Yet another ND....sheesh!

[Cross-X]

Houston, um Fairfax, we have a discharge problem...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...6012502245.html

Fairfax Police Say Shooting Was Accident
Officer Kills Optometrist Suspected of Gambling

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 26, 2006; Page A01

Fairfax County's police chief said yesterday that one of his officers accidentally shot and killed an optometrist outside the unarmed man's townhouse Tuesday night as an undercover detective was about to arrest him on suspicion of gambling on sports.

Police had been secretly making bets with Salvatore J. Culosi Jr., 37, since October as part of a gambling investigation, according to court records. They planned to search his home in the Fair Oaks area, just off Lee Highway, shortly after 9:30 p.m.


Culosi came out of his townhouse on Cavalier Landing Court about 9:35 p.m. and was standing next to the detective's sport-utility vehicle, police said, when the detective gave a signal to tactical officers assembled nearby to move in and arrest Culosi.

"As they approached him . . . one officer's weapon, a handgun, was unintentionally discharged," said Fairfax Police Chief David M. Rohrer.

Culosi was not making any threatening moves when he was shot once in the upper part of his body, police said. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The last fatal police shooting in Fairfax was in September 2000, when an officer killed a man threatening him with a woodcutting tool.

"On behalf of the Fairfax County Police Department and myself, I wish to express our condolences and our sincere sympathy to Mr. Culosi's family and friends," Rohrer said. He declined to answer questions after making the statement.

Police departments generally do not accept responsibility for an officer-involved shooting before an investigation is completed.

Culosi's family in Annandale was grief-stricken and declined to be interviewed. Culosi's older sister, Constance Culosi Gulley, issued a statement saying that her brother was "a respected local businessman and doctor with his whole life ahead of him and didn't deserve to have his life end this way."

Culosi grew up just off Annandale Road, graduated from Bishop O'Connell High School and the University of Virginia, then attended the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis and became a doctor of optometry. He opened practices in Manassas and Warrenton that are attached to Wal-Mart stores.

The officer, a 17-year veteran assigned to the police tactical unit, was not identified. He was placed on leave with pay while police conduct both an internal administrative investigation and a criminal investigation. Rohrer also expressed support for the officer, calling him a valued veteran of the department.

Lt. Richard Perez, a police spokesman, said he could not say how or why the gun discharged...

 

[C-pher]

"As they approached him . . . one officer's weapon, a handgun, was unintentionally discharged," said Fairfax Police Chief David M. Rohrer.

I mean...errr....had his finger on the trigger as he approached the man...

 

[SiameseRat]

At least we all know never to gamble in Fairfax... yeesh.

I think this just supports that LEOs need to have sessions with qualified firearms instructors at least monthly, if not weekly. If your profession involves having to whip out a loaded gun at a moments notice you should be required to have range time every day.

But that would make sense so why would we want that... [roll]

 

[dwarven1]

Wonder if it was a Glock...

 

[Pilgrim]

Wonder if it was a Glock...

you beat me to it again!

 

[Len-2A Training]

It is my understanding that police tactical units train with their guns typically at least monthly, whereas regular officers only do it 1-2x/year.

I don't think there ever is enough emphasis on where to keep your trigger finger in police training!!

I don't pretend to know all the facts, but I'm not sure that an unarmed person accused of gambling (non-violent crime) being surrounded by police trying to make an arrest really requires any drawn weapon. Keeping alert and ready to draw your weapon is appropriate, but I'm not sure that this scenario really required actually drawing down on him. [I raise this as a question, not a condemnation.]

 

[Weerd Beard]

Yeah I'm with Len here...why were the officers drawn when they aproached him? He was unarmed. (If he owns a gun, or is know to carry, I'd understand...need more info on that one)

But reason to draw or not is no excuse for sloppy trigger etiquette.

Just look at Chris' Avitar....not like he has to move his finger too far to get it on the trigger (and a smaller gun is LESS distance) and it's not like a trigger is EVER hard to find (when was the last time you were at the range and you had to look down at your gun because you just LOST that damn trigger!! [roll] )

So I won't dish out condemning weapons comming into play in the first place (I may if we get more info *we won't*) But I will for the break of Rule #3.

The man was unarmed, and there was no justification for lethal force...his finger NEEDED to be outside the trigger guard PERIOD!

-Weer'd Beard

 

[dwarven1]

Just look at Chris' Avitar....not like he has to move his finger too far to get it on the trigger (and a smaller gun is LESS distance) and it's not like a trigger is EVER hard to find (when was the last time you were at the range and you had to look down at your gun because you just LOST that damn trigger!! [roll] )
[snip] his finger NEEDED to be outside the trigger guard PERIOD!

Friday morning, I was pulling some cable and using this:

to throw a pull string into the ceiling where I was working.

When my coworker called up to me (I was on a 10 foot ladder) as I was about to pull the trigger to ask me something, I realized that I had automatically taken my finger off the trigger and placed it along the side of the cable caster when he distracted me... training really DOES matter!!

 

[Weerd Beard]

hehehhee

Lynne and I were talking about how when we use Windex-type spray bottles we always have our fingers off the tigger untill the Target is in our Sights. 8)

Hey it's somthing to be damn proud of....and hell even to point out to non-gunnies who have the common sence to grasp the 4 rules.

It's like another safty habit I have:

My family has a tradition when the local Icecream shop opens for the summer to drive over to it. It's take-out only, and in Maine it's usally not very warm on the first day of "ice Cream season" so we usally eat it in the car, then drive home. From the moment I sit down in the car my safty belt is on. I just can't sit in a car and NOT latch the belt, it doesn't feel right.

I was taught well on safty (not just for guns and cars) so why do we need to make laws when all we need to to is be involved in our children's and peer's safty.

And like my problems with the "Mass-Hole" in my 1911: Some things put in place for a Good reason, only discorages the individual from doing good.

"Why clear the chamber of my gun, when I can trust the 'Ma**h***' in it?" WRONG!!!

"Why teach my kid to buckle up when he'll learn the hard way when he's paying his first ticket!" WRONG!

-Weer'd Beard

 

[Lynne]

Lynne and I were talking about how when we use Windex-type spray bottles we always have our fingers off the tigger untill the Target is in our Sights. 8)

Hey it's somthing to be damn proud of....and hell even to point out to non-gunnies who have the common sence to grasp the 4 rules.

It damn sure is something to be proud of. BTW - there have been a couple times when I've put my finger on the trigger just before I raise the gun up on the target. And yes, it was done intentionally. I had to make myself think of doing it. Guess what? It felt ALL WRONG. It felt like I was doing something that was completely out of sequence and because it felt wrong, I couldn't take a shot until I did it the right way. Is that just me, or has anyone else felt that way too?

 

[KMaurer]

Maybe there's some particular reason that they decided to make the arrest the way they did. I don't what to judge their actions in the absence of more knowledge, other than to state flatly that, based on the facts as stated, there was no f'ing way that anybody should have had his or her finger inside the trigger guard, in which case there couldn't have been an ND. However, unless there was some specific reason that the arrest had to be attempted when, where and how it was, it seems like another example of some departments treating a lot of things as "tactical responses" that could very safely be treated in a more routine manner. If the guy's a local businessman wanted for a non-violent crime, I don't see why he couldn't simply be approached at work by two or three officers. There are a lot of situations that call for agressive approaches, but a lot more that don't. I certainly hope for the sake of the officers involved that there was a good reason for using it in this case.

Ken

 

[Lynne]

\ I certainly hope for the sake of the officers involved that there was a good reason for using it in this case.

+1