to carefully think through all the possible police responses from the safety of my home. The deputies had seconds as they thought that an armed felon was approaching. Never forget that when breaking down police incidents.
The reality is that once Ms. Pouncy was approaching the door with the gun - there was seconds for the deputies to decide. Any suggestion to improve tactics/response must come before this moment.
When the deputies were alerted to a possible residential burglary from a neighbor - they could have conducted more investigation before making contact at the apartment.
The deputies could have tried to contact the registered owner.
Essentially the deputies went to investigate a felony crime with no identifiable victim.
The deputies could have set a perimeter and used a PA system or yelled from behind cover to contact any occupants in the apartment.
These suggestions are not perfect and may not have changed the outcome. But, police leaders and trainers must give police officers some tools, tactics, and the education of what the best practices are to respond to this type of incident.
Final Thoughts
This police shooting is not illegal. It is also likely not even a violation of department use of force policy. A reasonable police officer would be able to articulate a specific deadly, imminent threat in a situation like this.
The final question is - how long should have deputies have waited to fire their weapons?
If the answer is - once the door opens and the gun is pointed at the cops. OK. That is a situation where virtually we all agree that using deadly force is reasonable. But, that is also the last stop at the train station and if an officer waits until that point - they are likely taking fire.
So, the realm of what is objectively reasonable has to extend at least a 1 or 2 seconds earlier.
3. Chicago ShotSpotter
ShotSpotter is gunshot detection technology that has been utilized by Chicago Police for the past seven years.
According to their website, the way that ShotSpotter works is, “ShotSpotter uses an array of acoustic sensors that are connected wirelessly to ShotSpotter’s centralized, cloud-based application to reliably detect and accurately locate gunshots using triangulation. Each acoustic sensor captures the precise time and audio associated with impulsive sounds that may represent gunfire. This data is used to locate the incident and is then filtered by sophisticated machine algorithms to classify the event as a potential gunshot.”
Essentially, when gunshots are fired - police are alerted to the location.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently publicly ended the relationship with ShotSpotter.
Often cited by anti-police activists is the police shooting involving Adam Toledo. The 13-year-old Toledo was killed by Chicago police who were responding to a ShotSpotter alert. When the police officer arrived at the scene, Toledo ran away. The officer chased Toledo (who was carrying a gun) down an alley before shooting him in the chest.
If Toledo did not fire a gun - the police would not have been notified. Blaming the gunshot detection technology for Toledo’s death - as opposed to - the illegal and dangerous actions of Toledo is insane.
So, the political leaders in Chicago want to make it difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase guns and easier for violent criminals to get away with actually firing guns.
Fantastic. What could go wrong?
4. Super Bowl Parade
There was a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl parade. Over twenty people were shot and one was person was killed.
Tragedies like this bring out the anti-gun activists.
I just ask the following question:
What law, if implemented, would have prevented this shooting?
Of course, since murder is already illegal and the people who violate the murder law do not follow gun control laws - this argument is a mixture of juvenile ignorance and dishonesty.
The vast majority of murderers have multiple prior arrests - before they commit a homicide. Most of us know what the problem is - and it is not the guns. If anything incidents like this inspire more law-abiding people to arm themselves.
The acorn assault was just hilarious..! So much was wrong with that incident. 1) an acorn hitting the hood of a vehicle doesn't sound close to any gunshot.. 2) You should not fire on a threat you cannot see or identify. 3) How the hell did he think he was hit?!
The shooting by the two officers was exactly as you put it! It was reasonable in their minds based upon the totality of the circumstances at that time to the officers. (Graham v. Conner). Not to mention, they were in a very confined and dangerous position based upon the design of the apt. balcony and stairwell to safely retreat of which they have not duty to do.
We all should take into consideration that the woman they fired at was BLACK! That's why it's an issue.
Keep 'em coming!
Always great articles and always interesting!!!