SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.: 68 TIMES

October 05, 2006

68 TIMES

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That's how many times suspected cop killer Angilo Freedman was hit by bullets after being cornered by SWAT team members in Polk County on Friday.

There were 110 rounds fired in all.

The news story reads:

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told AP that he was not concerned by the number of shots fired.
"You have to understand, he had already shot and killed a deputy, he had already shot and killed a K-9 and he shot and injured another deputy. Quite frankly, we weren't taking any chances."

On Friday, ten SWAT officers surrounded Freeland as he hid beneath brush and a fallen tree in a rural area. Later he shot with the gun belonging to the deputy he had killed, prompting nine officers to fire.

"I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had," Judd said. "We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."

There were 10 SWAT team members. One member did not shoot.

There were 110 rounds fired.

That comes out to 12.2 bullets fired per SWAT team member.

The math of this equation does not add up.

It begs questions.

If this was such a potentially lethal situation, one which put additional law enforcement personnel in harm's way as they pursued him and cornered him in a possible gunbattle position, why did the one SWAT team member stand there while his nine other fellow team members unloaded their clips?

How do you fire .2 percent of a bullet?

How do SWAT team members, the most highly trained law enforcement shooters in the county arsenal and, theoretically, the most seasoned in terms of firing their weapons during emergencies in response to violent criminal perpetrators, hit their target with an accuracy rate of only 74.8 percent in a non-hostage situation?

Please don't misunderstand. I weep for the family and friends of Polk County Sheriff's Deputy Vernon Matthew Williams. His loss is a loss for the entire law enforcement community. I honor and respect the bravery he and his colleague Deputy Doug Speirs showed in confronting this suspect. By all accounts, Mr. Freeland was not a particularly compliant or law-abiding member of society.

Autopsy results show that Deputy Williams was killed with two bullets. One was fired at close range behind the deputy's right ear and another was fired near his right temple, with the muzzle of the gun pressing against his skin.

As the news story says:

Freeland, 27, was driving a rental car when he was pulled over. Deputy Doug Speirs asked for his drivers license but was handed a fake ID.
Several shots were fired at Speirs as he ran after Freeland, and one bullet struck the deputy's leg, authorities said.

Williams and his German shepherd police dog, Diogi, went into the wooded area looking for the suspect.

After examining the shooting scene, Judd said he thinks Freeland waited behind a large uprooted tree, where it was "virtually impossible to see him."

"I suspect he shot the K-9 first," Judd said. A single bullet killed the dog when it hit him in the chest, a necropsy determined.

Bullets hit Williams in the arms, legs and buttocks, and one lodged in his spine. Though the sequence of the shots has not been determined, it is likely the final two shots were fired into the deputy's head as the gunman stood over him.

Williams was armed with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and had extra magazines of ammunition on his belt, Judd said.

"After he executed the deputy, he [Freeland] took his firearm and the magazines," Judd said.

Allegedly he was still armed with the slain deputy's gun at the time he was cornered by the SWAT team.

Despite all this, despite all the emotions and the danger, the numbers do not compute.

110 rounds.

9 SWAT team members.

68 direct hits.

Judd said after the shooting that "God will be the judge and jury this time."

Perhaps.

But it appears a judge and jury likely will be determining if you played executioner.

Posted by Jeff at October 5, 2006 07:06 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Okay, coupla things: Since your car accident, I've noticed a few changes. Weird hairstyle, deeper demeanor (writing style?), comments on other sites have more of an edge to them - are you pulling a Dead Zone? Just sayin'.

Can't quite tell if you disapprove of cops emptying their guns into a bad guy. Reminds me of the guy who ran down that robber and was recently acquitted. Perhaps these people should be brought before a jury of their peers only so we can officially say, "You're human. And reacted within the law."

I can see how this might get out of hand, so let's take each case as it comes. For this one, I'm not going to fault the police.

Not that you asked or anything.

Posted by: kate at October 5, 2006 12:59 PM

Cops definitely act in the heat of the chase sometimes -- like the KC druggie who was shot 9 times while armed with a BBQ fork.

The fraction of a bullet means that one individual shot extra -- that division for an average is ridiculous, and anyone should know what caused it -- c'mon.

This guy executed a cop, and most cops have a motto -- "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6." They were making sure that there would be no recidivism. I can hardly blame them.

Posted by: Scorpio at October 5, 2006 02:10 PM

I only wish they hit him more times so there would have been less of him left. He was a waste of air on this earth and we are all better off with him dead and not some media darling.

Posted by: Brian at October 5, 2006 08:31 PM

Yep. I'm with Brian. I'm all for using excessive force on cop-killers.

Posted by: Mike at October 6, 2006 10:28 AM