Sheriff: No one should be disciplined!

[RustyHammer]

Sheriff Harry Lee supports deputies in standoff shooting

'No one should be disciplined,' he says


Tuesday June 24, 2003


By Stephanie Doster
East Jefferson bureau

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee on Monday defended the actions of 10 deputies who fired on a River Ridge man during a standoff Friday after he allegedly turned and pointed a gun at them.

Lee said none of the deputies has been reassigned or put on leave.


"Once you do that, you're sending the wrong message," Lee said. "You're saying they may have done something wrong. I seldom put someone on administrative leave. As far as I'm concerned, it was a good shooting and no one should be disciplined."

David Stauder, 31, went on a shooting rampage inside his house at 10009 Judy Drive, then refused to drop his gun and held SWAT officers at bay while yelling and crying during 80 minutes of negotiations, police said.

Members of the Sheriff's Office SWAT team fired four nonlethal bean bag rounds in an effort to subdue him, police said. After being struck by some of the rounds, Stauder pointed his gun at deputies, prompting 10 of them to fire on him in his front yard, Lee said.

An autopsy said Stauder died of "penetrating and perforating" shotgun and gunshot wounds, said M.A. Goldman, an investigator for the Jefferson Parish coroner's office. He would not say how many times Stauder was shot, citing the ongoing police investigation into the shooting.

Lee said Monday he did not know off-hand how many shots were fired.

Stauder's family has said he had an emotional breakdown and criticized the way the Sheriff's Office handled the standoff, calling the shooting "extremely unnecessary and ridiculous."

Witnesses said Stauder appeared to be intoxicated. Toxicology results were not available Monday.

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[Duncan Idaho]

Members of the Sheriff's Office SWAT team fired four nonlethal bean bag rounds in an effort to subdue him, police said. After being struck by some of the rounds, Stauder pointed his gun at deputies, prompting 10 of them to fire on him in his front yard, Lee said.

Point a gun at the police, or me, or anybody with a brain, and they might very well kill you.

Any questions?

 

[Mike Irwin]

Hum...

Based solely on what's in the article, it sounds like a legitimate shooting to me.

Very possibly a "suicide by cop."

 

[KMKeller]

Looks legit to me, unless something else pops up.

 

[MJRW]

I thought the "unnecessary and ridiculous" part was where he pointed the gun at the cops.

 

[George Hill]

That's one way to check out.

 

[keithernTN]

Use a deadly threat, don't be suprised if you get a deadly response.

 

[NeuTom72]

I think the police were justified in shooting this man. Unfortunately, the antigun crowd will state that the police didn't do enough to end the stand-off. The question I have is... What difference does it make how many times this man was shot by police? The police had to take action before this nutjob shot at police. Plain and simple, if you aim a gun at the police, you will be shot... easy as that. Sad fact of the matter is that the family will sue the department stating they used "UNJUST" force. If I were to be put in the same position as the police were, I would do the same thing. Shoot until the threat is nutralized.

 

[RustyHammer]

Stauder died of "penetrating and perforating" shotgun and gunshot wounds, said M.A. Goldman, an investigator for the Jefferson Parish coroner's office. He would not say how many times Stauder was shot

.... ouch.

 

[El Tejon]

Agree with Mr. Irwin--blue suicide, more likely than not.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Suicide by cop, probably compounded by severe drug and alcohol poisoning.

 

[Ol' Badger]

‘C’est la vie

 

[4v50 Gary]

'C'est la vie or vive le mort?

Why ten shots? Why, sympathetic fire of course. Good to see a Sheriff back his deputies.

 

[Rock45]

Antis will have a case!

This cat probably ended up "Way More Dead" than he should have...a little less dead would have been justified and would not have brought on the wrath of the "Politically Corrupt" (sorry, I meant to say correct, really!)

 

[dav]

Rock45 wrote:
a little less dead would have been justified

Now there is an idea for the anti's.

Make everyone wear a light on their head that goes out when they are dead. That way the police would know when to stop shooting.

"A little bit dead is dead enough!"

I think I've found my new sig line!

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Suicide by cop? Probably not.

The gun in his hand gave him power. He didn't regard it as a deadly weapon, but rather as a tool of power. When he pointed his "tool of power" at police in attempt to regain control of the situation, he forgot that the police regarded his "tool" as a weapon. He may have had absolutely no intention of shooting at police, but police can't read minds. Instead they interpret behavior and actions.

 

[Delmar]

Shawn-you sure it wasn't the whiskey that gave him power?

 

[James Castilla]

Id have to side with the cops on this.

David Stauder, 31, went on a shooting rampage inside his house at 10009 Judy Drive, then refused to drop his gun and held SWAT officers at bay while yelling and crying during 80 minutes of negotiations

When he wouldve sobered up, hed probably off himself anyhow.

 

[jmtgsx]

I agree with Shawn. The shooting by officers was absolutely justified but I can picture this guy "yelling and crying" out on his front porch for 80 minutes in the Loozyanna heat and humidity, blitzed out of his noggin and all of a sudden he gets shot w/4 non-lethals. You think he knew *** was going on or that he had just been hit with been bags? I think the deputies were tired of this situation and tried to end it non-lethally, but the result was perceived as an escalation by Stauder. Then he did the stupid. Either way, no good guys hurt and the boss is backing up his guys. That's win,win in my book.

 

[Lt. G]

God bless Sheriff Lee and his troops. The folks in blue (or green)
never get enough credit. Whenever they show up at my station, I make sure they get some chow,coffee and a sit down. Once again, good job Sheriff, good job guys/gals.

 

[Matthew Courtney]

Sheriff Lee's deputies wear a Blue as dark as the midnight sky on a moonless night. They are probably the best bunch of LEO's around. Harry has been building that Dept for 25 years, and he and they show every bit of work and sweat that he has put into the task.

 

[Erik]

Of course no one should be disciplined. It was a good shoot.

 

[cool45auto]

Sounds like they did what they could. They talked for almost an hour and a half and used bean bags to no avail. Good for the sheriff.

 

[Destructo6]

Sounds 100% legit to me.

How many guys do they have on the force? A small PD would be devastated by losing 10 guys, even temporarily.

 

[Tamara]

Let me get this straight: This cat with a screw loose, who may or may not have been blotto to boot, picks up his heater and starts blowing holes at random in his house. Understandably concerned by this, his neighbors call the cops. The cops show up and rather reasonably ask the dude to stop shooting stuff and drop his gun so they can have a little chat and maybe arrange a booking for him at the Rubber Ramada. Instead, he stands in his front lawn for 80 minutes and delivers a no doubt impassioned soliloquy with gun in hand the whole time. He then points the gat at the amazingly patient cops and gets shot.

...and his family thinks it wasn't a righteous shoot? On what planet?