Firefighter shoots, kills suspected trailer thief
Police said Tuesday no charges will be filed against an off-duty firefighter who fatally shot a man believed to be stealing a trailer.It's a tough story to call. Two dirtbags were stealing a trailer; it's not clear from the article if the trailer belonged to the firefighter or a neighbor. The firefighter saw them leaving the scene, and followed them in his vehicle. When they came to a stop at the end of the street, he pulled in front of them to prevent them from leaving. They tried to run him over, he put a bullet into the guy driving the vehicle. Cops call it justified. I agree. While we don't generally treat it as such, trying to run someone over with a car is no different than pointing a gun at them and pulling the trigger - both actions can and do lead to the death of the person being targeted.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the shooter's actions late Monday "did not rise to the level of criminal conduct" in the death of James David Lambert, 41. Authorities said Lambert accelerated his truck in the direction of the firefighter, who had stepped out of his car to try to detain the man.
I can see the actions being taken by the firefighter, too. I have a good friend on my street who's a firefighter in our town. I can totally see him going after someone who tried to steal my trailer - once they're out of sight, there's precious little chance of getting it back. Not to mention there's no information on what kind of trailer it was - it could very well have been a landscaping trailer with the neighbor's business on board, or a contractor's trailer with thousands of dollars worth of vital tools. Once the trailer is out of sight, the chances of getting any of that back are excruciatingly slim.
Don't want to get shot? Don't try to kill me. It's just that simple.
Dead Goblin Count: 222
That is all.
4 comments:
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. What the hell was he doing trying to "detain" the trailer thieves? It's a trailer. It's not the dialysis machine being used by a hospital for orphans.
Call the cops, get a description and direction of travel, then let the guys wearing the vests handle it.
He's a fireman, not Jack Bauer. ;-)
Jay,
I think it is a lot simpler than what type of trailer it was.
It was a person trying to stop a crime.
The antis usually tell us property isn't worth killing over.
I just point out they spend lots of time telling us that instead of the criminals.
@K
When the criminals decided to try to steal the property in the face of resistance, they upped the ante.
The whole "just get a description and call the cops" means the vast majority of the population is removed from the effort to stop crime.
Who could possibly have a vested interest in making sure there are criminals to catch?
Cops and Politicians perhaps?
What makes more sense; having a couple hundred or less people in a city working to stop crime or having the majority of the city working to stop crime?
The DGC warms me like no fire ever could.
I've been involved in lots of good-natured banter with cops about how us firefighters are the "good" guys (because we save people) and cops are the "bad" guys (because they arrest people.)
However, just because we're "good" guys doesn't mean goblins can (mess) with us with impunity.
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