Road Rage:Federal Agent Killed at Broward County FL,Post Office

[mr.72]

It takes two to tango. Road Rage can only escalate into phyisical violence if both parties are sufficiently wond (sp) up.

I think you meant "wound" up.

I disagree however that it takes two to make road rage. I have a recent experience that supports my position. I think I am lucky the moron did not follow me all the way home. There's only so much you can do to ignore some doofus until you have to stop the car and get out at some point.

 

[VARifleman]

Did I miss something in any of the news reports? Where was it reported that Wonder was the victim of a "vicious attack?" All verbal argument, the deceased returning to his vehicle ...

Seems quite a few here are looking to argue that Wonder was justified in killing the man.

Some big guy coming yelling, most likely threatening, an old feeble man is considered a vicious attack when a reasonable person puts themselves of the shoes of the victim of the attack. The aggressor died because of his actions.

 

[mr.72]

there is no other reason for following a man, exiting your vehicle, and approaching him if it's not to cause either a violent confrontation or ... the threat of violent confrontation.

Solo Flyer forgive me for Dowdifying your quote, but making it more compact makes it more clear.

This is absolutely correct. It appoears that Wonder made an attempt to avoid further escalation by entering the Post Office, and then after passing by Pettit returned, blocked him in, and exited his vehicle in what anyone would assume to be a threatening manner.

It is absolutely reasonable to consider that Pettite intended to commit serious bodily harm and was a threat, armed or not. If you are carrying a concealed weapon then you know full well that the other guy might be carrying concealed as well, so you can't assume that just because there is no weapon in the aggressor's hand, that means there is no weapon available.

Aside from the wisdom of getting into a road rage altercation to begin with, I think this looks like a very clear case of self defense. If he hadn't fled, but had called 911 right there on the spot, then I doubt he would have even been arrested.

 

[VARifleman]

He'd have likely been arrested because the guy he shot was a cop, see how many cops they sent out on the street looking for him. He would have gone to jail and possibly been murdered in jail by the cops like Ronnie White in PG county.

 

[Solo Flyer]

Solo Flyer forgive me for Dowdifying your quote, but making it more compact makes it more clear.

No problem at all with the contraction, mr.72.
But as with Old Dog,I want to make it clear that this is not my quote, but one lifted from a Miami Herald reader responding to the incident and giving his opinion.One which many others in the comments section seemed to echo to some degree or another.

 

[Mike Franklin]

I only have what's posted here to know what happened so I'll just tell you what I've done in the past.
First I don't shoot anyone the finger for any reason. I don't yell or curse anyone when diving.
What would I do;
'Hello, 9-1-1, I'm an off duty Deputy Constable I'm headed *** bound on *****street. I'm following a vehicle and driver who are driving erratically.'
'Yes, I will stay on the phone and give you direction of travel as your Officers approach.'
When the locals arrive, let them handle it. I will tell them my version of what happened.
I have arrested several people while I was off duty, shop lifters mostly, but I never chased anyone in my vehicle. I will follow someone as long as it's safe to do so, at the legal speed limit. If they stop and exit the vehicle I drive down the street until Local LEO arrive. I figure that if they've parked the vehicle they are no longer in Road Rage. I will not confront someone unless it's apparent that they are about to attack or injure someone.
I some shoots me the finger I just wave and slow down to let them get ahead of me. My moral duty is not to make a situation worse.
This is Me and what I've done in the past. This is not to judge any other LEO's actions.

 

[Orthonym]

My Mom gave me some good advice.

She said that when, say, she was first at a red light and it turned green, and an impatient person behind her honked his horn, she would turn around, smile, and wave (with the whole hand).

I have tried to apply her advice and it seems to have worked for me, so far.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

any pictures of wonder? size?

 

[mattf7184]

http://sheriff.org/apps/arrest/details.cfm?ID=9e1f656e-61fe-48bc-9d47-1da366f0345a

 

[VARifleman]

155 5'9" and looks like his health is not good. Pettit, on the other hand, is in good shape and quite a bit bigger. Disparity of force, and escalation by Pettit means that Wonder should get off of this rap. Whether he will is still to be seen, but I will pray that justice will be served and he will be found not guilty.

 

[Jeff White]

I'm so glad everyone is jumping to declare this a good shoot....before they have any real details about what happened...

Someone can open a new thread when the trial starts and more actual details are released. No more wasted bandwidth on speculation.

Jeff