Police Shoot Suspect Outside Casino

Police Shoot Suspect Outside Casino
Published: 1/16/08, 5:25 AM EDT

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - Police on a stakeout shot and killed a man following a struggle outside a Palm Springs casino, and a stray bullet wounded a casino employee, authorities said.

Palm Springs police Sgt. Mitch Spike said officers staked out the Spa Resort Casino on Tuesday while waiting to arrest the man, who was wanted for felonies. When they saw him hailing a taxicab with a female companion, officers surrounded the pair.

The man struggled with officers, got away, and ran toward nearby bushes, police said. He pointed a gun at the officers chasing him and they opened fire, police said.

A stray bullet went through the window of the casino lounge and struck an employee in the leg. A casino spokeswoman said the employee was taken to a hospital for treatment. {emphasis mine}

http://www.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=2728&eeid=5637128&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne

That would have been a real tragedy.

:spray:

That was my thoughts when reading this too...

All the shooters involved in this incident were trained law enforcement officers, and even then, a stray bullet struck a bystander.
Imagine if every nearby yahoo was packing a piece, and simply tried to "do a good deed" in this situation. The lead would have been flying in all directions, and who knows how many bystanders would have been killed or wounded.

And, in anticipating any yahoo who's thinking, "Y'know, if'n Ah wuz a-carryin' mah hog-leg, this here sit'chee-a-shun woulda never happened!"
All I can say is, Wrong, Bucko -- people are going to do insane things no matter what.

This shooting in Palm Springs happened in a nice area -- well-lighted, busy, always a police presence, etc. But, as I said, a few desperate people just don't give a damn about their chances.

concern them. That theory kind of defeats the purpose of all those "justified self-defense" laws doesn't it? Also, have you ever shot with police?...nothing special there in many cases, many armed civilians tend to shoot and practice ALOT more.

The points you seemed to overlook is that this criminal was wanted for a few felonies, so he apparently broke & ignored numerous laws, yet he still had a gun AND WAS PREPARED TO FIRE ON POLICE. Makes him even a bigger threat to every-day citizens, which is EXACTLY why we lawful citizens should be able to carry concealed.

show off his stereotypical "twang" that he thinks all gun owners have. It was merely a chance to bash southerners with his preconceived misconceptions about who gun owners are. Just another ignorant response from the gun grabbers side....


PEACE!

Ghost