When Cops Kill

[Spang]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/07/wiscon ... index.html

(CNN) -- At least five people were killed early Sunday morning in a shooting rampage in northern Wisconsin. The shooter -- a county sheriff's deputy -- was later shot and killed, according to the Oconto County Sheriff's department, WTMJ Newsradio reports.


"It's a pretty tragic situation here," said Forest County Supervisor Tom Vollmar, who lives just outside Crandon, Wisconsin, where the people were killed. "There are five or six people dead."

At least two of the victims were high school students, WTMJ told CNN.

Messages seeking comment were left with the sheriff's office.

The neighborhood where the rampage happened was blocked off, Vollmar said.

The northeast Wisconsin city of about 2,000 people is about 225 miles north of Milwaukee. The area is known for logging, and fishing, hunting and snowmobiling.

[Winnow]

The area is known for logging, and fishing, hunting and snowmobiling.

Sounds entirely too much like Canada.

[Nick]

Incoming gun debate.

[Aslanna]

How is this different than when non-cops kill? Cops are people. People kill people.

[Nick]

Because policemen are generally considered to be upholders of the law rather than psychotic mass murderers?

That's just one reason off the top of my head here

[Aslanna]

Not really a good reason. Feel free to add more.

[Nick]

Will I win a prize if I "add more"?

What more do you want, or better yet, what was your point? We all know "people kill people". We all also know that policemen don't usually go on rampages and kill 5 people. What exactly is inside your parameters for "different" so I know where to aim the next time I try my best to stimulate some sort of meaning out of your next irrelevant post?

[Leonaerd]

Aslanna's right. When somebody is far enough off the edge that they would shoot someone, their job position has long since lost importance. It wouldn't surprise me if he was normal and became deranged over time and by that point it wouldn't have mattered if he was a cop or a congressman or a grocery bagger.

[Nick]

Well obviously he's right, his entire point is that "people kill people", not exactly very bloody profound is it.

In all seriousness, I'm not arguing that it's massively more shocking because it was a cop, all the same, a shitty event regardless of bickering

[Trek]

I am suprised nobody saw this in him at some point in his life, or perhaps they did and thought he was over it.

[Winnow]

Aslanna's right. See for reference: Psycho Astronaut in diapers, any politician, etc.

Doesn't matter what you do if you start to go loony.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

How is this different than when non-cops kill? Cops are people. People kill people.

Agreed.

[Wulfran]

There is a slight difference in that holding a public position of authority, like a deputy sheriff, his victims are more likely to know and trust him, especially in a small town type of setting... unless they have had previous run-ins with him, in which case they still may not believe him capable of just shooting them. In some ways, given the jobs of even rural law enforcement officers, I'm surprised more don't lose it. Even rural cops have the shitty side of the job: having to deal with shit like hunting accidents, being first on the scene of car accidents and having to deal with shit like putting down injured animals, looking for missing people/body parts and that sort of thing. I had a buddy who was a volunteer fireman in a small town in Northern Alberta and the shit THEY have to deal with is enough to give you nightmares, never mind the additional hazards of a cop.

The stress level of cops and other emergency services people is a lot higher than it is for most of us, and though they tend to have more support services in place, there is probably more of a stigma and thus reluctance to utilize them.

[Spang]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/09/wiscon ... pstoryview

(CNN) -- The sole survivor of Sunday's shooting rampage in Wisconsin "played dead" after a sheriff's deputy shot him three times, Wisconsin's attorney general said Tuesday.

After Tyler Peterson shot him once, Charlie Neitzel, 21, begged him to stop. But Peterson fired again. Neitzel fell to the floor, was shot a third time, and didn't move.

"Playing dead until Peterson left, Neitzel survived," Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said.

Neitzel underwent surgery Tuesday and was in stable condition Tuesday night, a hospital employee told CNN.

The families of the six slain young people -- all current or former graduates of Crandon High School in Crandon, Wisconsin, asked that media leave them alone in their grief, Van Hollen told reporters.

But the families of the victims also wanted it known that they had met with Peterson's family.

"They hold no animosity toward them," Van Hollen said, conveying the families' wishes that the Peterson family be allowed space and time to heal.

On Sunday around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Peterson, a full-time Forest County Sheriff's deputy, went to a party at a home in the small town of Crandon apparently to make amends with an ex-girlfriend, a friend of Peterson's told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Peterson argued with Jordanne Murray, accusing her of dating someone else, said Van Hollen.

Peterson lost control after people called him a "worthless pig," Peterson's friend Mike Kegley told the paper.

Peterson left the party and got a police-style AR-15 rifle from his truck, forced his way back into the apartment and fired about 30 rounds at about 2:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET).

Six people were killed. According to The Associated Press, investigators found three bodies on or next to a couch -- Lindsey Stahl, 14; Aaron Smith, 20; and Bradley Schultz, 20.

Murray, 18, was found in the kitchen. Lianna Thomas, 18, was found in a closet, and Katrina McCorkle, 18, was just outside it. Both had apparently been trying to hide, Van Hollen said, according to AP.

Neitzel was the last person shot, Van Hollen said.

Less than 20 minutes later, a patrolling Crandon police officer, reported hearing gunfire and approached the apartment building to investigate, Van Hollen said. The officer, Greg Carter, 21, said he saw Peterson exit the building with a rifle, and momentarily lost sight of him. Then, Carter "heard multiple rounds of gunfire" and Carter's windshield burst, Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen said Peterson drove "aimlessly" through three Wisconsin counties and made false calls to authorities to "throw police off his tail."


He eventually stopped in Argonne, Wisconsin, where he spoke to friends and confessed, Van Hollen said.

Peterson was killed in a shootout with law officers Sunday after negotiations for his surrender failed. The details of the negotiations are not being released at this time pending an ongoing investigation, Van Hollen said Tuesday.

[Tangurena]

And Peterson finally committed suicide with 3 shots to the head.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/10/10/wi ... index.html

If true, it sounds like a .40 calibre glock is a craptastically useless gun.