.40-caliber Service Revolver?

[mondocomputerman]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/01/slain.police.officer/index.html

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hundreds of officers, some from as far away as Colorado, turned out Friday along with New Orleans residents to mourn slain police officer Nicola Cotton -- whose violent death has shaken the city.


A police escort follows the hearse carrying the body of Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, Friday.

1 of 2 An autopsy showed Cotton, 24, was eight weeks pregnant when she was killed.

On Monday, she stopped a man matching the description of a rape suspect, and a struggle ensued as she tried to arrest him.

The man, 44-year-old Bernel Johnson, grabbed Cotton's baton and beat her, New Orleans police said.

Surveillance video showed him grabbing her service revolver, a .40-caliber Glock, and shooting her 15 times in the head and body.

Johnson waited until police arrived on the scene and gave them the firearm.

On Friday, mourners formed a line snaking around the block as they waited to file past Cotton's flag-draped coffin.

At her funeral, friends and fellow officers remembered her as a having a huge heart.

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"Few are willing to do the job Officer Cotton did, and few can," said police Superintendent Warren Riley.

A letter from Cotton's partner was read by another officer at the service. "I know I can't bring you back," it said. "I wish I could have been with you on that day."

Cotton was in the first police academy graduating class after Hurricane Katrina. She had relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, but chose to return to New Orleans, relatives said.

When she responded to the call of a possible rape suspect on the loose about 10 a.m. Monday, Cotton was patrolling alone in her cruiser.

In the wake of her death, many in New Orleans questioned why she was alone in the 6th District, the city's deadliest. There were 209 murders in New Orleans last year, many of them in the 6th District.

Police spokesman Joe Narcisse said the practice is common in the city, and Cotton did nothing wrong in approaching the suspect -- who was twice her size -- by herself.

"She was doing what we pay her to do, what we beg of [officers] to do," Narcisse said.

Johnson has been charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court February 19.

He was involuntarily committed three weeks before he encountered Cotton. Deputy psychiatric coroner Jeffery Rouse said in his opinion, Johnson is a paranoid schizophrenic with violent tendencies.

But the mental health system in New Orleans -- which is still struggling to rebuild and recover after the 2005 storm -- is broken, Rouse said.

"It's the same exact story, and it reads: 'Person with severe mental illness. Brought in by police. Not taking medication. Homeless.' I've written that phrase till my fingers fall off," he said.

"The fact of the matter is, until all the systems get together and have the resources to handle these problems, I fear that things like this will happen in my hometown, and that is unacceptable."

It turned out Johnson was not the rape suspect sought by police, which Narcisse said only underscores the senselessness of Cotton's death.

"This is a somber but a very sobering occasion for us," he said. "It brings us back to the reality of police work. It's incredibly saddening considering the senselessness of the crime."

 

[JaxNovice]

After reading about the horrible shooting of a pregnant 24 year old police office, the only comment you make is about the pistol? I read the same article this morning and my intial feelings was deep sorrow for the officer and her family, not disdain for the author who made a small mistake.

 

[Wild Deuce]

I think his point was that these are the same people that some of us trust to report the facts. Makes you wonder where else and what else they screw up. We only notice this because we know this subject matter (guns) well.

Some feelings were already expressed in this link.

 

[AJ Dual]

I think his point was that these are the same people that some of us trust to report the facts. Makes you wonder where else and what else they screw up. We only notice this because we know this subject matter (guns) well.

Exactly.

And I have two subjects of knowledge. I was a red polo shirt wearing wage-slave at the now defunct CompUSA in the 90's during college. A local weatherman also did "technology" bits for the pre-prime-time 4:30 news. I guess I was the most friendly and well-spoken associate, as I was always assigned to assist him.

If you know how the demo-equipment at an electronics/computer store is non-functional and misconfigured 10,000 ways come Sunday by an endless stream of well-meaning inept customers, and ill intent of computer savvy teenagers, we had almost nothing that worked properly in the store.

I have personally witnessed the "reporter" fake the (then "new") Internet with a CD-ROM Encyclopedia, a disconnected graphics tablet with a mouse, and voice-recognition with creative editing of him speaking into the microphone, and then clicking on the menus with the mouse.

And of course, the gun examples are legion.

So unless they're reporting on things that are happening live that very moment, or the most basic facts, "The President was in XYZ today", I think one can safely assume what they report is substantially wrong, or intentionally misconstrued.

 

[Autolycus]

Originally from posted Article above: "She was doing what we pay her to do, what we beg of [officers] to do," Narcisse said.

I am very angry that they insist we beg of officers to protect us. I don't beg them to do their job. It is a tragedy that she died but nonetheless I dont think that the author should have used that quote as it can also be misconstrued that we pay them to die.

 

[Wild Deuce]

I had another thought....

How many non-gun enthusiasts will read this and now believe that a .40 caliber GLOCK revolver capable of holding 15 rounds is now in existence? That nugget of misinformation will now sit there, dormant for a while. They might not even remember the caliber or exact number of rounds.

When they have successfully banned semi-autos and are moving on to revolvers, John Q. Public might recall this story. All they will recall is that they once upon a time heard about a deadly revolver, something really bad and tragic occurred and a police officer died. "Sure, we should ban these terrible implements of death ... I'll vote for the ban."

Just look at how we're still fighting the effects of the Kellermann study that said, "A gun was 43 times more likely to kill a family member, friend, or acquaintance, than it was used to kill someone in self-defense."

Was this part of a master plan to disarm us? ... Extremely unlikely. It's more probable that this was an informationally handicapped reporter that made a simple mistake. Still, it's another nugget added to the mountain of firearm misinformation whose guardian is the MSM.

 

[KelVarnson]

Well, my first impression upon reading this sad story is, wouldn't approaching a rape suspect be considered a felony stop? Seems like the right procedure, especially with the size disparity (or maybe regardless of it) would be to wait for backup.

And I apologize for the MMQB'ing.

Regarding the revolver/pistol thing, the paper should print a corrrection, although I doubt they would consider such a detail important enough.

 

[32winspl]

It's a sad, unfortunate story. Imagine, though, the size of the cylinder on that revolver, and the holster too.

 

[Blackbeard]

That's one of those high-capacity cylinders. Bet it had a pistol grip, too.

 

[RNB65]

.40 caliber GLOCK revolver

I'm waiting for the .45ACP version.
.