Family: Man killed by CHP not armed, shot 55 times

*Sigh*

Just another day on the beat...

The family of a suicidal man who was killed by California Highway Patrol officers says he was shot 55 times even though he was unarmed.

Three CHP officers confronted 37-year-old Carrick Vigen at a rural gas station near Turlock on June 18 after his mother called 911 for help.

Karla Vigen told the Modesto Bee this week that her son has bipolar disorder and claimed he had a gun, so she told authorities that her son was armed.

Carrick Vigen also spoke to his brother just before the fatal shooting and said he wanted to "force a shootout" with police.

The Vigen family says investigators told them no gun was found at the scene.

Source

It bothers me that instead of preventing a suicide, they actually pull off a murder. Wow! I think these guys should be held accountable.

Sure, the guy claimed he had a gun, but I've gone through an academy and have been through this same scenario. I know how dangerous it could be.. But wow! Did they even think to check??? If he had a gun, he would have used it on himself at any given point. But he waited to let the cops do it for him... because he didnt have one!

Look folx.... I know there are good cops and there are bad cops. The good do suffer for the bad. I was an officer for 2 whole years and I know and seen the kind of stupidity that went on in the department. I left because of the politics, but there are far worse things that happen in law enforcement, under the radar. I dont dislike cops because one day, you're going to need one, no matter what you think about them. It's not every single one's fault because another chump wears his badge as a right of power. Yet, seeing this so often these days, makes me wish that they would hold these guys accountable and even more so, make a very BIG example out of them. The old rumor that cops have more rights than anyone is totaly false. In fact, they have more laws against them when it comes to the public than for them to protect them. I know. I was there. It's VERY easy to get sued as a police officer. Yet, I see reports like this in other cities and it makes me wonder how in the hell they are able to get out of it... Some states must protect officers more than others. In Louisiana, you dont get away with crap like this.

your source

The Vigen family says investigators told them no gun was found at the scene.

My source

Authorities say Vigen was armed when he approached California Highway Patrol officers at a Stanislaus County gas station Saturday night, prompting them to open fire.

www.mercurynews.com...

Somebody is wrong.

Whether he had a gun or not, 55 times is excessive.

Shoot first, ask questions last I guess.

55 times doesn't mean each officer shot 55 times. If 10 officers were on scene then they fired an average of about 6 shots each. They fire til the target is neutralized. They probably emptied their magazines and they hold 15 rounds and one in the chamber.

Sounds like this is another post missing some important facts in order to put police in a bad light.

These seem to be getting more common around here.

Hello, theRhenn- Here in Cincinnati we have two problems with the same unfortunate results; I'm sure other members have the same troubles in their cities as well. On the one hand, there is "suicide by cop"; a sad & self-destructive person determined to die but afraid to do it on their own, so they cause a deliberate confrontation with law enforcement & end up shot dead for their trouble (not 55 times, of course, but I think you know what I mean). The other, & in Cincy it has had racist overtones, is what I call "overkill"- an unarmed person, usually mentally ill, escapes from a care facility & in the course of being apprehended & sent back to the hospital is shot & killed.

One of the most notorious "overkills" here was ten years ago, when a young man named Timothy Thomas, engaged to be married to his pregnant girlfriend, was shot dead downtown by the police- FOR REACHING FOR HIS PANTS. He was wearing the big, low-slung, baggy trousers that the young men here love to wear; the kind that need to be pulled up every so often. There were riots in this city every night for a week- we made the national news every single night.

I realize that times are hard & crime is worse- at least it is here- but everyone on both sides need to be a lot more careful. -CincyFreedom

reply to post by wardk28


This reminds me of the thread where a veteran freshly back from Iraq tried to commit suicide by cop and he DID have a gun. (He was suffering from severe PTSD.) Those cops in that video were wired for sound, and they would have pumped him full of lead too, except that vet was lucky. There was a female police officer on the scene. And she literally saved his life by talking to him. Her voice and soothing kept him calm and it had a noticeable effect on the male cops too.

I dont blame the cops in this one. Nor would I have blamed the cops if they had shot the vet, had the female cop not been there. They just want to go home alive, and in suicide by cop cases, the person is TRYING to get them to shoot him. You might get lucky and have someone there, male or female, with a cool head and an easy touch soothing touch, but I wouldnt bet on it, myself.

Normally, I will be the first one to "bash" the cops on a thread about them killing a civilian. However, I will not take that stance on this issue. The man wanted to die. He did everything in his power to get them to kill him. Whether or not he was armed is irrelevant. If someone said they were going to shoot ME, and mimicked the action of drawing a gun, I wouldn't wait to unload on them either.

Originally posted by wardk28
55 times doesn't mean each officer shot 55 times. If 10 officers were on scene then they fired an average of about 6 shots each. They fire til the target is neutralized. They probably emptied their magazines and they hold 15 rounds and one in the chamber.

edit on 2-7-2011 by wardk28 because: (no reason given)

Except there were only 3 officers involved.

The three officers involved in the shooting were Sgt. Ian Troxell, a 12-year veteran of the CHP; Officer Jonathan Box, who has been with the CHP for three and a half years; and Officer Adam Percey, who has been with the CHP for two and half years.

Source

So even if they did each fire their 15 rounds + 1, at least one officer reloaded.

The article mentions 3 officers only.

I found on the net that CHP use SMITH AND WESSON 4006TSW PISTOL as standard weapon and from this page it says it has capacity for 11 rounds. Did somebody reload?

www.gunshopfinder.com...


There has to be some info missing. But if I were a cop and somebody had warned me that the person was armed, I would have shot too.

Death by Cop. It's easy to do. It's like death by Shark. You just need to throw out some chum (claim to have a gun) and jump into the water (do a sudden movement, like pull out your cell phone quickly).

Lead is a poor cure for sickness

If in this day and age we haven't a better system for dealing with people with problems
that is a sad statement on mankind in general

PTSD is often treated with antidepressant drugs that cause suicidal and violent tendancies...
but hey,
Maybe the cops are on them drugs too

reply to post by theRhenn


NOW THATS OVERKILL

reply to post by Danbones


What pisses me off about PTSD is that there IS a good treatment for it, with an 80% success rate. Its just illegal to prescribe in the US. Its comprised of therapy while on MDMA. Anything that works for the people who put their lives on the line for this country should be rushed to their aid. Not withheld from them because of some stupid law made rather arbitrarily.

But as for condemning the cops, I dont. They want to live, and go home to their families at night. People trying to commit suicide by cop deliberately do everything they can to make the cops feel their lives are in immediate danger to provoke them to shoot, thats the whole point of suicide by cop.

Why does this sound like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino except the gang bangers were cops ? Suicide by Cop on this one tho

I thought officers were required to wear a vest? FOP/100 Club/etc are always asking for money to replace vests among other things. Where was the danger to the officer? In the unlikely event of the suspect having anything designed to penetrate a vest the officer is screwed (ie The North Hollywood shootout). In the unlikely event of the suspect being a crack shot the officer is screwed. I would prefer they have to give a suspect a free shot or do a quick draw (like the old west) to an execution because they didn't wear their equipment.

Originally posted by kro32
Sounds like this is another post missing some important facts in order to put police in a bad light.

These seem to be getting more common around here.

The problem wouldnt be with the post but with the original source which is a credible news site. It's AP. Sure, I know that news sources are not always credible, but this one states just what I am presenting. Nothing more. I'm not out to put anyone in any kind of light. I'm simply bringing it to you as I found it.

reply to post by Bramble Iceshimmer


Well, when I go to the range, and I shoot silhouettes, I put them all in the head.

One, it upsets all the cops at the range, and two, it helps me prepare for the coming Zombie apocalypse.

Moral of the story, a bullet proof vest aint gonna help you if you have someone who prefers head shots.

reply to post by jam321


If only 3 cops showed up and fired 55 rounds and their weapons held 11 I'd say the family probably has their facts wrong. I can see cops killing an innocent person, happens all the time .. I think 3 cops all unloading into a person, armed or not, reloading and doing it again would be extraordinary.

However..

sacramento.cbslocal.com...

The Vigen family says investigators told them no gun was found at the scene.

The three CHP officers have been placed on leave. A CHP spokesman declined comment because of the ongoing investigation.

You'd think if a family was claiming 55 shots and murder the police would defend themselves outright, call it absurd.

So perhaps it does appear that 3 cops fired 18+ rounds each into a potentially unarmed man. Though I'd have issue with shooting even an armed man 55 times?