Crime watch: A deadly night
San Bernardino police fatally shot two men Tuesday night in two separate incidents. In both cases, the men were pursued by police before both allegedly used their cars to ram police cars, prompting officers to open fire and kill the suspects.
Not sure what to say here, other than this looks like an incredible, and ghastly, coincidence.
It would be prudent to point out two things: 1) these are homicides (ie. person killing person. When unlawful, we call this murder), a fact that brings this year's homicide total to 51, very near the macabre 2005 record for the highest total in a decade. That number is 56, and we have two more months left in the year.
2) This brings the total number of people shot and killed (none unlawfully as of today) by San Bernardino police to at least eight, which is the highest total in at least four years and possibly much longer. Historically, it's a very high number.
Police brass have speculated that the reason for the higher number may be an uptick in violent behavior by people police are seeking to apprehend. This may be true, and there has been research in recent years on the effect that mandatory sentencing (such as the 3 strikes law) has on making criminals more desperate (ie. dangerous) to aviod apprehension.
I should note that in the San Bernardino Police Department's 102-year history, an officer has never been shot and killed on duty, a stat all the more astonishing considering last week's tragic shooting death of a Rialto policeman. Seven San Bernardino officers have died in the line of duty, the last in 1990, most in traffic accidents which occurred while they were trying to apprehend suspects.
Below, I'll reprint an excerpt from a July 1 2007 Sun article on this topic. At that point, six people had been killed in officer involved shootings ...
July 1, 2007
Section: News
Shootings by SB police on the rise
Author: Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Text:
SAN BERNARDINO - Halfway into the year, six people have died by police officers' bullets in the city - four last month - more than annual totals in recent years.
San Bernardino police officials said a loss of life is always cause for concern but that the slow, steady rise in shootings is not due to policy breakdowns or trigger-happy cops.
"What we are seeing is perhaps a little more violent behavior (by) criminals," said Assistant Chief Frank Mankin. "Because of these incidents, law-enforcement officers - not just at the San Bernardino Police Department - are much more vigilant because they know there are people out there who will assault them."
Since January, officers have fired at eight people, six of whom died. Last year, there were 10 officer-involved shootings, and five people died. In 2004 and 2005, police shot at seven people each year, killing two and then three, respectively.
No charges have been filed against officers for fatal shootings, but there are civil cases by the victims' families.
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Below, this is an article that printed Wednesday about the two separate deadly shootings in one night.
Police fatally shoot 2
SB officers fire on men in separate chase incidents
Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/24/2007 06:22:47 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO - Two fatal officer-involved shootings here made a busy night even busier for strained police officers who have been dealing with area fires.
The shootings took place about 6 p.m. Tuesday near Cal State San Bernardino, and then less than 10 hours later at 10th and L streets.
"It was just crazy," San Bernardino police Lt. Scott Paterson said. "There's no other way to describe it."
Names were not released for either of the men shot by police.
One was identified as a 27-year-old man from Topock, Ariz., and the other as a 47-year-old San Bernardino resident.
Just before 6 p.m. Tuesday, university police saw the Arizona man standing in a brush area near Cal State San Bernardino.
"They went to investigate, feeling he might be an arsonist," Paterson said.
The man jumped in his vehicle and sped away, Paterson said.
Cal State San Bernardino and San Bernardino police chased the man, who eventually turned north onto Waterman Avenue, onto a dirt road and into the foothills, authorities said.
When police tried to take the man into custody, he began ramming at least one officer's squad car and officers opened fire, police said.
The man was wounded and died at the scene.
At 3:22 a.m. Wednesday, officers saw a driver speed away from a Shell gas station.
Officers tried to pull over the San Bernardino man, but he continued driving. The man crashed at the corner of 11th and L streets.
"The driver attempted to ram his car into the police officer's car. Officers fired shots in self-defense, but the suspect fled in his car," Paterson said.
At 10th and L streets, the man again crashed the vehicle and tried to smash it into police vehicles, authorities said.
Officers opened fire, hitting the man.
The man died at the scene.
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Re "deadly night"... The police should be investigated for murder of that man from Arizona. "He could have been an arsonist" was the reasoning for chasing him (I guess we all could be, if they decide it to be so), and the description of him attacking them by ramming the patrol cars with his own vehicle is highly suspect. More likely scenerio; they crashed into him, forced his car off the road, then came out blasting, knowing they could use the exuse of the fire to justify/hide their actions. I don't normally side against the police, but this one is just a little too much. I hope the Sun investigates...
Dear John,
Then people had better be warned not to mess with the police and other authority during a disaster, in case you forgot. I can just imagine what could have happened if those mountains behind the college would have caught fire, There may be more homes and lives lost than did happen as a result of last week's fires. I live just below the mountains, and trust me, I was scared to death that they would catch fire, and I just can't imagine someone playing around and putting their own lives as well as others on the line to not stop and talk with the police when they are approached in a situation like this. I am saddened that this happened, because we will never know what this person's motivations were, but as I started out, don't mess with those in authority during an emergency disaster.
Flight from a peace officer is against the law.
This individual was running from an officer.
Whether he was an arsonist or not, he was committing a crime by fleeing and the police pursued - it is their job.
Whenever there is an officer involved shooting, the incident is investigated by a seperate agency.
That John is suggesting this individuals' reported actions of fleeing the police, then ramming their cars to avoid arrest are "highly suspect" shows he doesn't spend much time watching the evening news or re-runs of COPS or the other television shows that highlight suspects running from the police.
The 2003 Old Fire caused much destruction and 6 deaths (not including the 2003 Christmas Day Mudslide).
During the Grass Valley and Slide Fires we got lucky that no one was killed but hundreds of people lost their homes, possessions, and precious keepsakes.
I believe that the San Bernardino Police Department used necessary force and will be vindicated when the investigation is completed and released.