Friday, November 16, 2012

Off-Duty Los Angeles Cop Commits Murder

Los Angeles Times
A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday for allegedly shooting and killing a man in Sylmar while off-duty in June, authorities said.

The deputy, Francisco Gamez, 41, has been with the department for 17 years and was last working as a station detective in West Hollywood.

Law enforcement sources told The Times that the deputy's son got into a dispute with another person. The son, they said, called his father to the scene. The deputy allegedly drove up soon after and exchanged words before opening fire from inside his car, striking one man, the sources said.

He then allegedly drove a short distance before shooting at a second person, added the sources, who asked for anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The other victim, Armando Casillas, 38, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the chest just before midnight on June 17.
The defensive pro-gun folks always claim cops are worse than civilians at causing collateral damage and committing gun negligence. I suppose they're worse at losing their tempers and committing murder too.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

4 comments:

  1. I suppose most people's impressions about the morality and sensibilities of individual police men and police women is probably derived from fictional video/television. It is difficult to critique the performance of a department if one is not actively under their purview.

    I can certainly vouch for the general morality and fairness of the San Diego Police Department and even our County Sheriffs. Yet my opinion is colored by the distant past of the 1970s and the 1980s. I tend to trust them as dedicated public servants who daily put their own safety on the line whilst never losing their cool, dignity, courtesy and respect for the citizenry.

    That's because I am an American hippie and I love cops. I'm just glad I'm not still laughing and saying, "Oh wow, man!" when they pull me over with all of those colored lights.

    I think the prison and jail culture has changed quite a bit since I was young. Would not want to be in jail today, even in my own city. Some of my fondest memories are from various trips to jail in the early 1980s.

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    1. Some of your fondest memories are of times that you spent in jail? Have you not criticized me and other lawful gun owners as being irresponsible? I've never been in jail. I've never driven while intoxicated on any substance.

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  2. I don't think that you or really anybody else I ever met on Mike's blog is irresponsible. To me the desire to own guns is mostly a curiosity. It's just so far away from what is ordinary to me.

    When I was a student, a lot of my buddies were in the Navy. A bad mix. I wasn't the one who ended up being charged. That's for sure. My friend showed me how to make a little football out of folded paper. You kicked it with a flick of the finger. The other guy made a goalpost with both hands. You could smoke cigarettes in jail. It was sort of fun if you weren't one of the depressed white guys. It was really interesting to meet all of the different hardcore types of men. Lots of black guys in jail, of course. Interesting pecking order, to say the least. The Mexican guys were usually so wasted they would just lay there passed out snoring like the Three Stooges. I will never forget watching The Robe on a b&w TV downtown one time. I think it was holy week. This huge black guy saunters in and fairly well bellows, "That Moses was a bad-ass mother...." We almost died laughing, but it actually was an important spiritual truth. It's a side of life that we rarely get a glimpse of.

    I'm proud of you for not driving drunk.

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