Joseph Walker (inset) has been charged in the shooting death of 36-year-old Joseph Harvey Jr. on a Maryland highway.
Local news reports
A New Jersey police officer is being held on $1 million bail after he was charged with shooting and killing a man on a Maryland highway in an alleged road rage incident.
Forty-year-old Joseph Walker, a sworn officer with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, was charged with second degree murder and manslaughter after a shooting 36-year-old Joseph Harvey, Jr. Saturday on an off-ramp on Interstate 97 near Millersville, according to Maryland State Police.Police say the off-duty officer reportedly got into an argument with Harvey shortly after 8:30 p.m. while both men were driving on the interstate in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Investigators say both men pulled over on the shoulder of the highway. Harvey got out of his car, along with his passenger, and starting walking towards Walker’s minivan.Maryland State Police say Walker fired a .45 caliber Glock at Harvey and hit him. Harvey was pronounced dead at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.Police say the officer’s wife and three children were in his car at the time of the shooting. Walker is being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center.Police are investigating the shooting.
Now wait a minute, I thought someone approaching you in a threatening manner was considered lethal threat. Does that only count in Florida and other Stand-your-ground states?
Regardless, this is simply another example of a good guy with a gun acting very badly. It's a lot more common than the pro-gun folks would have us believe.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
I can't comment on the specifics of this case, since I know only what the story tells us, but it's bad tactics to pull over in an incident like this. Regardless of what you're carrying, short of a Ma Deuce, your vehicle is your best weapon.
ReplyDeleteBut let's observe that the shooter here is a police officer--from New Jersey, no less. In that benighted state, he gets to carry a gun, but the average citizens don't.
If you're in a road rage incident and pull over to the side of the road like this, some prosecutors view that as if you are being mouthy and get into a fight in a bar. Of course, there could be details that push the determination one way or the other, hence the investigation.
ReplyDeleteAs for your comments that these things are more common than we'd have people believe, we've been over this before. You have and offer no proof that these incidents are so common; you just say it as a way to slander us as potentially dangerous and as liars.