Cop shoots at snake, kills 5 year old boy

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
its rather rude to say such things about it.

Let me ask. Have you ever prejudged something? Just your response in this thread is enough of a yes. That's my whole point. We are not pre-judging. We are speculating. Yes, this speculation has returned the fact that this trigger happy whatever is a dumbass. No offense.

No offence taken, I wasnt calling anyone here rude, no specific person, just saying that in general sometimes Ive seen people assume bad things about people before knowing the full truth, its cool to speculate with what we know about already, like you do, no problem, but sometimes people talk like they know the whole truth, and that its the only truth, which they dont.

But from what we know already, Im going to speculate that this cop was a big dumbass, who made a big mistake. And should be treated just like anyone else, cop or no cop.

[edit on 9-8-2007 by _Phoenix_]

[edit on 9-8-2007 by _Phoenix_]

I was going to chime in with my thoughts but realized I could only restate the sensible viewpoints already set forth and elaborated on by Griff, whom as an aside I felt the mod was perhaps overly contentious with.

Fortunately when cops screw up, it's usually something trivial and no one has to pay the ultimate price for their incompetence. Such as in this example: Wrong house

Originally posted by seeingevil
Such as in this example: Wrong house

Hahaha, good video but i thought it was going to be one of the many examples of the police raiding a house only to discover it was the wrong one.
Sometimes when that happens, there are fatal consequences, like when the homeowner believes it is a home invasion or if the police just believe that he is the suspect and shoot him for making a wrong move or whatever.

Seeingevil, I completely agree with your post. I would just like to add that anyone who tries to kill a snake with a gun is a moron. These are all the facts we need. This cop should be sacked immediately and that is getting off lightly. Whats he going to do if he has a "perp" to bring in? Call in an airstrike?

Originally posted by RedEyes
Seeingevil, I completely agree with your post. I would just like to add that anyone who tries to kill a snake with a gun is a moron.

Yea whatever.. I grew up in a house in a semi rural area about 25 miles south of Dallas Tx. I had a creek across the street and a huge pasture behind us, when I was a kid I was in either one of those places about 85% of my time and i killed many, many snakes. I usually shot them with my Benjamin Pellet rifle but at times I used a shotgun or my .22 pistol or rifle.
I recall one day when I was around 8 and my father and I were in a creek shooting his .38 caliber service pistol.
A snake came out of the water about 25 feet or so from us and right as I yelled snake, my dad pulled his pistol from the holster and fired one shot, killing the snake.
The reason that this is so memorable is because I can still see what was left of that snake flying straight up in the air about 30 feet after being hit
really cool site and a great shot imo

If this cop had a grasp on gun safety and applied its rules then this tragedy would never have happened.
One of the first rules is that You do NOT fire your weapon into an area where there is no bullet stop, example would be like where we were, down in a creek bed with 15' banks on either side of us.
Stop making ignorant statements that generalize people like that.
I've been shooting guns of some kind since I was 5-7 years old and I have never, ever had an accidental discharge or any other type of accident.
Yes this cop was a moron but that doesnt make everyone else one as well.

why the hell my original post on page 1 was deleted ill never know, maybe INTREPID could send me a U2u explaining what was so bad about my logic that it had to be censored for absolutely no valid reason??

as i sad PREVIOUSLY, why didnt he call snake away services or whatever they are called in your state?

you know, theres trained snake experts and you call them up and they come out and they harmlessly capture the snake and relocate it to an area way out bush where the snake wont bother anyone.

all you gotta do is keep an eye on it for an hour till the dude gets theres so you can point out the snakes location.

the snake isnt harmed, and the kid would have his life still.

pretty simple solution to a very common problem, no need to go blasting away at it.

[edit on 9/8/07 by Obliv_au]

Originally posted by Obliv_au
pretty simple solution to a very common problem, no need to go blasting away at it.

Very true, especially considering the fact that this snake was a common Rat Snake, completely harmless. In fact, if it had just been left alone, it probably wouldve slithered away on its on, bothering nobody.

Personally I think the punishment will be living with the thought.

I fell sorry for all partys involved.

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
One of the first rules is that You do NOT fire your weapon into an area where there is no bullet stop, example would be like where we were, down in a creek bed with 15' banks on either side of us.

I'd have to say that shooting into a creekbed is not very smart also. Bullets tend to ricochet off rocks. That bullet could have easily ricocheted and hit either you or your father. No offense to you or your dad, but I don't want anyone thinking that shooting into creekbed is a good thing.

Originally posted by earth2
Personally I think the punishment will be living with the thought.

Let me ask. If I was drinking and driving and killed a 5 year old child. Would it be punishment enough just to live with it? Or is it because this guy is a cop that he doesn't have to pay for his actions?

Originally posted by Griff

I'd have to say that shooting into a creekbed is not very smart also. Bullets tend to ricochet off rocks. That bullet could have easily ricocheted and hit either you or your father. No offense to you or your dad, but I don't want anyone thinking that shooting into creekbed is a good thing.

lol it was about 30 years ago anyway but besides that, the creek banks were all soft mud, with the exception of where the snake was and it was white rock.
So yea it couldve ricocheted, it wasnt a planned shot though, more instinctual I suppose.
Back to snakes though, I couldnt tell you how many snakes ive shot and killed. Mostly Cotton-Mouths, then a few Copperheads and one or two Rattlers.
I rarely, if ever, killed a non-venomous snake unless he was just huge and couldve possibly posed a threat to children or something.

Originally posted by earth2
Personally I think the punishment will be living with the thought.

Thats just ridiculous thinking, the kid killer isnt having to live with anything it wasnt his son that he killed.
The child's parents and especially the grandfather, who was right beside him are the ones suffering.
Yea lets just let the killer off with the punishment of just having the thought in his mind that he killed a 5 year old child because he was careless and irresponsible.
I havent heard or read anything else regarding this. Has anyone here found any updates that havent been posted yet?
If you do find any post them, I want to know what happens to the killer. Im sure hell be slapped on the wrist and allowed to return to the force but you never know, justice may prevail.





[edit on 8/10/2007 by Kr0n0s]

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
lol

I'm glad you didn't take offense to what I said.

Back to snakes though, I couldnt tell you how many snakes ive shot and killed. Mostly Cotton-Mouths, then a few Copperheads and one or two Rattlers.
I rarely, if ever, killed a non-venomous snake unless he was just huge and couldve possibly posed a threat to children or something.

I can't remember killing a non-venomous snake either but have killed venomous ones.

Little anectdote to lighten the mood. I was fishing at a pond near my cousin's house (PA). I had hip waders on so I was about up to my knees in the water. I felt this jabbing at my leg and thought it was a stick I stepped on until I looked down. It was a copperhead trying to bite me. I jumped so far, I jumped out of the waders and onto the bank (at least 5-10 feet). The waders were still in the water. Thank god for waders because if it had bit me, I would have been very sick for a while.

Anyway, back to topic.

I didnt find your comment the least bit offensive but thanks for your concern Griff.
Thats a pretty interesting story, I've never heard of a Copperhead getting in the water, especially diving down.
During the 5 years that I lived in East Tx, when i was in high school, there were a few instances where I came very close to being bit. Two occasions that I will probably always remember are the times that I actually stepped right OVER a snake on two separate occasions. One of the times it was a Cotton-mouth that was laying out and warming his self on the leaves. It was just becoming winter so it was kinda lethargic, which is why I believe he didnt bite me. I cut his head off with a piece of metal i pulled out of the ground.
The other time it happened, i did the exact same thing. Stepped right over another snake but this time it was about a 3' Copperhead, he was killed with a shotgun blast
you are correct about the bite of a copperhead, their venom is a lot like the flesh eating bacteria, it just eats up skin. There are cases where people were just bit on the foot and had to have the entire leg amputated.

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Thats a pretty interesting story, I've never heard of a Copperhead getting in the water, especially diving down.

They usually don't but are found around water. It didn't dive down, it was on the surface. They will surface swim if need be but I think they usually like to avoid it. I think it was trying to get a frog or something and I just happened to be in it's way.

Edit: Although they aren't agressive like cottonmouths. I probably either got in it's way or bumped it while it was swimming.

[edit on 8/10/2007 by Griff]

[edit on 8/10/2007 by Griff]

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Like i said before, if this had been a civilian he would be in jail right now.

If it hadn't of been a cop, no one would have made uch a big deal and the thread wouldn't of been started. No one cares that a boy is dead, you just want to condem an authority figure

Originally posted by open mind

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Like i said before, if this had been a civilian he would be in jail right now.

If it hadn't of been a cop, no one would have made uch a big deal and the thread wouldn't of been started. No one cares that a boy is dead, you just want to condem an authority figure

How the hell do you know what I think? The reason this thread was started and the reason I bothered posting IS because a child is DEAD.
Youre just another one of the punk kids that come on here during the summer that dont have a clue what youre talking about.
I have 2 children, one 13 and one 9, thats where my concern about this thread comes from.
Whoever it was that fired the shot, a vagrant or a police officer, it doesnt matter, they need to have charges filed on them and go to trial just like any ordinary citizen.
You grow up before you think about coming back and making such a foolish statement to me again.
moron

As the grandfather stated in an interview shortly after losing his grandson... (I paraphrase)

"I don't know what will happen to this police officer, but I can assure you if I had been driving my grandson home without putting him in a child seat and had an accident that killed him, I would be facing negligent homicide charges right now. What that cop did was much worse."

And, yes, copperheads will go in water, and swim under the water.

The person in question is obviosly not to bright.

If you feel you can't handle the situation,call in a professional.

Can anyone say " Animal Control"?