It seems like a pretty simple request, only when coming from law enforcement it's an order.
Some people call it a threat. To whom, can be a point of debate.
24-yr old German Sarabia of Bakersfield was inside a car at midnight Saturday near Lake Street, when two deputies saw the vehicle roll up outside a house and open fire.
No mistaken identity, no second hand information, the deputies witnessed the shooting.
The pursuit was short, as the cowards bailed out of the vehicle.
Two men were captured without incident, while according to the report, Sarabia ran into a backyard on Lake Street, with a gun in his hand.
He was confronted by nearly a dozen BPD and Sheriff Deputies, with anywhere from one to 12 years on the job. There was also a Sheriff's Sgt. on hand with 22 years experience.
The report indicated multiple commands were given to drop the weapon, which he reportedly ignored and decided to raise the gun in the direction of officers.
Big mistake.
The coroner's autopsy determined that 34 projectiles were recovered from the body of German Sarabia.
Yes, that's not a misprint, 34 bullets.
The 11 officers fired about 100 times.
Do the math, that's about 3 hits per officer who fired about 9 shots each.
No one else was hit or injured.
The family has not spoken, but I'm sure these details will provoke some type of reaction.
So here's mine.
In case you don't know, the BPD and Sheriff's Dept. have a policy when it comes to a gun-toting suspect who threatens public life or an officer's.
He is trained to shoot until the threat is neutralized. There is no winging the suspect in the leg or arm. The torso makes a big target.
If a man is hit, but still holding the gun, he's a threat.
If a man is down, but still holding the gun, he's a threat.
You get the idea.
I don't have a problem with the number of times the officer fired. I wasn't there.
I know this, if I'm standing there, I don't want him firing back at me.
I do, however, have a problem with people that have a blatant disregard for laws and human life.
There's no telling what Sarabia was thinking at the time, but it appears there was no chance he was going to drop the gun.
How many chances do you give a guy holding a weapon? How long do you wait? Why didn't he leave the gun in the car or ditch it when he took off running? Was this a suicide by cop situation?
We'll never know.
I'm glad no one else was injured. The number of shots fired will almost surely raise questions about public safety, especially for people who lived within feet of the deadly confrontation.
Kern County has a reputation around the state when it comes to law enforcement.
I look back on the "We'll Kick Your Ass" controversy and laugh. I never blamed Mack, I thought the whole thing was a joke. Still, when it comes to drawing a line between right and wrong, I came up with a slogan for law enforcement that was meant in the most positive way.
"We shoot first, and ANSWER questions later."
Sure, it's a little strong, but I don't mind.
I feel great sorrow for Sarabia's family or anyone whose loved one is killed at the hands of police.
I also have sympathy for the officer or deputy who will live with the memory of that moment for the rest of their life.
It's something a gun-wielding suspect probably never contemplates until it's too late.
There's no glory, no immortality and no honor in it.
Only questions that never get answered.
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4 comments:
Great Thoughts Mike. I totally agree with you. I have no issues with the police department shooting when they feel threatned. I have an older brother who was a Navy Seal for 12 years and now is a U.S. Marshall (so he says) in Utah. So I know that I would in no way want to hear of him being hurt because of a cowardly act like the one that took place.
Here's the thing. My first issue is why did all the officers have to shoot. I'm sure they all knew that it doesn't take 12+ cops to shoot 1 person that really had no chance to begin with. Secondly, what if the remaining 66 or so bullets that did not hit the victim, what if they went through some walls or flew in the wrong direction and killed a little kid or a few of them for that matter. I know they have to look out for each other but they could use some more sense sometimes. I'm surprised there wasn't an issue of race brought up. Sometimes when stuff like this happens someone always says the cops were bullies.
I think it's easy to blame the officers and make the dead "bad guy" the victim. I like your honesty, Mike. I feel the same way. Not just the fact that the "victim" had many choices to make along the way and chose all the wrong ones.. but also the fact that Sarabia just got done trying to kill a HOUSE FULL of people. I'm sure he didn't count bullets or make sure he only aimed for the ONE person he was shooting to kill.
There's such a thing called adreneline. And when you're in a situation where your life and the lives of your coworkers are in danger you don't sit there and think, "I better only shoot once" you think, "shoot till I feel safe."
I agree with what you said Norma. But how would you feel if it were one of your children who was shot in the line of fire. Would you still think "shoot til you feel safe" or would you question what happened and how can we fix this type of situation?
Good point realtor. I definitely think they need some sort of training.
That's a LOT of bullets.
But I also think sometimes even though we may be properly trained when it comes down to it, we may not react the way we should have. It's a tough situation, and luckily the worse case scenerio didn't happen. This time.
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