So much for knowing what you are shooting @

i bet ya a flash light on his weapon would have prevented it

I thought the very same thing.

You would think that being an officer he would know better than to shoot at an unidentified target.

I bet if this happened to a civilian in Massachusetts, you would be charged, and all licenses revoked... for the sake of the children, of course! [pot]
 
Oooops.....

I always thought you should kinda make sure your target is really a threat before firing. Even if it was an unarmed drunk hobo he could be in trouble.
 
MASS + Civilian = Rape in Prison
Sadly there is a double standard and he will most likely not be charged. I kind of feel bad for him and his daughter, this will likely place emotional stress on the both of them for some time.
 
I feel bad for the girl but have absolutely no sympathy for the cop . What a friggen idiot !!!!!!
 
This is pretty sad. The girl will probably never be able to walk right again.

How crappy would you feel if you shot your kid?
 
I feel bad for both of them. The cop's job/life are probably going to be a serious mess for a long time and the daughter is now messed up physically. Who knows whatthe real situation was when the shot was fired. The girl could have been climbing through a window in the dark, quickly startled the father as he came around the corner looking for an intruder, anything...not saying shooting without knowing the target is a good thing...just saying that obviously no one would shoot their kid on purpose, so it may have just been a combination of 10 things that told the father "this is someone trying to do my family harm" based on the situation.

What if you heard noises in the basement, saw a security light had been flagged, went down into the basement and came face to face with an unknown person in the dark coming at you? The daughter had no reason to know she was about to be shot, so could have been acting in any number of ways while trying to not get caught by her dad...hiding quietly in a dark corner...trying to slip by him as he walked to the door....etc..
 
This makes me wonder: Do you need to see someone's face to know you are in fear of your life? Or does the simple fact that you are under the impression someone has broken into your house and is coming towards you in the dark and that you are in fear for your safety "count"?

This makes me think about that case where the guy's wife yelled rape, he killed the "rapist" only to find out the guy was his wife's lover. The wife was charged with crimes because the husband, to the best of his knowledge, reacted appropriately.

How would that situation compare here....lets say the girl was hiding in a dark corner of the basement, trying to sneak in after an unapproved night of drinking. In her stupidity, she tries to dash by her dad when he isnt looking. To him, he sees a person in the dark coming at him, and shoots....just a bad situation? Both at fault? or ultimately, is it on his shoulders to KNOW he is in danger before firing?

Surely there are situations where you are justified in being "in fear for your life" when in reality your life is not in danger, but theres no way to know until the event is over.
 
How would that situation compare here....lets say the girl was hiding in a dark corner of the basement, trying to sneak in after an unapproved night of drinking. In her stupidity, she tries to dash by her dad when he isnt looking. To him, he sees a person in the dark coming at him, and shoots....just a bad situation? Both at fault? or ultimately, is it on his shoulders to KNOW he is in danger before firing?

Surely there are situations where you are justified in being "in fear for your life" when in reality your life is not in danger, but theres no way to know until the event is over.


If someone breaks into my house, hides in a basement corner, and then runs around my basement, I would not be shooting at them like it is deer season. Nor do you have right to under Mass law. You our your family need to be fear of death or grave bodily harm. They can run around all they want (unless my family is down there). I'd stand post at the top of the stairs and call 911. As long as they don't ascend those stairs towards my family they will be fine.

I have it drilled into my head that verbal commands are 100% needed before firing in my home, if there is time for any thought. Along with target ID, but that one is just common sense.

999 out of 1,000 situations you cannot find yourself in fear for your life without being able to tell the fear is your very own daughter.

This guy is negligent in a big way.
 
I feel bad for both of them. The cop's job/life are probably going to be a serious mess for a long time and the daughter is now messed up physically. Who knows whatthe real situation was when the shot was fired. The girl could have been climbing through a window in the dark, quickly startled the father as he came around the corner looking for an intruder, anything...not saying shooting without knowing the target is a good thing...just saying that obviously no one would shoot their kid on purpose, so it may have just been a combination of 10 things that told the father "this is someone trying to do my family harm" based on the situation.

What if you heard noises in the basement, saw a security light had been flagged, went down into the basement and came face to face with an unknown person in the dark coming at you? The daughter had no reason to know she was about to be shot, so could have been acting in any number of ways while trying to not get caught by her dad...hiding quietly in a dark corner...trying to slip by him as he walked to the door....etc..

When you live with other people in your home, you better be 100% sure of your target when you fire. That's part of the responsibility of choosing to protect yourself. Beyond that, I'm not going to try and guess what was happening in the house.
 
To hell with the trial, the NES jury of fears has already convicted him!
I think most of the opinions being expressed are a byproduct of the fact that we all expect to be lynched in this state should the need to defend ourselves or our families arise. Most of us are conditioned by the political climate in this state to make sure your 100% right before even thinking of acting. Actions taken in ones defense that would not earn you a second look from law enforcement in some free states will land you locked up pending trial here in liberal land. I personally hope he gets cleared because I'm guessing the last thing his family needs right now is more stress from this incident.
 
I think most of the opinions being expressed are a byproduct of the fact that we all expect to be lynched in this state should the need to defend ourselves or our families arise. Most of us are conditioned by the political climate in this state to make sure your 100% right before even thinking of acting. Actions taken in ones defense that would not earn you a second look from law enforcement in some free states will land you locked up pending trial here in liberal land. I personally hope he gets cleared because I'm guessing the last thing his family needs right now is more stress from this incident.

I agree...very well said.

I apologize to all for my lack of compassion, especially to the father who shot his daughter (if he happens to come across this thread). I'm sure there is nothing his state could do that would be more punishment than what he is going through right now, jail time pales in comparison to the guilt of shooting one of your own.

Sometimes when our freedoms are slowly being torn from us, we become a little bitter and quick to judge.

Thanks for the forced integrity check. I wish his family the best.
 
I think most of the opinions being expressed are a byproduct of the fact that we all expect to be lynched in this state should the need to defend ourselves or our families arise. Most of us are conditioned by the political climate in this state to make sure your 100% right before even thinking of acting. Actions taken in ones defense that would not earn you a second look from law enforcement in some free states will land you locked up pending trial here in liberal land. I personally hope he gets cleared because I'm guessing the last thing his family needs right now is more stress from this incident.

+1.... the guy/family has paid enough of a price already, throwing him in prison will not accomplish anything positive. He may have been
negligent, but that doesn't change what the guy has to deal with.

-Mike
 
To hell with the trial, the NES jury of fears has already convicted him!

They're actually going to try him for stupidity? Boy, if that ever gets to be common, the entire population of the Commonwealth is going to be doing nothing but sit around waiting for their jury panel to be called. [wink]

Ken
 
I disagree. I don't have much compassion for this. The guy shot his daughter. What if she died from the wound, would we feel the same way?

I also don't think it is the beat down feeling we get from Massachusetts making me feel this way. I think it is common sense. You don't shoot anything you can't ID (something I learned when I was 15 and started deer hunting). And in the case of defense if you can't ID it it is most likely not a threat that warrants being shot. And this was obviously not a threat (unless she was in fact trying to kill him).

Unless this was an accidental discharge I cannot sympothize much. If he deliberately pulled the trigger without proper ID I think he deserves what he gets. I can't help comparing it to other negligent parenting incidents that could have been prevented with a little common sense like babies falling out of windows, etc. And they all burn me up. Combine that with the use of a firearm and it burns me up twice as much.

Incidents/accidents like this put the rest of us two steps backwards...

Don't get me wrong, as a family man my heart does go out to the family and I hope they all come out of it OK. What a tragedy, I cannot even imagine.
 
To hell with the trial, the NES jury of fears has already convicted him!

He admitted to shooting her. Granted there is a lot we don't know....not really the point. He is a cop. He is trained in how to clear a house. Did he not identify himself? Isn't that procedure?

It sucks he shot his daughter and I feel bad for her that she got shot, but he is trained in these situations and he obviously did not identify his target.

I'm not a cop but I'm pretty sure they can't just start shooting until the shadows disappear.

I'm sure he feels really bad about what he did but he should do some time for this.

If he was a civilian you would say he had no right to clear his house and he should have called the police....well, maybe when you're the cop and it's your home you should do the same thing...

I guess we'll have to wait and see how this plays out in the funny papers.
 
To hell with the trial, the NES jury of fears has already convicted him!

It is not so much that we convict him Cross-X, as much as we all are really saying if by the grace of God that could have been me. As the head of a household (Man or Woman) your responsibility is to protect your family, regardless if he is ever on trail or not he failed to protect his family.
Not to play Monday morning quarterback, I have NEVER been in that situation, I have been in a situation of fire and hurricanes and in all cases of emergency the first thing I have always done is check my wife (who should be next to me) and my son's room, to hell with everything else (When I was younger it was my parents room and I'd pick up my younger brother). I mean would not checking to make sure the sleeping area is clear and all the family are in bed the first thing you should do?

Fee
 
I mean would not checking to make sure the sleeping area is clear and all the family are in bed the first thing you should do?

Fee

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. But she obviosly wasn't there and maybe he thought she was in danger because of absence. There IS a lot we don't know and now I'm speculating.

But, like I said before, if someone's in my basement and my family is not, I'm letting them do their thing and staying with/protecting the family.
 
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