The LA Times roots out some of the details of the two officers who opened fire on a pair of women who happened to be delivering newspapers while the LAPD was looking for Chris Dorner, who had shot two police officers, killing one, the other morning. Witnesses say that the police didn’t shout a warning and that bullets were flying wildly through the neighborhood;
As the vehicle approached the house, officers opened fire, unloading a barrage of bullets into the back of the truck. When the shooting stopped, they quickly realized their mistake. The truck was not a Nissan Titan, but a Toyota Tacoma. The color wasn’t gray, but aqua blue. And it wasn’t Dorner inside the truck, but a woman and her mother delivering copies of the Los Angeles Times.
[…]
Law enforcement sources told The Times that at least seven officers opened fire. On Friday, the street was pockmarked with bullet holes in cars, trees, garage doors and roofs. Residents said they wanted to know what happened.
[…]
Kathy Merkosky, 53, was outside her stucco home pointing out the six bullet holes in the bumper and grill of her silver Acura MD-X. She knew her truck was damaged when she spotted it on television and “saw fluid flowing into the street.”
Her Ford Focus was hit as well — a bullet shattered the windshield and another flattened a front tire.
[…]
Goo said he could hear the bullets hitting the front door and feared they were coming through the house. He said he called 911 for the police, but was notified that they were already there.
See, I thought there were only two officers involved. In that case, I figured they had a couple of nuts in uniform, but now that I hear that there were at least seven, well, that tells me that there’s a training problem in the LAPD system. Out of seven, one might have said out loud that they were a bit out of control and suggested to the others a different course of action – but apparently that didn’t happen.
Thanks to Old Trooper for the link.
UPDATE: KD8NOA sends us a link to a second incident much like this one – wrong make & model and color of the truck and a white guy about 100 lbs. lighter than Dorner;
Seconds later, Perdue’s attorney said, a Torrance police cruiser slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire; none of the bullets struck Perdue.
His pickup, police later explained, matched the description of the one belonging to Christopher Jordan Dorner….
Yeah, I’d get out of the LA until this over. Cops haven’t killed anyone yet, but not from a lack of trying.
