Louisiana marshals face murder charge over boy's gun death

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34754889

Louisiana marshals face murder charge over boy's gun death

Two marshals in the US state of Louisiana are to be charged with murder after the fatal shooting of a six-year-old boy.
Jeremy Mardis and his father, Chris Few, were in a car when they were shot in Marksville on Tuesday night.

Officers Norris Greenhouse and Derrick Stafford were arrested after a vehicle chase that left Mr Few, who was driving, critically injured.
Jeremy died at the scene and Mr Few remains in hospital.

The two officers were arrested on Friday after body-camera footage taken from them was assessed.

(continued)

[Seth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34754889

Louisiana marshals face murder charge over boy's gun death

Two marshals in the US state of Louisiana are to be charged with murder after the fatal shooting of a six-year-old boy.
Jeremy Mardis and his father, Chris Few, were in a car when they were shot in Marksville on Tuesday night.

Officers Norris Greenhouse and Derrick Stafford were arrested after a vehicle chase that left Mr Few, who was driving, critically injured.
Jeremy died at the scene and Mr Few remains in hospital.

The two officers were arrested on Friday after body-camera footage taken from them was assessed.

(continued)

Good. Their actions were absolutely unconscionable.

[JimC]

Bizarrely, the lad wasn't black...

[Seth]

Bizarrely, the lad wasn't black...

Interestingly, the cops are...

[cronus]

Bizarrely, the lad wasn't black...

Interestingly, the cops are...

They looked Arab to me, from the mugshots. Someone should check their birth certificates?

[Jason]

There's so much missing detail in that story. What was the cause of the car chase? Why did they open fire on the vehicle instead of trying to apprehend the driver? What rules of engagement necessitate their actions? Where these rules satisfied? I mean, what are we talking about here? The details, I get the gross horrible imagery that a 6-year-old boy was shot dead as a result.

[Seth]

There's so much missing detail in that story. What was the cause of the car chase?

A domestic dispute between the man and his (ex) girlfriend that occurred at a local bar.

Why did they open fire on the vehicle instead of trying to apprehend the driver?

We don't know because they haven't released the video from one of the cop's bodycam, which the State Police representative said was the most horrific thing he'd ever seen.

What rules of engagement necessitate their actions?

Er, none. You NEVER get to shoot at someone if your bullets are going to go through them and kill innocent people. Ever. You are OBLIGATED by law (not to mention morality and common sense) to allow a criminal to escape rather than place innocent persons at unnecessary or unreasonable risk, as this case clearly shows. For them to open fire with a child in the car is showing utter disregard for the safety of the child and is precisely why they are being charged with murder.

Where these rules satisfied?

Nope. Clearly they were acting entirely outside of any rational police use of force policy I've ever heard of.

I mean, what are we talking about here? The details, I get the gross horrible imagery that a 6-year-old boy was shot dead as a result.

Yup, that's what happened. They fired into the cab of the truck of a person who had no arrest warrant out for him, who was unarmed, who had committed no crime that anyone knows of other than perhaps a misdemeanor disturbing of the peace, and they did so with a child directly behind their target.

You want to talk about gun-toting idiots, these two epitomize that category, and they had badges and police powers. Turns out if you examine the record it's police officers who are more likely to do this than a law-abiding gun-carrying citizen. I've never heard of a case like this involving a permitted CCW carrier.

[JimC]

Seth wrote:

Turns out if you examine the record it's police officers who are more likely to do this than a law-abiding gun-carrying citizen.

Possibly because, at least in the past, there has been a tendency for police shootings to be judged in a very biased fashion, leading to far too many police believing that they will never be charged in those situations...

[Seth]

Seth wrote:

Turns out if you examine the record it's police officers who are more likely to do this than a law-abiding gun-carrying citizen.

Possibly because, at least in the past, there has been a tendency for police shootings to be judged in a very biased fashion, leading to far too many police believing that they will never be charged in those situations...

Yup, exactly. Any citizen who did what they did would have been immediately arrested and charged with murder, without the slightest delay.