Another Cop
...shot and killed yesterday afternoon over in Dallas. Several cops approached a murder suspects car from the passanger side (super dark tinted windows all around), and the guy opened up with what the first reports/news called an "assault rifle".
...With the pics from the chopper cam...I counted almost 40 holes in the windshield, back glass, passenger side windows.
...From the puddle of blood from the cop, I knew it was a really bad hit before the news ever said anything.
...Scum bag was hit several times, no in depth details that Ive heard, but the human fecal matter lived. Cop died, being carried to Parkland in another squad car as the ambulance got caught in rush hr traffic.
...Reports said he was hit in the neck, and his vest penetreated.
The pile of human garbage sat slumped over the steering wheel for probably 45min. before they (swat) busted windows and dragged him out; shame it's not a time when a sniper would have popped him...then dragged him out.
...Man, I feel for the cops family...[:(]
...With the pics from the chopper cam...I counted almost 40 holes in the windshield, back glass, passenger side windows.
...From the puddle of blood from the cop, I knew it was a really bad hit before the news ever said anything.
...Scum bag was hit several times, no in depth details that Ive heard, but the human fecal matter lived. Cop died, being carried to Parkland in another squad car as the ambulance got caught in rush hr traffic.
...Reports said he was hit in the neck, and his vest penetreated.
The pile of human garbage sat slumped over the steering wheel for probably 45min. before they (swat) busted windows and dragged him out; shame it's not a time when a sniper would have popped him...then dragged him out.
...Man, I feel for the cops family...[:(]
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quote:Originally posted by COLT
and the guy opened up with what the first reports/news called an "assault rifle".
No doubt loaded with "cop killer bullets designed to penetrate body armor" or some such thing.0 -
Several decades ago they outlawed those dark tinted windows in Georgia.
It was quite simple. The law was that the tinted windows could only reduce the light by, if I recall correctly, 35 per cent. State troopers were given cards that were designed to test the window tint. They held the card up to the glass, if you could not read the writing on the card, the window was too dark. Seemed pretty straightforward, and sensible, to me.
The ACLU got hold of it, took it to court, and it was found to be unconstitutional to enforce window tint laws.
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
You have no way of knowing that.0 -
No, I don't KNOW it.
But, if not for the dark window tint, good chance the cop would have seen the rifle, dontcha think?
See, this is why they passed the law in Georgia. They wanted police to be able to see if the guy in the car was pointing a firearm at them.0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
no, if not for a person shooting a cop then the cop would be alive today. i have tinted windows and i havent killed any cops.0 -
...I would agree. The cars windows were shot from 3 sides...he had been "surrounded". Not being able to have a good view of the inside of the car, probably caused them to approach in a way less cautious manner than if they had been able to see inside.
...I doubt if they would have gone up to the car in the manner they did if they could have "seen" inside...the guy was not concealing the rifle in his pants.
...The cops opened up as soon as the windows started blowing out w/o warning...too late...[;)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by warriorsfan
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
You have no way of knowing that.
Just like you have no way of knowing Allen wasn't right.
WF you sound just like Salzo. Always negative.0 -
Agreed I also have dark tinted windows in my vehivles, and I have never killed a cop.quote:Originally posted by newtgingrich
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
no, if not for a person shooting a cop then the cop would be alive today. i have tinted windows and i havent killed any cops.0 -
At least he's in Texas where the courts take a dim view of murdering police. 0 -
The bad guy did the shooting, and I'm not saying anything that excuses that, but it sounds like a case of bad training or bad practices also.
When dealing with a violent felon on a vehicle stop, you shouldn't approach the vehicle, you should have the occupant(s) get out one at a time and come to you.0 -
Officer's killer has lenghty crime record
Gunman had fled police twice in 2 weeks
02:45 AM CDT on Sunday, March 25, 2007
By JASON TRAHAN and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
jtrahan@dallasnews.com, teiserer@dallasnews.com
The man who killed a Dallas police officer Friday fled days earlier from members of a federal fugitive task force who saw him leave the Oak Cliff home of a possible associate of the feared Mexican drug enforcers, the Zetas, police said Saturday.
Mark Nix Friday also marked the second time in as many weeks that Wesley Lynn Ruiz, 27, had fled police. He also did it in 2004 and has an extensive criminal history that includes convictions for burglary of a motor vehicle, escape, theft, possession of a controlled substance, evading arrest and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
On March 14, Dallas patrol officers acting on a request by the U.S. Marshal's Dallas Fort Worth Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team tried to stop Mr. Ruiz as he left the possible Zeta associate's home so they could determine if he was the target of their investigation, police said. The name of the associate was not immediately available.
Mr. Ruiz, driving a black Lincoln LS, pulled over and gave officers his driver's license, but he sped off when they asked him to step outside the car, police said. Later that day, police found the car abandoned. In a home tied to Mr. Ruiz, officers found marijuana, bullets, ammunition magazines and scales, police said.
Ten days later, on Friday evening, Mr. Ruiz led Dallas officers on a short chase through West Dallas that ended in a gun battle that killed Senior Cpl. Mark Nix, 33. Police later found an assault rifle, including a 30-round magazine, and 200 grams of methamphetamines on Mr. Ruiz and in the car.
The chase ensued when officers tried to stop Mr. Ruiz, this time because the car he was driving, a Chevrolet Caprice, closely matched the description of a Caprice seen fleeing the scene of a slaying on Southerland Avenue in southeast Oak Cliff early Wednesday.
While trying to sort out the confusion, police on Saturday determined that Mr. Ruiz actually had only purchased the car Tuesday night, about five hours before Wednesday's slaying. Still, even though the car belonged to him at the time of the Southerland slaying, police do not believe he was involved in that shooting.
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Investigators are not sure, however, if the Caprice he was driving Friday was the one that fled Wednesday's slaying. Gang unit officers have since told homicide detectives that there are other cars around Dallas that look similar.
Regardless of whether he was involved in Wednesday's shooting, Mr. Ruiz's actions aren't a surprise to many on the police force.
"The guy has an extensive record, and he knows that he's about to be caught with firearms and a large amount of drugs," said Lt. Santos Cadena, commander of the Dallas gang unit. "He knows that with his priors, he's likely to get a lengthy sentence if caught."
Dallas police on Saturday filed a capital murder case against Mr. Ruiz in the death of Cpl. Nix. Mr. Ruiz also is accused of four counts of aggravated assault of a public servant and one count of methamphetamine possession.
As officers across the department mourned Cpl. Nix's death, investigators toiled Saturday to piece together Mr. Ruiz's background.
He is thought to have grown up in West Dallas and have drug and gang ties around the city, police said.
Despite his long criminal history, Mr. Ruiz has managed to avoid serious prison time, police said.
In addition to this month's two police chases, Mr. Ruiz was involved in another chase three years ago.
Wesley Ruiz In 2004, Mr. Ruiz was involved in a disturbance involving gunfire in the downtown area around bar-closing time. Officers tried to stop him but he fled.
Mr. Ruiz's vehicle crashed into another vehicle. He was then arrested. Police also seized several weapons in his vehicle.
The events that led to the death of Cpl. Nix, the 77th Dallas officer to die in the line of duty since 1892, began about rush hour Friday.
At 5:30 p.m., two Northwest Dallas undercover patrol officers, Senior Cpls. Jason Jarc and Patrick Starr, were driving a black pickup south on Stemmons Freeway near Mockingbird Lane when they spotted a vehicle that matched the description of one in a Wednesday morning slaying.
The red and gray Chevrolet Caprice with customized rims, driven by Mr. Ruiz, had nearly blacked-out tinted windows, and the officers could see neither the race of the driver - the suspects in the Wednesday morning slaying were black - nor how many people were in the car.
As per police department policy, the plainclothes officers in the pickup called for marked patrol cars to pull over the Caprice, which was then exiting the freeway onto Mockingbird.
As the pickup tailed the Caprice, five officers in three marked cars answered the call for assistance, which is not uncommon when trying to stop a possible murder suspect.
In the minutes it took for all three marked squads to assemble, the Caprice continued south on Mockingbird and crossed the Trinity River, where the street turns into Westmoreland Road in West Dallas.
The officers, led by Cpl. Nix, who was alone in his car, tried to pull the car over at Canada Drive.
Mr. Ruiz initially slowed, but darted away, speeding south on Westmoreland. Two blocks later, Mr. Ruiz made a fast right onto Bernal Drive, then led the pursuing officers, their lights flashing, on about a minute-long chase through a harrowing series of tree-lined "S" curves as Bernal winds through residential neighborhoods.
"He's driving really recklessly and he's trying to get away," Senior Cpl. Kimberly Crawford recalled Saturday.
She said her car was third in line, behind the Operation Disruption officers. Cpl. Nix's car remained in the lead.
Cpl. Crawford, who was in the passenger seat of her car, said she remembers the Caprice beginning to lose control. "He was fishtailing."
The Caprice finally spun out of control in the front yard of 4023 Bernal Drive, coming to rest facing the street. The back end of the car was close to the house.
"You could see gravel and smoke and everything," Cpl. Crawford said.
Cpl. Nix stopped his patrol car inches from the Caprice's front bumper. The six-year-veteran officer found himself face to face with Mr. Ruiz, separated by two engines and two windshields. With the setting sun behind the Caprice, it's unclear how much the officer could see.
Nevertheless, he made the split-second decision to act. There was no room to get behind the Caprice, it being close to the house, so with his cover officers barely pulling up, Cpl. Nix ran out of his squad car, gun in hand, and approached the passenger side window of the Caprice.
With his other hand, he yanked out his expandable baton, known as an asp, and began hammering on the window trying to break it.
The Caprice's window barely budged, held together by the heavy tint. He managed no more than a small hole when a shot came from inside the car. Police later found his baton and sidearm laying beside the car.
Mr. Ruiz fired at least one round from an assault rifle, which may have at some point jammed. The bullet pierced Senior Cpl. Nix's neck near his clavicle. He dropped to the ground. He did not fire his weapon.
The officers backing him up, however, did.
Senior Cpls. Jeremy Borchardt and Todd Haecker, who parked their car to the immediate left of Cpl. Nix's, both opened fire on Mr. Ruiz in the Caprice. So did the two undercover officers in their pickup, which was positioned about 50 feet behind Cpl. Nix's squad car, and slightly to the right. They both had a clear view of the Caprice, which was by then full of holes.
As of Saturday, investigators had counted 57 police-fired shell casings.
"There were bullets flying every which way," said Cpl. Crawford, who did not fire any rounds because there were too many police officers between her and her rookie and the suspect's car.
As the gunbattle raged, officers rushed in and drug out their mortally wounded colleague, put him in a squad car and sped to Parkland.
After an hourlong standoff, police transported Mr. Ruiz to Parkland, where he remained Saturday in serious condition. Police said he is expected to survive his injuries.
For each of the officers involved, Friday evening's violence won't soon leave their minds.
"I keep having flashbacks with Nix standing at the passenger window with his asp trying to knock out the window," Cpl. Crawford said. "It keeps going over and over."
She finally got home about 4 a.m., roughly 10 hours after the shooting. Trying to recapture some semblance of a normal routine, she went to her girls' softball practice Saturday morning.
At Wendy's after practice, Cpl. Crawford began shaking.
"My little girl was like, 'Are you OK?' The whole thing started playing in the back of my mind. She keeps saying 'Are you OK?'
"I kept saying 'I'm fine.' "0 -
quote:Originally posted by COLT
Not being able to have a good view of the inside of the car, probably caused them to approach in a way less cautious manner than if they had been able to see inside.
That doesn't make sense, I would aprouch with way more caution if I didn't know what was inside than if I could SEE what was inside because of the tinted windows.0 -
I've would have waited on the ambulance, just to give him more time to expire. [:(!]
And now, wait and see as this is full for the fire for HR1022.0 -
quote:Posted - 03/25/2007 : 08:34:06 AM I've would have waited on the ambulance, just to give him more time to expire.
They did that in LA and they got sued.
quote:"WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BADGES"0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Several decades ago they outlawed those dark tinted windows in Georgia.
It was quite simple. The law was that the tinted windows could only reduce the light by, if I recall correctly, 35 per cent. State troopers were given cards that were designed to test the window tint. They held the card up to the glass, if you could not read the writing on the card, the window was too dark. Seemed pretty straightforward, and sensible, to me.
The ACLU got hold of it, took it to court, and it was found to be unconstitutional to enforce window tint laws.
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
We still have a window tint law in Georgia and it works pretty well to.0 -
quote:Originally posted by fastcarsgofast
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Several decades ago they outlawed those dark tinted windows in Georgia.
It was quite simple. The law was that the tinted windows could only reduce the light by, if I recall correctly, 35 per cent. State troopers were given cards that were designed to test the window tint. They held the card up to the glass, if you could not read the writing on the card, the window was too dark. Seemed pretty straightforward, and sensible, to me.
The ACLU got hold of it, took it to court, and it was found to be unconstitutional to enforce window tint laws.
If not for the dark window tint in this case, this cop would probably be alive today.
We still have a window tint law in Georgia and it works pretty well to.
http://dps.georgia.gov/00/article/0,2086,5635600_7401398_39267808,00.html
quote:(ATLANTA) - Governor Sonny Perdue has signed House Bill 20 which reinstates Georgia's window tint law on motor vehicles. Colonel Bill Hitchens, commander of the Georgia State Patrol, said the law became effective Monday, May 2, with the signature of Governor Perdue. The Georgia State Patrol will be issuing educational warnings during the month of May. He said troopers will begin issuing citations on June 1.
Georgia's window tinting law was struck down as unconstitutional last year because the provisions applied only to vehicles registered in Georgia. "House Bill 20 corrected the language so the law applies to all vehicles, whether registered in Georgia or another state," Colonel Hitchens said. "The window tint law is a safety issue, not only for law enforcement officers as they approach a vehicle during a traffic stop, but also for drivers so they can better see approaching vehicles while they drive."
The law allows for the same light transmission standards as the previous law. It is now illegal for window tinting material to be applied to the rear, side and door windows of motor vehicles that does not allow for more than 32 percent of light transmission (plus or minus three percent). It is also illegal for materials to be applied to the windows that increase the level of light reflected to more than 20 percent. Additionally, except for the top six inches of the windshield, no material or glazing can be applied that would reduce the light transmission through the windshield.0 -
Killing cops should be an automatic death sentence, and should be carried out on the scene without all of the "innocent until proven guilty" b.s.. 0 -
"Despite his long criminal history, Mr. Ruiz has managed to avoid serious prison time, police said."
That statement says a lot. If ever there was a candidate for serious prison time, this guy was it and where he should have been. Instead of involved in yet another car chase ending in a gun battle. Nobody should be surprised this happened.
I wonder if he's even a US citizen?0 -
Police work is always dangerous, anyone can kil a cop anytime. Cops try less leathal force first, they react to the level of force appied against them. Yes, tinted windows made a difference! Stop making excuses, had the cop seen a rifle being pointed towards him do you think he would stand there tapping on the window with a stick? Heck no, he would have dived for cover or shot back. Every person with tinted windows is not a cop killer however every person with tinted windows makes it that much easier for the cop killers to have tinted windows and to kill that cop. Tinted windows are no different that sunglasses all they do is make it easier on YOUR eyes not the cops, just like sunglasses they hide whats behind them. Sunglasses come off when its not sunny but window tint doesn't. My heart goes out to the family of this cop as he was doing what any good sheepdog does he was watching out for the flock chasing away a wolf and died for you sheep. 0 -
10-4
quote:Originally posted by Zulu7
Killing cops should be an automatic death sentence, and should be carried out on the scene without all of the "innocent until proven guilty" b.s..0
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