MicroBalrog
member
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.
Source:
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004-02-05/hairballs.html/1/index.html
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.
Source:
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004-02-05/hairballs.html/1/index.html
