Torrance D.A.: Shooting at Truck Because You Think Driver Might Be Out to Kill You Makes Perfect Sense, Even if It's a Different Model Truck and Driver Hasn't Tried to Kill You
An annoying punctuation this week on last year's Southern California police reign of terror as they shot at random trucks, thinking that just maybe they contained someone (Christopher Dorner) accused of having killed people (and out to kill cops, the important part).
A Torrance police officer made a "reasonable mistake" when he shot at a Redondo Beach surfer during the chaotic manhunt for rogue Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner last year and will not face criminal charges, the District Attorney's Office said in a report released Tuesday.
Officer Brian McGee acted in "an atmosphere of fear and extreme anticipation" when he purposely rammed David Perdue's pickup truck and fired at least three shots at him on Feb. 7, 2013, mistakenly believing Dorner was at the wheel. The bullets missed Perdue, who has filed a lawsuit against the city of Torrance.
"McGee's belief that Dorner was driving the truck was reasonable," prosecutors said in ruling the shooting was justified.
The reason McGee was so het up was because he had heard gunshots a bit before he and his partner came upon Purdue and rammed his vehicle and shot at him multiple times.
Those gunshots were more cops shooting at innocent people–Hispanic female paper deliverers, decidedly smaller than Dorner–in the belief they just might be Dorner.
Perdue, the report said, had just attempted to turn onto Towers Street from Flagler, but was stopped by two Torrance officers and told to turn around. As he headed toward Beryl Street, McGee and [his partner Erin] Sooper headed toward him just as the LAPD's shots rang out.
Thus, the idiot and potentially fatal mistake by the first set of cops created the reasonableness for the next idiot and potentially fatal mistake. That's government for you.
Amusingly, this very long article doesn't even mention that Purdue was driving a different model (Honda vs. Nissan Titan) and, if I am seeing the accompanying picture correctly, different color truck than what Dorner was supposed to be driving (alternately described as grey or blue in early reports).
Purdue is also white, Dorner black. But it was early and dark, so every truck should be shot at, just to be safe. That's "cop reasonable."