Douglas County sheriff’s deputy kills suspect
By Reno Gazette-Journal
A Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man who allegedly pointed a shotgun at him Wednesday.
At around 2:10pm, deputies were called to the Gardnerville Cemetery on a report of a dead body, Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Halsey said. When deputies arrived, they found David Pendleton, 77, standing next to a truck holding a shotgun, Halsey said.
Deputies attempted to get Pendleton to put the gun on the ground, but he refused and at some point he aimed it at a deputy, Halsey said. The deputy fired his gun at Pendleton, killing him instantly, Halsey said.
Nothing more than legal Suicide!
Seen it before but it was a water pistol.
(“LET SOCIETY SERVANTS PULL THE TRIGGER FOR YOU, WHEN YOU WANT OUT”)
“R.I.P. Troubled Man.”
THERE ARE WORST THINGS THAN DIEING!
Well, this time it wasn’t a bear! What’s the problem with the trigger happy Douglas County Sheriffs. There must have been an alternative to gun use. What about the officers favorite, a taser! How about a non-lethal shot. Yup, this deputy got his man, pat him on the back.
Steven, you don’t really think that the deputy should have waited until the man pulled the trigger do you? You have no idea how this went down and either do I. But, if someone points a shotgun at you, what do you think the officer should have done? What “alternative” do you have when faced with lethal force. Only in the movies does law enforcement have the ability to make “non-lethal” shots in split-seconds. You have fractions of seconds to protect yourself and others from a gun-wielding antagonist. If you read the full story, you would have seen that the man had previously threatened to use weapons against law enforcement officers. I don’t like the idea of trigger-happy anyone, but I sure can’t see any other outcome from this situation.
I have read some really intersting posts on several sites regarding this shooting. “He could have shot him in the foot”, “Why didn’t he help the guy”, etc. I don’t necessarily think shooting someone in the foot makes the suspect’s trigger finger inoperable. What astounds me is the people who make these comments would make an argument for themselves in court if they had to legally defend themselves, or their families. Why is that any different from the officer defending himself in the course of his duties?