March 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 3

GUEST COMENTARY
police law news
Daniel Carr
This Week in Policing:
Acorns Away & The Realm of Reasonable.
ACORNS AWAY
I do not feel bad making a joke
about this. Especially because no
one was injured.
A deputy in Okaloosa County,
FL was walking back to his
patrol car.
He mistook an acorn falling on
his vehicle for a gunshot.
He shot at his own patrol car -
emptying an entire magazine.
A man under arrest, was
handcuffed in the backseat. And
thankfully, somehow, survived.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper.
The deputy was a rookie and
had previously attended West
Point and served two tours in
Afghanistan.
The call that he was on - was a
stolen vehicle incident where the
offender was in custody in his
patrol car. Deputies had evidence
that the offender had posted a
picture of him holding a gun in
the car - just prior to arrest. At
this point the gun had not been
located. Even though the offender
had been searched the deputy
was concerned that the gun was
still possibly concealed by the
offender, and he was walking
back to the patrol car to conduct
a more thorough search.
It was at this point that acorns
began falling from the tree
above - hitting him and his patrol
car. The deputy believed that
CLICK TO TAP TO WATCH
he was being shot at by the suspect
in the backseat of the police
car. The deputy returned fire
- emptying an entire magazine
and rolling around on the ground
yelling, “I’m hit!” - like Kramer by
the “second spitter.”
The deputy resigned during the
internal investigation and will
not be prosecuted.
• More concerning is that there
was a Sergeant on scene who
also began to fire her weapon at
the patrol vehicle - because she
saw the deputy shooting.
THE REALM OF REASONABLE
Two deputies in Harris County,
Texas opened fire on a woman
who was walking towards the
door armed with a gun.
Here’s the question…
Was it reasonable for the officers
to believe that the woman
approaching the door with a gun
- was an armed burglar?
If so. How long should police
wait to fire their weapons?
At 0200 hrs on February 3,
2023, Harris County, TX deputies
were dispatched to a call at an
apartment complex. Deputies
finished up the initial call and
they were contacted by a resident
who reported a residential
burglary in a second-floor apartment.
Deputies made their way to the
apartment and observed broken
glass on the ground and that a
window screen had been removed.
This evidence would lead
a reasonable police officer to
believe that a burglary may have
taken place at the apartment.
The deputies then knocked on
the door and announced their
presence.
14 The Blues - March ‘24 The Blues - March ‘24 15