Park shooting
This case looks like it is going to be ugly and drag on for a while... the family of a man shot by a ranger in Malibu Creek State Park is saying that the ranger was nervous and shaking for no real reason, and shot their brother/son while his hands were up in the air in a gesture of surrender.
It is sad to see this happen in a state park, and makes me wonder if the value that a gun has to protect a ranger and enforce the law outweighs the potential of a life needlessly lost. After all, a state park is hardly a rough urban street- without looking at the statistics I imagine a lot of the law enforcement problems have to do with people starting fires, abandoning vehicles, and harassing wild life.
On the other hand, crime rates at national parks has continued to rise over the years, and according to this (somewhat dated) article being a ranger can be extremely hazardous.
Maybe, maybe not, "discovering the bodies of murder victims is almost a routine thing for those who work in this forest, he says. (Two or three dozen such corpses turn up each year in the Angeles.)
http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0797/9707dark.html