State cop shoots at minivan full of kids

Let me first state that from what I'm seeing, this woman's actions are criminal, she endangered the well-being of her children and she should be punished accordingly. Her 14 year old son did in fact initiate an altercation with the cop and that's wrong as well but here again, I tend to ascribe much of the blame to the mother.

It all started Oct. 28 on a state highway south of Taos. A State Police officer pulled over Oriana Ferrell's minivan for going 71 mphr in a 55 mph zone. In the minivan with her were her five kids. The Taos News reports the children range in age from 6 to 18.

On dash cam video released to KRQE News 13 Friday you can see Ferrell and the officer argue after Ferrell couldn't decide whether to pay the $126 fine or contest it in court. The officer instructs her to turn her vehicle off and stay put before walking back to his car.

But Ferrell drives off instead and the officer has to pull her over again. He doesn't appear happy as he approaches the driver's side door of the minivan. The officer yells for Ferrell to get out several times before reaching into the minivan to try and pull her out.

In the dash cam video, you can hear her children yelling for the officer to leave their mom alone and get off of her.

At one point Ferrell's 14-year-old son gets out of the minivan and starts walking towards the officer, but the boy thinks better of it after the officer draws his Taser and points it at the boy. He gets back in the van while the officer continues his struggle to get Ferrell out of the minivan.

"Look, I'm going to ask you one more time to get out of the vehicle and then I'm going to pull you out, OK?" the officer said. "You're already facing evading charges. You ran away from me."

"Sir, I pulled back over, I didn't run away," Ferrell responded. "You see my children. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just trying to take them to the Rio Grande."

Finally, Ferrell agrees to get out and talk with the officer behind the minivan. The conversation doesn't last long. When the officer tells her to turn around, Ferrell bolts back towards her minivan. The officer grabs her and a struggle ensues.

That's when her 14-year-old son gets out of the car again and rushes the officer. The boy and the cop have a short tussle. The officer draws his Taser again while the boy runs back into the minivan and closes the door.

Understandably the cop is irate but let's keep this in perspective--upon seeing the taser, the kid went running back for the van. Nobody in the minivan was armed, nobody grabbed for the cop's weapon or tried to run anyone over. Things start to go off the rails around here:

That's questionable behavior, but WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

As backup officers pull up, the officer pulls out his baton and smashes one of the rear windows as the family screams again. The minivan speeds off while another officer fires what appears to be three shots at the fleeing vehicle

Firing shots at this unarmed woman and a minivan full of children, one only six years old? There's nobody that can justify this cop's actions.

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EDIT:

Sageturkey pointed out that this was already being discussed here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

From watching the video a couple of times, it looks like the cop was trying to shoot the tires. The direction appeared to be low.

reply to post by rickymouse


The pace of them as well. He was taking the time to aim carefully instead of just blazing away.

LEO's that do their business like this deserve to die horribly.

This is just not going to be tolerated for much longer.

I can see in my minds eye that eventually there will be clandestine groups of vigilantes wreaking vengeance upon these criminal police. And I would also condone it if it were to happen. We should not be living in an America where I would even be considering thoughts like this.

Previous discussion here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Was anyone hit?
It looks like the rear tires are deflated on that van.

I think he did a good job. Dangerous for sure, but if he hit the tires and no kids that's a job well done.

That woman is headed to jail for sure.

Wow.
Is this woman a moron or does she want to get her kids killed on purpose.

I get real tired of the stupidest people in the world ending up as parents.

Yes, most cops have lost touch and go overboard but this type of sheer stupidity begs for it.

She might as well have played Russian roulette with her kids.

The person that attacked the officer certainly didn't look 14, he could have been a grown man. Maybe now he'll know how to behave properly and let adults talk.

I'm tired of people blaming every single thing that happens on police officers. Yes, there's a lot of bad ones but that doesn't mean every single one is. What they did here is completely justified; she kept trying to drive off, her son -trying to be a big boy- started a fight, and then they drove away.

I don't see how shooting their tires was anything other than the right thing to do.

reply to post by AKindChap


Right. For speeding. What happened to getting a ticket and going on your way? Is this in New Mexico? That's where the guy rolled through the stop sign on private property and wound up assaulted and given a colonoscopy against his will.

lovebeck
reply to post by AKindChap

 

Right. For speeding. What happened to getting a ticket and going on your way? Is this in New Mexico? That's where the guy rolled through the stop sign on private property and wound up assaulted and given a colonoscopy against his will.

Except by her own actions she didn't get a ticket, once pulled over she pulled away when the cop asked her to stop her car..
She is the only person responsible for the situation.

As posted above their is a much more active thread about this topic going on which can be found here www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by rickymouse


Help me out here, but I recall a video where the police were shooting at a man on a bus, a question was posed on why they did not shoot to injure the man instead of pointing it center mass and killing the man?

The response was that he may miss and hit innocent bystanders.

So, there is a van full of kids, and he is trying to shoot tires and directly ahead and below the kids and the same danger does not exist?

reply to post by jacobe001


No, because he was shooting towards the road, right behind the van. So if there was a ricochet, it would skip up into the back of the van, and be going slowly enough it wouldn't go through the van and hit anyone.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Do you apply the same logic to the incident with the man killed on the bus?
He was the only one on the bus and was shot point blank at the bottom of the stairs in the chest.

The bullet would have been contained inside the bus since his head was well below the windows even.

Let's just agree that in the bus scenario, they wanted the man dead.

reply to post by jacobe001


No, because that wouldn't have been a ricochet. That bullet would have ripped right through that bus barely slowing down. The bullets that ricocheted would have had their speed cut by well over half, so they might have penetrated the back door of the minivan.

Zaphod58
reply to post by jacobe001

 

No, because that wouldn't have been a ricochet. That bullet would have ripped right through that bus barely slowing down. The bullets that ricocheted would have had their speed cut by well over half, so they might have penetrated the back door of the minivan.

Fair enough.

So, cops should shoot to maim and not kill when there is no chance, like in the minivan example that it will not hurt anyone near by?

reply to post by jacobe001


I am pretty sure that shooting out the tires is considered allowable by the police force. Would you rather he shot through the back window? This person could have caused a bad accident if there was a chase. The woman was not being reasonable.

If I was pulled over for speeding, I would be nice to the cop even though I knew I was getting a ticket. It is his job and I would not argue with a person who has authority over me if I was in the wrong. Arguing is for courtrooms in this country. A policeman does have authority over me.

I am not going to take the side of this woman in this situation, she was in the wrong with her actions. I don't personally hold anything against her but do not approve of how she handled the stop.

Honestly I would have tried to shoot the tires as well. The woman is clearly a criminal and crazy for trying to drive off with her children so at that point I would know that it's best to shoot her tires and try to stop her from going further than to risk her children's lives and others in a pursuit. This was the better outcome. Cops don't normally carry a .50 cal like on police academy so the kids won't be hurt and even if they get a scratch it's better than them killed.

reply to post by jacobe001


There was as close to 0 chance of injury in this case as there could possibly be. It would have to be a total freak occurrence for any injury to take place. So nice try on the cop bashing.

reply to post by theantediluvian


Ok my opinion is this.

After watching the video, It is clear that the woman clearly disregarded the cops orders to shut off the engine and wait. But no, that is too simple of a command for her.

She and Only She, made the choice to Flee from the cop. By doing so she put all her children at risk. weather she pulled back over after taking off is irrelevant. Only some one with no brains would do something stupid like that.

The fact that the children were trying to help their mom is commendable any child should be doing that, But not if the mother is in the wrong and clearly broke multiple laws.

The son had a chance to use correct judgment but he failed to do so, which it shows. HE ATTACKED AN OFFICER OF THE LAW. you can't even spit in the direction of or even blow smoke in the direction of a cop with out getting charges for assault on an officer. That should have never happened and he deserves punishment for his actions along with the mother.

Now for the fact that the cop drew his tazer.... In this situation, he did the right thing, the cop was being threatened, Some one was rushing him. He was fully with in his right to point it at the teen that was charging him. He did not pull the trigger. It was used as an intimidation factor and it worked. the kid ran back into the van.

Now when back up showed up. Every one ran back in the car and refused to come out. The cops are fully within their rights to remove some one from a car if they are proven/deemed to be a risk to them selves or others on a road. ALL OF THE OCCUPANTS WERE UNCOOPERATIVE WITH THE COPS! IF THIS WAS A GROUP OF ADULTS ACTING LIKE THIS THEY WOULD ALL BE THROWN IN JAIL. The cops did everything they could do to defuse the situation with out harming anyone, but yet they still couldnt get it under control.

NOW.............

About the fact that the cop shot at the tires, yes it totally looks like thats what he was aiming at. what would be better........ let the mother flee in a van for a second time and have to preform a pit manuver or us a spike strip at high speeds and potentially cause a huge accident which could kill every one in the van plus others or shoot the tires out before the vehicle can reach high speeds... personally I would shoot out the tires.


Im not sorry, But the cops acted correctly and anyone who says otherwise is a tool. Who knows if the woman was kidnapping the children, or going to sell them or who knows. but obviously she is guilty of something judging by her actions. The children acted out of instinct but the mother is suspicious.

Props to the cops, and no props to the stupidity of this woman and any other person who thinks/acts like this.

I mean seriously.... is this what you want to teach your children?????????? if my ex acted like that with my kids, I would have asked why they didnt do EVERYTHING TO STOP HER!

Would you want your children to be put in this situation?? If my children were in that situation, I would Kill my ex my self. all of you that are on the womans side should look at your kids, would you want them to be in a situation like that? if you are still on the womans side then you should just call protective services and have your kids removed, because you are a failure of a parent.

Harsh words but its true, people do not have any brains anymore.

It's a situation full of mistakes, with the biggest being the officer shooting at the van. Protocol or not it is wrong. I could even understand if the 14 year old had been tazered or even shot if the officer thought his life was in danger, but shooting at this fleeing vehicle was wrong. At the very least there will be a family that will have a strongly negative view of police for a lifetime and that will never be good.