Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Police

Oklahoma Man Cleared of Charges After Shooting Police Chief Three Times in the Chest, Didn't Know Cops Were Invading His Home

Cops thought a bomb threat was called in from his home but it wasn't.

Ed Krayewski | 1.21.2015 3:51 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
Large image on homepages | Facebook
(Facebook)
Facebook

A man in Sentinel, Oklahoma won't face charges after shooting a police officer entering his home during a raid. At about 4 in the morning cops received a bomb threat against the city's Head Start program. They found no explosives there, but traced the 911 call to the man's house and decided to raid it. The man is known to authorities as a "gun enthusiast" and police were apparently aware of posts the man made comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany and making a reference to ISIS (none of which is yet a crime) just before the 911 call was placed.

Fox News reports:

Dallas Horton, 29, of Sentinel, blasted Police Chief Louis Ross three times in the chest and once in the arm as Ross and his team swept through Horton's home early last Thursday. Ross survived thanks to his bullet-proof vest. But Horton, whom Sentinel's mayor described as a gun enthusiast and neighbors told reporters is a survivalist, is not facing any charges because an investigation by state police revealed he wasn't behind the threat and he did not know he was shooting at cops.

"For the past several hours, OSBI investigators have extensively interviewed the man," the state Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on its Facebook page. "Facts surrounding the case lead agents to believe the man was unaware it was officers who made entry."

Sentinel's mayor says he's known Horton his whole life, and doubts he's joined ISIS. The near tragedy ought to be a cautionary tale about trawling social media to follow weak leads and imagined threats.

The story caught the attention of liberal outlets like Gawker, which framed it as a white gun nut (and possible white supremacist) "getting away" with shooting a black cop. The race of the shooter and the cop, of course, ought to be irrelevant. The laws that protect residents when they exercise their constitutional right to defend themselves in their own home aren't contingent on the race of the resident or the potential invader. That majority black polities tend to have far stricter gun laws in place is a separate, but related problem. It makes it harder for residents of mostly poor communities to defend their homes. Coupled with drug laws that disproportionately affect the same communities, it makes the residents low-hanging fruit for an increasingly militarized police force. 

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: You're Invited! The Impact of Vergara v. California on the Future of Education

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

Police2nd AmendmentOklahoma
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (23)

Latest

At a Missouri Prison, Inmates Fear for Their Lives in Sweltering Cells

Emma Camp | 5.19.2025 5:00 PM

Not Even the Moody's Downgrade Can Make Republicans Take the National Debt Seriously

Eric Boehm | 5.19.2025 3:40 PM

Joe Biden's Cancer Diagnosis Shouldn't End Scrutiny of the Cognitive Decline Cover-Up

Robby Soave | 5.19.2025 1:47 PM

Federal Court Scraps Rule That Gagged Tennessee Civil Rights Attorney From Criticizing a Private Prison

C.J. Ciaramella | 5.19.2025 1:13 PM

Texas Could Blow Its Shot at Leading the AI Revolution

Devin McCormick | 5.19.2025 11:30 AM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!