It seems to be open season on police officers of late. Yesterday an officer was shot northeast of Dallas. Last week one was wounded in Florida. Another one in Atlanta. Baltimore, too. St. Cloud, Minnesota. Chicago. One was stabbed in Arkansas.
Yesterday a suspect fought with two officers during a traffic stop in Tulsa before pulling a gun and shooting them both in the head.
No one is questioning the need to examine and reform some police practices and get bad cops off the streets. But given the push to defund departments around the country and the reputational, career and legal risk every cop faces if he or she shoots someone in a situation that can later be questioned, a lot of cops are deciding it just isn’t worth it. It can’t be easy recruiting replacements these days, either.
On top of zero bail systems and prosecutors who won’t prosecute, anti-cop and pro-criminal advocates claim the only way to save lives is to radically cut back or eliminate police budgets and cops on the street, replacing them with holistic community services. If you really want to see the bodies pile up to early 1990s levels again in this country, that’s exactly the path to take.
From the AP:
Two police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were shot and critically wounded on the city’s east side Monday morning and police arrested the suspected gunman following a more than seven-hour search, authorities said.
David Anthony Ware, 32, was arrested about 10:45 a.m., said Capt. Richard Meulenberg.
Police had been searching for Ware since about 3:30 a.m. after he allegedly shot two officers during a traffic stop. The officers — Sgt. Craig Johnson and rookie officer Aurash Zarkeshan — remained in critical condition Monday afternoon and were “fighting for their lives,” said Police Chief Wendell Franklin.
Officer Condition:
Both Johnson and Zarkeshan were shot in the head and sustained critical wounds, they both went under surgery at two local hospitals and are still in critical condition.Service with TPD:
Craig Johnson joined the Tulsa Police Department in 2005 and was… pic.twitter.com/nQnj6JQiNJ— Tulsa Police (@TulsaPolice) June 29, 2020
Zarkeshan had been on patrol for less than six weeks after graduating from the police academy in the spring, Franklin said.
The two officers were attempting to remove Ware from the vehicle, and one officer had already deployed a Taser and pepper spray in an attempt to get him out.
“When they were able to get the driver out of the vehicle, the driver produced a handgun and fired multiple rounds,” Franklin said.
A motive for the shooting was unclear and Ware had no known bias toward police, Meulenberg said.
“He clearly did not want to be arrested,” Meulenberg said.
Here are some thoughts what it means to be a police officer, putting your life on the line to protect the community.
Two Tulsa officers were shot and critically wounded overnight after a traffic stop: https://t.co/ofx7uRB7zY#tulsa #oklahoma #police pic.twitter.com/sWodk7Brkc
— Tulsa’s Channel 8 (@KTULNews) June 29, 2020
After the officers were shot, Ware walked away from the scene and was picked up by an “accomplice” who had arrived in a separate vehicle, Franklin said. That man, Matthew Hall, was arrested later in Broken Arrow, Franklin said.
“He got on the phone and called that individual while he was being stopped,” he said.
Ware has been charged with two counts of shooting with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm, court records show. They didn’t list an attorney who could speak on Ware’s behalf.