Colorado police officer WILL NOT face charges for mistakenly shooting dead a good Samaritan who....

Don't pick up the weapon that the cop killer just used. I feel badly for the shooting cop, and worse for the good Samaritan, but the police just heard many rifle shots, then came up to a guy holding a rifle. Bad situation all around.

This is another one of those examples where something can be both tragic but not unlawful or wrong.

It's a good head check for whether you should use deadly force: Is what will happen here if I don't shoot worse than the risk of me being killed by the perpetrator? Worth being sued? Worth going to jail? Worth being accidentally shot by the police or another good Samaritan?

This is why you don't fantasize about being the virtuous and victorious citizen in a shooting.

There's a few things this guy could have done to mitigate the risk. So we really shouldn't say "do nothing at all".

After you drop the bad guy, don't do the hokey pokey dance with the bad guys carbine, as the cops pull up. You'd think that would be common sense.........

I'm sure this will not be a popular opinion here, but it seems to me that he should have just stayed out of it unless the guy was shooting at him. Just my two cents.

I cannot imagine what it was that prompted the Good Samaritan to pick up the bad guys’ rifle.
He apparently kept his wits about him in a critical situation- until he committed the grievous error of handling that gun.

What a horrible and preventable tragedy.

Waveski said:

I cannot imagine what it was that prompted the Good Samaritan to pick up the bad guys’ rifle.
He apparently kept his wits about him in a critical situation- until he committed the grievous error of handling that gun.

What a horrible and preventable tragedy.

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My first thought was that perhaps he wanted to clear the rifle, and/or make sure it was secured? Makes sense to me, and the article does seem to support the idea that he was clearing it ("fiddling" with the rifle...). In light of what happened here, perhaps it would be better to simply stand over the rifle with hands raised until the police arrive and can secure it?

champ0608 said:

This is why you don't fantasize about being the virtuous and victorious citizen in a shooting.

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So much this

Harriw said:

My first thought was that perhaps he wanted to clear the rifle, and/or make sure it was secured? Makes sense to me, and the article does seem to support the idea that he was clearing it ("fiddling" with the rifle...). In light of what happened here, perhaps it would be better to simply stand over the rifle with hands raised until the police arrive and can secure it?

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Maybe this is a horrible idea, so let me know if it is, but you could probably just stand with your foot ON the rifle to secure it pretty well, reholster your weapon, and wait for the cops if you felt like it was your responsibility to secure the bad guy and his weapon. Thoughts? Bad idea? (I’m not saying it would be your responsibility to secure the bad guy and his weapon.)

Mauser lover said:

Maybe this is a horrible idea, so let me know if it is, but you could probably just stand with your foot ON the rifle to secure it pretty well, reholster your weapon, and wait for the cops if you felt like it was your responsibility to secure the bad guy and his weapon. Thoughts? Bad idea? (I’m not saying it would be your responsibility to secure the bad guy and his weapon.)

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That was what I wrote at first as well.... but then I thought perhaps the responding officers would be even a bit less likely to mistake a good Samaritan as the shooter if the rifle on the ground were well out of arms-reach?

The article stated that the mass shooter had been shot dead by the Samaritan. The most I would have done (hind sight - I know ...) would have been to assure that rifle was out of the dead/dying shooter's reach ; I'd use my foot for that. I am pretty sure that my radar would have prevented me from picking up the rifle that had recently killed multiple innocent victims.
Toxic! Hot! Dangerous!
Deadly mistake.

I sure feel bad for the officer.

The Last Outlaw said:

I'm sure this will not be a popular opinion here, but it seems to me that he should have just stayed out of it unless the guy was shooting at him. Just my two cents.

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The Denver Metro area has hosted three "mass shooting" incidents- Columbine, the Aurora Theater, and the most recent Boulder Grocery Store. After every one, the rights of citizen gun owners in Colorado have been sacrificed on the altar of "doing something" by progressive state leadership. You may agree or disagree, but many local gun owners / concealed carriers have had enough, and will not be "running" for the exits when the next one of these things kicks-off. Staying out of it is losing it's sheen when all citizens suffer in the aftermath. Did Hurley screw-up in securing the perps rifle?- Yes. Did Hurley screw-up by killing an active shooter with an unknown future body count?- Most people locally say absolutely not.

I would not stand near the rifle or bad guy. Get away from any visible weapons. Holster your own weapon well before the police arrive and be ready to be disarmed, maybe with a bit of force.

.455_Hunter said:

The Denver Metro area has hosted three "mass shooting" incidents- Columbine, the Aurora Theater, and the most recent Boulder Grocery Store. After every one, the rights of citizen gun owners in Colorado have been sacrificed on the altar of "doing something" by progressive state leadership. You may agree or disagree, but many local gun owners / concealed carriers have had enough, and will not be "running" for the exits when the next one of these things kicks-off. Staying out of it is losing it's sheen when all citizens suffer in the aftermath. Did Hurley screw-up in securing the perps rifle?- Yes. Did Hurley screw-up by killing an active shooter with an unknown future body count?- Most people locally say absolutely not.

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The way I see it as a concealed carrier it is my duty to protect myself and my family. Police are the ones that should deal with something like this. If I can get away safely, that is what I'm going to do. I ain't no sheepdog, and obviously he shouldn't have tried to be one either.

The Last Outlaw said:

The way I see it as a concealed carrier it is my duty to protect myself and my family. Police are the ones that should deal with something like this. If I can get away safely, that is what I'm going to do. I ain't no sheepdog, and obviously he shouldn't have tried to be one either.

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And no one is forcing you to do anything. It is a personal choice made off a full spectrum of validations and justifications. You will live with that choice for the rest of your life- which could be seconds or decades.

Did Hurley prevent an AR mag dump or two into a crowded restaurant seating area? Who knows.

Would LE have simply killed the shooter 20 seconds later in the timeline if Hurley hadn't engaged? Who knows.

Would the shooter have killed additional LE and civilians if Hurley had not engaged? Who knows.

Being in an area where these things happen with some regularity can alter your perspective. My wife had her prescriptions at the Boulder King Soopers grocery store, and we shopped there a few times per month. It's not something that always happens to "other people".

Harriw said:

My first thought was that perhaps he wanted to clear the rifle, and/or make sure it was secured? Makes sense to me, and the article does seem to support the idea that he was clearing it ("fiddling" with the rifle...). In light of what happened here, perhaps it would be better to simply stand over the rifle with hands raised until the police arrive and can secure it?

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I really don't know why anyone would think that was a good idea. I think the best thing to do would be to rapidly scan for additional threats and holster your weapon as quickly as possible. I see no reason to clear the perpetrator's rifle when it is doing no one any harm sitting on the ground.

Dain Bramage said:

Don't pick up the weapon that the cop killer just used. I feel badly for the shooting cop, and worse for the good Samaritan, but the police just heard many rifle shots, then came up to a guy holding a rifle. Bad situation all around.

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Couldn't have said it better myself.

Be a good witness, folks.

SimonRL said:

Be a good witness, folks.

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I really don't want to be a "good witness" to a mass murder. This is only reinforced by the fact that if you're not in custody or a confidential informant, the police have little to no duty to protect you from anything.

There is a message for Mr. Good Guy.

Don't be handling a firearm when the police arrive.

Oh wow THE COPS GET AWAY WITH IT AGAIN.

John "I back the blue" Doe is smiling with pride today because this is "reasonable".

They roll up to a scene with a dead body and a guy with a rifle. Considering that even though these men have limited training they are still civilians and can't really be faulted for their reaction. The "white knight" stood when he should have hunkered down. In doing so he may have saved lives. Sadly, tragically, he followed the TV and went to disarm the corpse. A mistake that killed him. Sayang naman

Why is he picking up the weapon in the first place? My foot is the only thing that will come in contact with a bad guy's weapon.

The biggest take away is don't trust LE will be calm and collected when they arrive. They panic as well. I've seen some LE in a panicked state just training. You have veteran officers and then you have one's that might not be so situationally aware and in a heightened state. People need to train in a manner where they holster up and make it obvious they are not a threat to the cops coming on the scene. People need to do more than think or talk about this and literally crawl, walk and run through the scenario. Get your body to move through the actions, give yourself verbal commands... whatever helps you to survive.