“Questions have been raised over the New York police department’s handling of a shooting near the Empire State Building after armed officers injured nine passers-by as they pursued a gunman who had just shot dead his former boss. One of those injured by police told the Guardian that officers appeared to fire ‘randomly’ … [during] a chaotic shootout in one of the busiest parts of Manhattan. Reports suggest that while [Jeffrey] Johnson drew his gun when he was confronted by officers, he did not fire; all those injured appear to have been shot by police. … police discharged 14 rounds and the gunman died at the scene.”
Hmmm. Compare that with the disciplined defense the owner of a jewelry store mounted when five unofficial thieves tried to rob her: she grabbed her gun and scared them off with a couple of shots. “Nothing was taken from the store and no one was hurt.”
Which unleashed the sour grapes from cops who seldom if ever so successfully avert a robbery: “Authorities … cautioned store owners in using guns to protect themselves. ‘Just like a police officer, when you fire that weapon and those rounds go down range, you have to be accountable for where those rounds end up,’ said Garden Grove police Lt. Jeff Nightengale.”
Really, Jeff? Well, hot diggity, I most definitely look forward to the NYPD’s gunslingers being held accountable for the nine innocents they so carelessly wounded.
6:56 pm on August 25, 2012
