Remember the good old days, when cops were always the good guys and bad guys got what they deserved? Before Johnny Law dressed up in military camo, fired-up the MRAP, loaded-up his full-auto rifle and rang the local judge for a no-knock warrant for a local meth head. Back in the day, older folks and mass media regaled young lads with stories of courageous law enforcement officers. Here’s one from snopes.com dated, surprisingly, 2006 . . .
As [police dog] DiOGi closed on the suspect’s hiding place, Freeland shot the dog in the chest from close range at an upward angle, killing it. He then fired on nearby Deputy Williams, wounding him in the right wrist, left bicep, rear left thigh, right leg, right buttock, and upper right arm. One of the shots penetrated to the officer’s spine. Freeland then approached the immobilized man and delivered two shots to Williams’ head at point-blank range, finishing him off.
Deputy Speirs heard the shots from a nearby ridge, moved towards the sounds of the gunfire, and was shot at by Freeland. The two exchanged fire, and the deputy was wounded in the leg. He radioed for help and made his way out of the woods.
Every available unit and canine team descended on the area. Freeland briefly appeared at the perimeter of the woods to fire at the officers but then took cover again. He dug in under another fallen oak tree and hid there. Later that afternoon the body of 39-year-old Deputy Williams, a father of three, was found and carried from the wooded area. Officers noted that the slain man’s gun and ammo were missing.
Freeland remained under the oak tree overnight, where a 10-member SWAT team found him the next morning. When they saw Freeland raise his right hand clutching a gun (one they would later learn belonged to the dead deputy), nine of the ten officers fired, hitting him with 68 of 110 shots. Freeland was dead at the scene.
Afterwards, when called upon by the media to make a statement about the manhunt and its outcome, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained: “You have to understand, he had already shot and killed a deputy, he had already shot and killed a K-9, and he shot and injured another deputy. Quite frankly, we weren’t taking any chances.” Sheriff Judd was variously reported as adding, “That’s all the bullets we had or we would have shot him more.”
The FBI and DOJ launched the now usual investigation into the Angilo Freeland case and determined the shoot was A-OK, civil rights-wise. No riots ensued. Somehow I don’t think officer Darren Wilson will get the same treatment. And if he does, Ferguson will burn. IMHO.