The Manhunt of Christopher Dorner
December 27, 2013 7:13 AM Subscribe
The LA Times recounts the Manhunt of Christopher Dorner from Feb. 3-12, 2013 through a series of interviews and research.
Previously
His manifesto:
From LA Times (Names Redacted) From Clear Channel(No redactions).
His manifesto:
From LA Times (Names Redacted) From Clear Channel(No redactions).
Corona is fairly far away from the city limits of LA - about 20 miles from the closest border as the crow flies, guesstimating from google maps, and about 10 miles from the border of LA county. It's pretty safely within the LA metropolitan area, but the actual city of LA is surprisingly small compared to the size of the metro area.
posted by LionIndex at 8:25 AM on December 27, 2013
posted by LionIndex at 8:25 AM on December 27, 2013
I found this after it was mentioned on MeTa a few days ago. A great read!
As for the problems with radio communications, this is an ongoing problem with emergency services throughout the country. Problems with communications between fire and police on 9-11 are well-documented, and during the final standoff in the FPP article there is this:
A team of LAPD SWAT officers had taken command of a fire helicopter and flown to the mountain. They were deposited on a ridge about a half-mile north of the cabin.
“I’m not sure if they were invited or not, or if anyone’s controlling them,” a sheriff’s deputy said over the radio.
Not only had the helicopter presented another target for Dorner’s rifle, but the local deputies lacked direct radio contact with the LAPD team, which created the possibility of confusion and chaos.
Was the LAPD so zealous because Dorner had been one of their own? Did they doubt their San Bernardino counterparts could handle the crisis? A “miscommunication,” the LAPD called it, a result of bad cellphone and radio coverage in the mountains.
Whatever the reason, San Bernardino County sheriff’s commanders were furious. They ordered the LAPD team not to get any closer.
posted by TedW at 9:11 AM on December 27, 2013
As for the problems with radio communications, this is an ongoing problem with emergency services throughout the country. Problems with communications between fire and police on 9-11 are well-documented, and during the final standoff in the FPP article there is this:
A team of LAPD SWAT officers had taken command of a fire helicopter and flown to the mountain. They were deposited on a ridge about a half-mile north of the cabin.
“I’m not sure if they were invited or not, or if anyone’s controlling them,” a sheriff’s deputy said over the radio.
Not only had the helicopter presented another target for Dorner’s rifle, but the local deputies lacked direct radio contact with the LAPD team, which created the possibility of confusion and chaos.
Was the LAPD so zealous because Dorner had been one of their own? Did they doubt their San Bernardino counterparts could handle the crisis? A “miscommunication,” the LAPD called it, a result of bad cellphone and radio coverage in the mountains.
Whatever the reason, San Bernardino County sheriff’s commanders were furious. They ordered the LAPD team not to get any closer.
posted by TedW at 9:11 AM on December 27, 2013
Having read the story through, what stands out to me is how thoroughly cops resemble the general population in certain ways despite all the training and practice they go through: They're just another bunch of people, a mix of frightened overeager idiots and genuine reluctant heroes. It must have been positively terrifying to be a cop anywhere in CA during this ordeal: All the usual background angst over living a daily job where a target is always on your back comes roaring to the fore. I'd be paralyzed myself. There's no excuse for shooting up those various innocent civilians, though.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 9:16 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by BigLankyBastard at 9:16 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
The detail about Michael Crain's son following behind his father's casket, his palms pressed against it, just broke my heart.
I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle? Why attack the surfer, who also bore no resemblance to Dorner?
posted by BrianJ at 9:17 AM on December 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle? Why attack the surfer, who also bore no resemblance to Dorner?
posted by BrianJ at 9:17 AM on December 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Much of the freed-up bandwidth from the move to digital-only television broadcast is earmarked for next-generation fire/police radio services, as the old analog television spectrum is very well suited for the application, but the changeover is going to take many years.
posted by MattD at 9:20 AM on December 27, 2013
posted by MattD at 9:20 AM on December 27, 2013
Bah.
This guy was a nasty murderer and kidnapper - but then the LAPD deliberately burned him to death. The arguments given in the article are bogus - Dorner had no night vision googles, but more, they had armored personnel carriers, they had the place completely cordoned off. They could simply have waited.
Burning someone alive is inhuman, no matter what crimes they are accused of.
> I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle? Why attack the surfer, who also bore no resemblance to Dorner?
I don't think anyone was punished for those, either... It seems to me that this was intended to send a message to the populace - "We are angry, armed and dangerous. Someone fucked with us and now everyone has to suffer."
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:25 AM on December 27, 2013 [14 favorites]
This guy was a nasty murderer and kidnapper - but then the LAPD deliberately burned him to death. The arguments given in the article are bogus - Dorner had no night vision googles, but more, they had armored personnel carriers, they had the place completely cordoned off. They could simply have waited.
Burning someone alive is inhuman, no matter what crimes they are accused of.
> I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle? Why attack the surfer, who also bore no resemblance to Dorner?
I don't think anyone was punished for those, either... It seems to me that this was intended to send a message to the populace - "We are angry, armed and dangerous. Someone fucked with us and now everyone has to suffer."
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:25 AM on December 27, 2013 [14 favorites]
It seems to me that this was intended to send a message to the populace
...Ooor, it could be that the cops were so scared shitless of Dorner getting the drop on them they were far more hairtrigger than usual. The incident with the women in the pickup truck seems like a clearcut case of "contagious fire" where one panicky dumbass shoots and everyone else present reflexively joins in on the assumption the first guy saw something legitimate to shoot at. It's poor form to find evil where mere brute stupidity provides an explanation.
When you're out in your city playing cat-and-mouse games with a guy who you know for a fact is willing and capable of killing you specifically, you probably don't have a whole lotta mental bandwidth to consider what message your methods are sending to the populace. Which is a whole 'nother problem.
Also it's worth noting that even a cursory reading of the article will reveal that it was an entirely different agency in charge at the mountain standoff, so the LAPD (for all their other numerous, weighty, and well-documented faults) cannot be directly blamed for the outcome there.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 9:47 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
...Ooor, it could be that the cops were so scared shitless of Dorner getting the drop on them they were far more hairtrigger than usual. The incident with the women in the pickup truck seems like a clearcut case of "contagious fire" where one panicky dumbass shoots and everyone else present reflexively joins in on the assumption the first guy saw something legitimate to shoot at. It's poor form to find evil where mere brute stupidity provides an explanation.
When you're out in your city playing cat-and-mouse games with a guy who you know for a fact is willing and capable of killing you specifically, you probably don't have a whole lotta mental bandwidth to consider what message your methods are sending to the populace. Which is a whole 'nother problem.
Also it's worth noting that even a cursory reading of the article will reveal that it was an entirely different agency in charge at the mountain standoff, so the LAPD (for all their other numerous, weighty, and well-documented faults) cannot be directly blamed for the outcome there.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 9:47 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Hear, hear, Lupus Yonderboy. The most shocking things about this article to me, other than Dorner's own destructive awful craziness, were:
- The author's near-outright refusal to believe any racism could possibly exist today in the LAPD;
- The fact that the author carefully maneuvered around implicating the LAPD in any wrong-doing or incompetence despite their having to mobilize and endanger large amounts of personnel to find one (supposedly incompetent) man, even when they nearly killed three obviously innocent people with no explanation or apology (incidentally, the two women nearly killed in the truck was the only part of this story I had previously been aware of and, while it is interesting to read it in context, it's still a fucking outrage);
- The author's seeming glorification of the hideously violent and expensive tactics in apprehending one crazy guy.
Seriously. It's like, "the guy was a cop-killer" just gives any government body free rein to do whatever the hell it feels like. Is anyone else a little freaked out by this?
posted by Mooseli at 9:51 AM on December 27, 2013 [17 favorites]
- The author's near-outright refusal to believe any racism could possibly exist today in the LAPD;
- The fact that the author carefully maneuvered around implicating the LAPD in any wrong-doing or incompetence despite their having to mobilize and endanger large amounts of personnel to find one (supposedly incompetent) man, even when they nearly killed three obviously innocent people with no explanation or apology (incidentally, the two women nearly killed in the truck was the only part of this story I had previously been aware of and, while it is interesting to read it in context, it's still a fucking outrage);
- The author's seeming glorification of the hideously violent and expensive tactics in apprehending one crazy guy.
Seriously. It's like, "the guy was a cop-killer" just gives any government body free rein to do whatever the hell it feels like. Is anyone else a little freaked out by this?
posted by Mooseli at 9:51 AM on December 27, 2013 [17 favorites]
> I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle?
In any other large city in the U.S. (and a few other countries), the Chief of Police would have had to resign after his officers shot up a couple of little Latina ladies delivering newspapers because their truck vaguely resembled an inaccurate rumor about the vehicle the large, male African-American suspect was driving. But this is Los Angeles, where memories are short, and outrage is diffused by the hugeness of the city, and the lack of any critical media presence whatsoever -- be it print, online, TV or radio.
The shooting of random people by cops out of fear of Dorner is complicated -- but not impossible to suss out: Dorner's manifesto (well-written, thoughtful, crazy) hit too close to home for both higher-ups and front line LAPD officers. Both groups took different things away from it, and the non-specific threats (such as they were) against LAPD rank-and-file were fanned by the media in L.A., which consists of brain-dead local TV news stations, a neutered LA Times (which has been purged of veteran journalists with perspective), and radio/alt weeklies that are too timid or entertainment-focused to poke too deeply or think too critically. So what you ended up with was a chant of "OMFG Krazy Kop Killer on the Loose!" which sounds good, but the reality was something quite different -- and if more people at LAPD (and Sheriff's, and SWAT, and Torrance PD) understood and/or communicated this difference, Dorner may have been caught earlier (and alive).
posted by turducken at 9:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
In any other large city in the U.S. (and a few other countries), the Chief of Police would have had to resign after his officers shot up a couple of little Latina ladies delivering newspapers because their truck vaguely resembled an inaccurate rumor about the vehicle the large, male African-American suspect was driving. But this is Los Angeles, where memories are short, and outrage is diffused by the hugeness of the city, and the lack of any critical media presence whatsoever -- be it print, online, TV or radio.
The shooting of random people by cops out of fear of Dorner is complicated -- but not impossible to suss out: Dorner's manifesto (well-written, thoughtful, crazy) hit too close to home for both higher-ups and front line LAPD officers. Both groups took different things away from it, and the non-specific threats (such as they were) against LAPD rank-and-file were fanned by the media in L.A., which consists of brain-dead local TV news stations, a neutered LA Times (which has been purged of veteran journalists with perspective), and radio/alt weeklies that are too timid or entertainment-focused to poke too deeply or think too critically. So what you ended up with was a chant of "OMFG Krazy Kop Killer on the Loose!" which sounds good, but the reality was something quite different -- and if more people at LAPD (and Sheriff's, and SWAT, and Torrance PD) understood and/or communicated this difference, Dorner may have been caught earlier (and alive).
posted by turducken at 9:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
I get that they were under an intense amount of stress, but to attack two innocent women, firing 100 rounds, only 30 of which hit their target? And then to attack another completely innocent civilian, broadsiding his vehicle? That reads less as being scared shitless and more as being completely overzealous.
posted by BrianJ at 9:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by BrianJ at 9:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
It read as being cops who are acting like cops. This police/military/worship/hero/bullshit is going to be remembered as the greatest shame of these times when all of us are gone. They don't give a shit about the citizenry. They aren't your protectors, they're your herders. LAStrong, baby!
posted by umberto at 9:56 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by umberto at 9:56 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
"OMFG Krazy Kop Killer on the Loose!" which sounds good, but the reality was something quite different -- and if more people at LAPD (and Sheriff's, and SWAT, and Torrance PD) understood and/or communicated this difference, Dorner may have been caught earlier (and alive).
I mean, in addition to killing a random police officer in his car he also killed two newly-weds just because of who their parents were.
'Crazy' and 'cop-killer' would seem to be accurate.
posted by rosswald at 9:59 AM on December 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
I mean, in addition to killing a random police officer in his car he also killed two newly-weds just because of who their parents were.
'Crazy' and 'cop-killer' would seem to be accurate.
posted by rosswald at 9:59 AM on December 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
I don't know, and now can't know, what the truth is about Mr Dorner. I know that he is supposed to have penned a manifesto, and was supposedly crazy. But in this age of the NSA (and any of their friends) being able to do anything to a person's computer, online data, bank accounts, or other "official" history... it's now all a matter of hearsay. He may have been a rational actor, responding to irrational circumstances.
A court trial was our best chance at cutting through that fog, but that option was incinerated, wasn't it?
posted by MikeWarot at 10:31 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
A court trial was our best chance at cutting through that fog, but that option was incinerated, wasn't it?
posted by MikeWarot at 10:31 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I concur the chief should have stepped down or made some other significant public expression of regret in the wake of the civilian shootings. It'd be one thing if there was any hint of an effort to forestall those totally predictable incidents. You know, some kind of "Ladies and Gentlemen, this guy is gunning for us but let's see if we can't get through this crisis without forgetting what are actual jobs are in this city, and ESPECIALLY let's see if we can do it without gunning down anyone innocent..." direction from the leadership of LAPD would have been really nice.
But no, the institutional paranoia went through and through, and the attitude of "just go, we'll clean it up later" came to extend to "shoot first, verify your targets later" in at least two cases. It's totally human and understandable (but still unacceptable) for front-line cops to be jittery and excessively aggressive in a situation like this. That's why organizations have leaders, in part to restrain the undesired impulses of the rank and file. For all this story's pro-LAPD slant the authors were unable to find any hint that such restraint was attempted. The leadership failed, and it's regrettably unsurprising that any real accountability for that failure was assessed.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 10:33 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
But no, the institutional paranoia went through and through, and the attitude of "just go, we'll clean it up later" came to extend to "shoot first, verify your targets later" in at least two cases. It's totally human and understandable (but still unacceptable) for front-line cops to be jittery and excessively aggressive in a situation like this. That's why organizations have leaders, in part to restrain the undesired impulses of the rank and file. For all this story's pro-LAPD slant the authors were unable to find any hint that such restraint was attempted. The leadership failed, and it's regrettably unsurprising that any real accountability for that failure was assessed.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 10:33 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
The story is sensationalist in the extreme, and gets little details about firearms wrong, or shades them to make it seem more shocking. Not surprising. Good job LA Times.
posted by wuwei at 10:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by wuwei at 10:52 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
His manifesto:
There's no way to know that. Just as there's been no way to know the reality around the Ramparts story.
Just remember the two ladies in the pickup truck that was shot full of holes. Try to square that kind of rabid 'justice' with the official story.
posted by Twang at 11:04 AM on December 27, 2013
There's no way to know that. Just as there's been no way to know the reality around the Ramparts story.
Just remember the two ladies in the pickup truck that was shot full of holes. Try to square that kind of rabid 'justice' with the official story.
posted by Twang at 11:04 AM on December 27, 2013
I don't know, and now can't know, what the truth is about Mr Dorner. I know that he is supposed to have penned a manifesto, and was supposedly crazy. But in this age of the NSA (and any of their friends) being able to do anything to a person's computer, online data, bank accounts, or other "official" history... it's now all a matter of hearsay. He may have been a rational actor, responding to irrational circumstances.
A court trial was our best chance at cutting through that fog, but that option was incinerated, wasn't it?
There was no way that beginning by killing the daughter and future son-in-law of his former lawyer could ever be described as a rational act. If he was actually fighting for justice or whatever, shouldn't he at least have been going after people who wronged him directly, rather than beginning by stalking a woman who had no idea who he was.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:10 AM on December 27, 2013 [9 favorites]
A court trial was our best chance at cutting through that fog, but that option was incinerated, wasn't it?
There was no way that beginning by killing the daughter and future son-in-law of his former lawyer could ever be described as a rational act. If he was actually fighting for justice or whatever, shouldn't he at least have been going after people who wronged him directly, rather than beginning by stalking a woman who had no idea who he was.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:10 AM on December 27, 2013 [9 favorites]
Twang: "His manifesto:
There's no way to know that. Just as there's been no way to know the reality around the Ramparts story.
Just remember the two ladies in the pickup truck that was shot full of holes. Try to square that kind of rabid 'justice' with the official story."
The official story about the shooting of the two ladies is the $4 million settlement the city paid them. It speaks for itself.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:10 AM on December 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
There's no way to know that. Just as there's been no way to know the reality around the Ramparts story.
Just remember the two ladies in the pickup truck that was shot full of holes. Try to square that kind of rabid 'justice' with the official story."
The official story about the shooting of the two ladies is the $4 million settlement the city paid them. It speaks for itself.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:10 AM on December 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
For all of Chief Beck's talk about carrying the past of the LAPD and not burying it, what is he doing for its future? Because the reason Dorner gained some sympathy outside of the usual cadre of childlike revenge fantasists, despite the fact that he was a monster, and did not actually suffer most or all of the persecution that he claimed as his motivating factor, and likely did lie about his partner brutalizing a civilian, is that those things really do happen, even if they didn't happen to him. Something I've heard a lot is that, on top of the murders and attempted murders, one of the most contemptible things Dorner did was give the LAPD a madman to point at as a distraction when anyone brings up real injustices in the department. The Chief was so afraid of reopening old wounds, and his response was merely to reopen Dorner's case as a show, and then sit back and let it all blow over once Dorner was dead - why not strive to make the LAPD a changed organization with clean hands if he's so afraid of people even thinking about all of its problems?
And yeah, seconding Mooseli about "he's a cop killer" being this really uncomfortably socially acceptable excuse to go out for blood. I get that the police are just regular people. I get that they would want revenge. But they're given a duty that requires them to be above that, and god knows they can put aside their human weaknesses to harden themselves up to do their jobs, so they can do the same to harden themselves against the very human weakness of acting on a desire for revenge. Plenty of cops already do, and don't take part in this socially acceptable vengeance. But those who embrace revenge are not cut out for the job and are actively cutting the legs out from under the entire justice system. Those who enforce the law, those with the means to circumvent the law without repercussion, should be held to the standards of the law. A stricter standard, even. The officer who goes out for a cop killer's blood has no standing to tell a civilian not to murder out of a sense of vengeance, and every time "he's a cop killer" is used as an excuse for vengeance with zero repercussions or a slap on the wrist it drastically weakens the foundations of the entire system.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:11 AM on December 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
And yeah, seconding Mooseli about "he's a cop killer" being this really uncomfortably socially acceptable excuse to go out for blood. I get that the police are just regular people. I get that they would want revenge. But they're given a duty that requires them to be above that, and god knows they can put aside their human weaknesses to harden themselves up to do their jobs, so they can do the same to harden themselves against the very human weakness of acting on a desire for revenge. Plenty of cops already do, and don't take part in this socially acceptable vengeance. But those who embrace revenge are not cut out for the job and are actively cutting the legs out from under the entire justice system. Those who enforce the law, those with the means to circumvent the law without repercussion, should be held to the standards of the law. A stricter standard, even. The officer who goes out for a cop killer's blood has no standing to tell a civilian not to murder out of a sense of vengeance, and every time "he's a cop killer" is used as an excuse for vengeance with zero repercussions or a slap on the wrist it drastically weakens the foundations of the entire system.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:11 AM on December 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
I think it's a mistake to say that either side was the hero. Both were fucked up because we are in a seriously fucked up cultural system. [/profound]
posted by rebent at 11:11 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by rebent at 11:11 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't understand what in the hell was happening with the situation in Torrance. Why in the world were the police attacking two small women driving a vehicle that bore no resemblance to Dorner's vehicle? Why attack the surfer, who also bore no resemblance to Dorner?
I don't think you need to go much further than "LAPD are a bunch of not very professional cowboys."
Contrast the search for Dorner in LA with the search for the Boston bombers, who had already committed out-and-out mass terrorism.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:22 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't think you need to go much further than "LAPD are a bunch of not very professional cowboys."
Contrast the search for Dorner in LA with the search for the Boston bombers, who had already committed out-and-out mass terrorism.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:22 AM on December 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
The official story about the shooting of the two ladies is the $4 million settlement the city paid them. It speaks for itself.
Yeah? What's it saying? Ovando got 4 times that much for getting shot up. When it comes to LAPD, nothing speaks for itself. Especially a man who was clearly destined never to speak for himself ... no matter the collateral damage.
The taxpayers get to fork out for the kind of justice these "servants" mete out all over the US. What do we get to keep our mouths shut?
posted by Twang at 11:36 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah? What's it saying? Ovando got 4 times that much for getting shot up. When it comes to LAPD, nothing speaks for itself. Especially a man who was clearly destined never to speak for himself ... no matter the collateral damage.
The taxpayers get to fork out for the kind of justice these "servants" mete out all over the US. What do we get to keep our mouths shut?
posted by Twang at 11:36 AM on December 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
It is a sad shame he snapped and went on a rampage instead of doing something that would have done some real damage - wearing a wire/hidden camera or incriminating leaks.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 6:48 PM on December 27, 2013
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 6:48 PM on December 27, 2013
Twang: "The official story about the shooting of the two ladies is the $4 million settlement the city paid them. It speaks for itself.
Yeah? What's it saying? Ovando got 4 times that much for getting shot up. When it comes to LAPD, nothing speaks for itself. Especially a man who was clearly destined never to speak for himself ... no matter the collateral damage.
The taxpayers get to fork out for the kind of justice these "servants" mete out all over the US. What do we get to keep our mouths shut?"
All it says is that it is an admission of guilt. It is saying 4 million times that they fucked up bad. I am not in a position to compare it to other settlements, but a city paying $4 million is a lot. What I would rather see is the officers themselves being forced to pay some meaningful (to them) amount as additional punishment.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:05 PM on December 27, 2013
Yeah? What's it saying? Ovando got 4 times that much for getting shot up. When it comes to LAPD, nothing speaks for itself. Especially a man who was clearly destined never to speak for himself ... no matter the collateral damage.
The taxpayers get to fork out for the kind of justice these "servants" mete out all over the US. What do we get to keep our mouths shut?"
All it says is that it is an admission of guilt. It is saying 4 million times that they fucked up bad. I am not in a position to compare it to other settlements, but a city paying $4 million is a lot. What I would rather see is the officers themselves being forced to pay some meaningful (to them) amount as additional punishment.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:05 PM on December 27, 2013
Strip qualified immunity from police and make them buy malpractice insurance. The problem will solve itself.
posted by Talez at 8:16 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Talez at 8:16 PM on December 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
We're still waiting for the ia investigation to come out and say when la cops are allowed to shoot at unidentified people who are doing nothing wrong. The turnaround time is about a year.
I connect it to that guy who shot the woman on his doorstep. Self defense now means you can shoot whoever you want if you're scared.
posted by Wood at 9:47 PM on December 28, 2013
I connect it to that guy who shot the woman on his doorstep. Self defense now means you can shoot whoever you want if you're scared.
posted by Wood at 9:47 PM on December 28, 2013
More context for the Torrance shooting from a resident on that street: local high school paper article. Lots of bullets strayed.
posted by therewolf at 12:11 AM on January 9, 2014
posted by therewolf at 12:11 AM on January 9, 2014
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The officers’ radios were out of LAPD broadcast range. They had to rely on cellphones, one of them borrowed from a passing motorist. The delay probably cost minutes in sending a warning.
What? I had no idea this was a thing. I've always been under the assumption that they were able to radio in no matter where they were, unless they were incredibly far away. How far off is Corona, California from the LAPD's range?
posted by gucci mane at 8:00 AM on December 27, 2013