Police shoot and kill man beating toddler.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-15 10:40pm

Police Shoot Man Beating Baby On Turlock Roadway
Modesto Police Department's Video Report Of Incident
TURLOCK (CBS13/AP) ― Police fatally shot a Turlock man as he kicked, punched and stomped a young toddler to death in front of horrified motorists who tried to stop the attack on a dark country road, authorities said.

Investigators were trying Sunday to establish the relationship between the 27-year-old suspect and the dead child. The Stanislaus County coroner said the boy appeared to be between 1 and 2 years old based on his size, according to county sheriff's deputy Royjindar Singh.

"It's been a long night of wondering why, not only for the officers and the passers-by who stopped and tried to help out, but for anyone. Why would somebody do this?" Singh said.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department began receiving calls late Saturday night from motorists witnessing a man beating a young baby. The suspect had a child's car seat in the back of his four-door pickup truck, which caught the attention of an elderly couple at 10:13 p.m. Saturday because it was stopped in the two-lane road facing the wrong direction, Singh said.

"What we got from witnesses is he was punching, slapping, kicking, stomping, shaking," Singh said. "They tried to intervene and get involved, but their efforts really didn't have an effect. The suspect was engaged in what he was doing. He just pushed them off and went back to it."

A Sheriff's Department helicopter arrived on scene at Bradbury Road near the Blaker Road intersection before any units on the ground.

The helicopter crew saw the man kicking a baby in the head, according to authorities. The crew made an emergency landing in a nearby cow pasture, and a Modesto police officer left the aircraft and moved toward the man.

The officer shot and killed the suspect, whose identity has not been released.

The infant was rushed to a Turlock medical center, but was pronounced dead. Authorities say the injuries to the baby were so severe they will need to make an identification through a blood or DNA test.

No children within the dead boy's age range have been reported kidnapped or missing in Stanislaus County, he said.

The police officer has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard after a shooting, the Modesto Police Department said.

What... the... fuck?

People can say what they want about cops, but I know I sleep better knowing that they immediately go for their gun when this kind of shit is going on. Just too bad he arrived a little too late.

News

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2008-06-15 11:11pm

Justified police shoot. End of story.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-06-15 11:17pm

27 year old criminal with a car seat in the back of his oversized 4-door pickup truck. Let me guess: he's either the father or the mother's boyfriend, and he's an asshole with anger issues who went berserk when the baby in the back seat wouldn't stop crying.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-06-15 11:20pm

Probably the mother's boyfriend or second (third? fourth?) husband. I understand that this sort of thing is far more likely to happen when the baby is not genetically related to the father.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-15 11:21pm

Darth Wong wrote:27 year old criminal with a car seat in the back of his oversized 4-door pickup truck. Let me guess: he's either the father or the mother's boyfriend, and he's an asshole with anger issues who went berserk when the baby in the back seat wouldn't stop crying.

I've been through Turlock a time or two, and your assumption is most likely correct. That and the entire town smells like cow shit. You pass through it on the freeway trying not to breathe through your nose.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2008-06-15 11:21pm

Patrick Degan wrote:Justified police shoot. End of story.

Very much so, there was nothing else the police could have been reasonably expected to do. Subduing the aggressor would have taken time which the victim simply didn't have, shooting him was the best chance the kid had, sadly it didn't come fast enough. However, I find it unfortunate that the bystanders did not gang up on him, or otherwise put any serious effort into incapacitating him.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-15 11:22pm

And by the way, I'll go waay out on a limb here and say that meth is going to be involved.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-06-15 11:23pm

Adrian Laguna wrote:
Patrick Degan wrote:Justified police shoot. End of story.
Very much so, there was nothing else the police could have been reasonably expected to do. Subduing the aggressor would have taken time which the victim simply didn't have, shooting him was the best chance the kid had, sadly it didn't come fast enough. However, I find it unfortunate that the bystanders did not gang up on him, or otherwise put any serious effort into incapacitating him.

The article said they were an elderly couple. They did all they could, but he just shrugged them off and kept at the poor kid.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2008-06-15 11:23pm

Ghetto Edit - Apparently the witnesses were an elderly couple, my comments about how it is unfortunate the bystanders did not intervene more vigorously are hereby withdrawn.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-06-15 11:24pm

Adrian Laguna wrote:Ghetto Edit - Apparently the witnesses were an elderly couple, my comments about how it is unfortunate the bystanders did not intervene more vigorously are hereby withdrawn.

Gotcha first.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-15 11:25pm

Adrian Laguna wrote:Ghetto Edit - Apparently the witnesses were an elderly couple, my comments about how it is unfortunate the bystanders did not intervene more vigorously are hereby withdrawn.

And I'll bet he was spun out of his mind on crack, so, if that's the case, an old couple isn't going to have much of a chance.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2008-06-16 02:11am

Surlethe wrote:Probably the mother's boyfriend or second (third? fourth?) husband. I understand that this sort of thing is far more likely to happen when the baby is not genetically related to the father.

Orders of magnitude more likely (glad you have been reading my posts)

You will actually be horrified how common physical and sexual abuse of kids is in such cases. Females hit puberty and WHAM, the step-father starts abusing them.

I've been through Turlock a time or two, and your assumption is most likely correct. That and the entire town smells like cow shit. You pass through it on the freeway trying not to breathe through your nose.

In economically shitty areas like that infidelity is very high, usually biased toward the most "desirable" males monopolizing the extra-pair copulations. Unfortunately these males do not make the best fathers (the desirable males in such environments tend to be aggressive risk takers)

If the kid is his, he got saddled with it, and found the investment was not in his reproductive best interests and thus was predisposed to commit infanticide.

If it is not his, it is either the product of infidelity in which case... Or it is the product of a prior relationship and he is doing the human equivalent of killing the cubs to bring the female into estrus/minimize his investment in kids that are not his.

The proximate mechanism was probably crying and his own ineptitude.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-16 02:58am

Alyrium Denryle wrote:In economically shitty areas like that infidelity is very high

Methamphetamine usage is also through the roof.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2008-06-16 03:14am

Oh come on, it could have easily been crack and meth at the same time.

cosmicalstorm · Post by **cosmicalstorm** » 2008-06-16 04:33am

Surlethe wrote:Probably the mother's boyfriend or second (third? fourth?) husband. I understand that this sort of thing is far more likely to happen when the baby is not genetically related to the father.

In one of Carl Sagans books, I think it was Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, he mentions that children in foster homes and such are 100 times more likely to be sexually or violently abused. I have never been able to find a good source for that number though.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-16 04:45am

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:Oh come on, it could have easily been crack and meth at the same time.

Touche'.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2008-06-16 05:10am

God for that cop. He could have easily shot him in the leg or arm and he went for the kill. I hope they give him a medal.

JointStrikeFighter · Post by **JointStrikeFighter** » 2008-06-16 05:38am

havokeff wrote:God for that cop. He could have easily shot him in the leg or arm and he went for the kill. I hope they give him a medal.

I thought cops are trained to always shoot to kill?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-06-16 05:47am

JointStrikeFighter wrote:
havokeff wrote:God for that cop. He could have easily shot him in the leg or arm and he went for the kill. I hope they give him a medal.
I thought cops are trained to always shoot to kill?

Right. There's no such thing as shooting to wound.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-06-16 08:42am

We can't know for sure if the cop really acted as he should have, but "shooting to wound" is certainly not a real option.

One, as others have noted, there is no such thing as "shoot to wound".

Two, if he tried to hit him somewhere non-vital, he'd run the risk of missing or overpenetration, and there's a toddler nearby.

I wonder if the cop had a taser with him, though. If he did, then why didn't he use it?

If he didn't, well...the dead guy beat a toddler to death. Sucks to be him.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2008-06-16 08:51am

PeZook wrote:We can't know for sure if the cop really acted as he should have, but "shooting to wound" is certainly not a real option.

One, as others have noted, there is no such thing as "shoot to wound".

Two, if he tried to hit him somewhere non-vital, he'd run the risk of missing or overpenetration, and there's a toddler nearby.

I wonder if the cop had a taser with him, though. If he did, then why didn't he use it?

If he didn't, well...the dead guy beat a toddler to death. Sucks to be him.

even if he had one, tasers are short ranged weapons

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-06-16 08:54am

Col. Crackpot wrote: even if he had one, tasers are short ranged weapons

Yeah, and? It's doubtful he tried to snipe the guy from fifty meters, anyway, and using a gun always opens the possibility of hitting the child. Most probably, he either didn't have a taser or didn't think to use it.

Dargos · Post by **Dargos** » 2008-06-16 08:58am

Col. Crackpot wrote:
PeZook wrote:We can't know for sure if the cop really acted as he should have, but "shooting to wound" is certainly not a real option.

One, as others have noted, there is no such thing as "shoot to wound".

Two, if he tried to hit him somewhere non-vital, he'd run the risk of missing or overpenetration, and there's a toddler nearby.

I wonder if the cop had a taser with him, though. If he did, then why didn't he use it?

If he didn't, well...the dead guy beat a toddler to death. Sucks to be him.
even if he had one, tasers are short ranged weapons

The cop couldn't get close enough to use non-leathal force due to an electrified fence. Shooting the perp was the only choice the cop had. Link to story

Dargos · Post by **Dargos** » 2008-06-16 09:04am

PeZook wrote:
Col. Crackpot wrote: even if he had one, tasers are short ranged weapons
Yeah, and? It's doubtful he tried to snipe the guy from fifty meters, anyway, and using a gun always opens the possibility of hitting the child. Most probably, he either didn't have a taser or didn't think to use it.

This cop was in a friggen helecopter whose crew decided to make an emergency landing in a pasture becasue ground crews were too far away to make it in time to do anything about a man beating and stomping a baby to death. Are you really bitching about the lack of non-lethal force in this incident?

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-06-16 09:04am

Dargos wrote: The cop couldn't get close enough to use non-leathal force due to an electrified fence. Shooting the perp was the only choice the cop had. Link to story

Ah...the crucial detail. There's always one.

So it looks like the shooting was indeed justified, with all procedures obeyed. He called out for the man to stop, he didn't and continued to beat the child, he got himself shot.