Cop shoots at snake, kills 5 year old boy

Stray bullet kills boy fishing in Oklahoma.

NOBLE, Okla. - A police officer shooting at a snake apparently killed a 5-year-old boy who was fishing at a nearby pond, officials said

The boys grandfather was with him at the time.

"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," he said. "But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

This is why Im leary of cops.

Ugh! Truely horrifying.

Could you provide a link to the original source?

Source

Originally posted by 11Bravo
This is why Im leary of cops.

What??? This was a TOTAL accident! The bullet ricocheted and struck the child. Yeah, there was probably an amount of negligence involved, but this is not a very good reason to be leery of cops. :shk: They're people. They make mistakes.

This is a tragedy and I'm sure the cop wishes he could die right now.

Originally posted by Tuning Spork
Could you provide a link to the original source?

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
This is a tragedy and I'm sure the cop wishes he could die right now.

Although I agree on the accident and tragedy part, I'm willing to bet the cop wishes he could die right now not because of guilt but from stupidity. You are not allowed to hunt near a road or anywhere where people might be. What's the difference in shooting a snake in close enough proximity to civilians? Not much in my book and people with guns (especially cops) should be aware that many people die from stray bullets.

Poor child. Also poor stupid cop.

They didn't have a pole? A long stick?
If they did they certainly didn't try hard enough!
I'm outraged. The snake was in a tree, were they THAT concerned?

It's just so beyond me that firearms were necessary for
the snake's removal. Isn't that what animal control is for??

Tracy thought someone must be trying to kill him and his grandson, so he put the child on the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

There's no emoticon suitable for this.

I jus't can't believe they figured it'd be ok to
fire multiple shots to get the thing outta the tree.
AMAZING.

Poor kid.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
They're people. They make mistakes.

Absolute power and all that. Why when a police officer commits a crime, oh there only human. I wonder how many mistakes are done on purpose.

Its amazing a kid is dead becasue these geezers were not thinking and were on power trips.

[edit on 8/6/2007 by andy1033]

Yeah cops fault. He could have easily used I don't know... the same thing I use everytime I've been confronted with a rattle snake. What was that thing called again....????....Oh yeah! A stick! Thats right I remeber now beating a snake with a log or long sticj is pretty damned effective... Wait! so are rocks! Man what a dumb cop. What else does he over react to and shoot at. Damned Jaywalkers! I said Stop! BLAM!!! BLAM!!! BLAM!!

Seriously I also doubt that the two boxes of ammo that the cop trains through in a one year period really keep his shooting real up to snuff. Probably couldn't hit a small animal let alone a snake. He was getting a little too cowboy ...or yokel for me with the whole lets shoot the snake thing. I could understand that people do go shooting snakes all the time with 22s and things but a service pistol? Not so smart.

They should have used a shotgun. Minimum rage and large pattern = 1 dead snake and 1 live boy.

I agree with you all. My post was in response to the first poster who says this is why he's leery of cops. That was a ridiculous statement in my opinion. Why is he leery of cops? Because they are stupid sometimes?

Originally posted by aecreate
They didn't have a pole? A long stick?
If they did they certainly didn't try hard enough!

I'm outraged. The snake was in a tree, were they THAT concerned?

It's just so beyond me that firearms were necessary for
the snake's removal. Isn't that what animal control is for??

Tracy thought someone must be trying to kill him and his grandson, so he put the child on the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

There's no emoticon suitable for this.

I jus't can't believe they figured it'd be ok to
fire multiple shots to get the thing outta the tree.
AMAZING.

Poor kid.

In some places animal control is a division of the local law enforcement agency just like detectives or the patrol officers/deputies. In my town the animal control is a division of the Town of Islip Department of Public Safety (which also includes the marine patrol, airport police, park rangers and code enforcement plus the regular patrol officers). I am not sure if they are armed or what their specific powers are (civilians or peace officers).

Nevertheless, I think that officer made a stupid decision and should be punished according to his/her department's regulations.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I agree with you all. My post was in response to the first poster who says this is why he's leery of cops. That was a ridiculous statement in my opinion. Why is he leery of cops? Because they are stupid sometimes?

Yes, because some cops, more than a minimal amount IMO, are stupid like this guy.
They have no business with a gun. Period.
To think this guy ran around for however long with 'psuedo-authority' and a gun makes me .
Its like that viral video of the DEA officer shooting himself in the foot in front of a classroom full of kids, only this is worse still.

Like everybody pointed out....whats wrong with a good old fashioned stick?
Now this guy is on paid leave.

You know, I feel for the dude, I really do. Its gotta be hell knowing what he did, but it was his own stupidity that led to it.
And what about his buddy? That cop is just as stupid for letting his friend shoot at the snake.

You know, I just realised what most likely happened was these coppers were afraid of a tree snake, thats why they didnt use a stick.
They werent too stupid to use a stick, they were too scared.
Damn pussies.

Originally posted by ChrisF231
Nevertheless, I think that officer made a stupid decision and should be punished according to his/her department's regulations.

In uk, its manslaughter to kill someone by accident or defence. What rules are there in america for accidents.

Why when a policeman does this, is it human error, and when joe public does it, its murder.

Originally posted by 11Bravo
You know, I just realised what most likely happened was these coppers were afraid of a tree snake, thats why they didnt use a stick.
They werent too stupid to use a stick, they were too scared.
Damn pussies.

I have a few issues with this. First, what type of snake was it? One that would deprive their kids of their father/mother if bitten? I see that as caution, not a lack of courage. Secondly, I'm sure that in the same position YOU would have been bold enough to use a stick.

Hey I dont know what kind of snake it was but as far as I know rattle snakes dont climb trees.
For now Im calling it a tree snake, or perhaps better yet a treed snake.

Had I been there I damn sure wouldnt have squeezed off any rounds you can rest assured of that.
I may have used a stick depending on the situation and type of snake but most likely I would have said to the people 'Folks, why dont you just avoid this here tree for the rest of the day and we'll check back with ya'll in the morning. Call us if it makes any overt threatening gestures or tries to get into the house, but otherwise lets just forgive those that trespass upon us today.'

You know, live and let live, which is sadly what didnt happen here.

[edit on 6-8-2007 by 11Bravo]

We don't what know what kind of snake it was, but the article didn't mention that it was rattling -- only hissing. Venomous snakes in Oklahoma, other than rattlers, are the cottonmouth (water moccasin) and copperhead.

www.ou.edu...

Some good advice for cops and hikers:

Leave snakes alone. Many people are bitten because they try to kill a snake or get a closer look at it.

If you encounter a snake, stay out of a snake's striking distance (at least a snake-length away; most snakes can only strike half to two-thirds their own length.) Walk around the snake! Oklahoma venomous snakes, with the possible exception of the water moccasin, are non-aggressive and won't attack unless crowded, threatened, or surprised.

Stay out of tall grass unless you wear thick leather boots, and remain on hiking paths as much as possible.

Keep hands and feet out of areas you can't see. Be careful when picking up rocks or firewood.

Be cautious and alert when climbing rocks.

Like I said, the wrong method was used, protocol was probably breached as well. A shotgun is over 3 feet long. BOOM. No more snake.

As to what this cop is feeling. Contrary to some, they are human. This cop(I use the term cop because I don't know if it's a man or a woman) is probably hurting in ways most of us will ever know. I can speak of the humanity of cops, my old man was one after he got out of the Navy and you've never seen anything like a 300lb man sobbing at the dining room table because he had to scrape a kid off of the highway. This is worse, this cops action took the life.

Why be leery of cops? Because you never know when they'll pull a gun, or how they'll use it. I'm getting real sick of hearing about cops shooting somebody by accident, or plugging 80 bullets into somebody, or shooting and killing somebody standing 20ft away with a knife.

Trained to protect and serve, not to rely on how many bullets they can use. When using a gun, safety and responsibility is of utmost importance. Check all surroundings before firing the weapon. This is total bs and the cop should be charged with negligent homicide.

Yea, I understand people make mistakes. But those mistakes are not acceptable when a cop is trained to use a weapon only when needed. Especially when the results can end a life.

Police officers are people and yes they make mistakes, but when we make the same mistakes we are held accountable and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I dont recall the number of times I have read about police officers doing the most insane and stupid antics and getting away with a slap on the wrist.

Two years ago a mother and daughter were making a left hand turn of the freeway onto the road. A police officer who said he was in a high speed chase was running with no lights or siren. He slammed into the car killing both the mother and daughter. Nothing was done to the officer, in fact they claimed the mother had trace amounts of thc in her system so the accident was her fault. Another friend of mine ran from the police and was pulled over. While in pursuit an out of county officer who was on another call ran into another police car killing a rookie officer. This happened 5 miles away from where my friend was pulled over. They charged him in the officers death and he is now facing life in prison. Yes it was stupid of him to run but he did not cause the crash nor was he anywheres near the accident. So when the above poster said he doesn't trust police or he is Leary of them , i have to agree whole heartedly. Ive has my run ins with the law and ive found there are more bad ones than good.. Oh one more thing we had a prostitute who was an informant who had a lot of dirt of flint police officers. A week before she was to testify her body was found in the flint river. Could have been a john that went bad or it could have been the officers them selfs. I guess we'll never know but it sure makes you wonder.

Not withstanding the negligence involved in this homicide and setting aside for a moment the shear horror the grandfather and the utter loss the family have endured...even separating ourselves from the loss of a dear life that could have potentially changed the world with his presence and with no regard to anger, forgiveness, intent, accident, or even some attempt at punishment...

the man absolutely must be convicted of a felony offense in order to prevent him ever legally owning a gun again.

Because no one this stupid and dangerously moronic ever ever ever needs to have the right to possess a firearm ever ever ever again.