Free-Fire Zone
Interrupt a sheriff's deputy's beer? Prepare for a hailstorm of lead!
When Harris County sheriff's deputies return fire, they really return
fire. Especially if they're at a bar.
The December 27 drive-by shooting at the venerable West Alabama Ice
House didn't get much notice from the media, it being just another bit
of the gunplay that tends to liven up a night on the town here.
But gee, it sounds like it was fun.
Three off-duty deputies were at the icehouse about midnight, and things
seemed quiet enough. Then a 1992 Ford pickup truck screamed down the
street, with two twentysomethings in it, one of whom started firing a
.22-caliber pistol.
The cops tried to get the license plate but couldn't, so they settled
back to their table. Soon they heard the telltale sounds indicating the
truck was about to make a second pass. "By that time the guys had
loaded up and said, 'If he comes back again, forget about it, we're
returning fire,' " says Burt Springer, the lawyer representing two of
the deputies.
And did they ever. Somewhere around 40 shots' worth. Investigators
reportedly ran out of the little markers used to identify spent shell
casings and had to borrow paper cups. Basically, Springer says, the
deputies emptied their guns.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but.all the shots missed. The truck
was shot up like Swiss cheese, but neither the driver nor the trigger-
happy passenger was hit. They were stopped a mile or so later -- not
because they were driving a truck riddled with bullet holes, but
because they ran a red light.
(Deputies do have to keep up their target-shooting qualifications in
Harris County, but those tests are not taken in bars.)
Sheriff's spokesman Lieutenant Robert Van Pelt says the department's
internal affairs division is still looking into the incident, but
Springer thinks nothing will come of it. Since no one was hit, the
district attorney's office did not send anyone to the scene, making a
grand jury review more unlikely.
Springer says the deputies had been at the bar only a short time and
weren't drunk. Not that it would matter: "Even police officers who've
been drinking are allowed to defend themselves," he says.
If only they could aim.
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004-02-05/hairballs.html/1/index.html
Interrupt a sheriff's deputy's beer? Prepare for a hailstorm of lead!
When Harris County sheriff's deputies return fire, they really return
fire. Especially if they're at a bar.
The December 27 drive-by shooting at the venerable West Alabama Ice
House didn't get much notice from the media, it being just another bit
of the gunplay that tends to liven up a night on the town here.
But gee, it sounds like it was fun.
Three off-duty deputies were at the icehouse about midnight, and things
seemed quiet enough. Then a 1992 Ford pickup truck screamed down the
street, with two twentysomethings in it, one of whom started firing a
.22-caliber pistol.
The cops tried to get the license plate but couldn't, so they settled
back to their table. Soon they heard the telltale sounds indicating the
truck was about to make a second pass. "By that time the guys had
loaded up and said, 'If he comes back again, forget about it, we're
returning fire,' " says Burt Springer, the lawyer representing two of
the deputies.
And did they ever. Somewhere around 40 shots' worth. Investigators
reportedly ran out of the little markers used to identify spent shell
casings and had to borrow paper cups. Basically, Springer says, the
deputies emptied their guns.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but.all the shots missed. The truck
was shot up like Swiss cheese, but neither the driver nor the trigger-
happy passenger was hit. They were stopped a mile or so later -- not
because they were driving a truck riddled with bullet holes, but
because they ran a red light.
(Deputies do have to keep up their target-shooting qualifications in
Harris County, but those tests are not taken in bars.)
Sheriff's spokesman Lieutenant Robert Van Pelt says the department's
internal affairs division is still looking into the incident, but
Springer thinks nothing will come of it. Since no one was hit, the
district attorney's office did not send anyone to the scene, making a
grand jury review more unlikely.
Springer says the deputies had been at the bar only a short time and
weren't drunk. Not that it would matter: "Even police officers who've
been drinking are allowed to defend themselves," he says.
If only they could aim.
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004-02-05/hairballs.html/1/index.html
