The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - stopped by off duty deputy at Wal-Mart

speedycat · February 6, 2012, 11:19 PM

I fired an email off to the Sheriff today. I pretty much just pasted what I typed in my OP albeit edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes. I also CC'd the mayor in it. The mayor responded back within 5 minutes of me sending the email. She wanted me to call her ASAP. She was very polite and informed me that the city of Ripley (Wal-mart location) had nothing to do with it and that it was the Sheriff's ball game. I did find it interesting to hear her say "Thank God it wasn't one of our officers!"

The email I received is as follows:

"Mr. Speedycat,

Your email is my first notice of this incident. I believe my Chief Deputy has been made aware of the incident by the officer involved. While I am fully aware of the open carry law in West Virginia, I still find it a little unusual for someone to openly display a weapon in a store such as Wal-Mart. All that aside, I will accept a formal complaint about the incident, and deal with it accordingly, when a formal complaint is made. To do that, I will require that you contact my office, set up an appointment with either my chief deputy or me where we can discuss the incident in detail. If you live outside the county and will be unavailable for further discussion, I’ll accept your email as the formal complaint, and deal with it just as it is written. I do not take this matter lightly, and do not agree with the actions of my officer if they are as detailed in your email. However, I will remain open-minded until I can hear both sides of this story. Please advise what further action you request on my part. Thank You.

-Jackson County Sheriff"

I will ask that he accept the email as the complaint. Where this incident took place is a bit of a drive from where I live so scheduling a meeting would be difficult.

Most of you may have noticed I've been rather quiet in this thread. Since this may very well be a pending legal issue, I have decided it best to keep a low profile and keep my mouth shut. It has a history of getting me into trouble. However, I have been reading each response and have taken most of your advice to heart. I look forward to hearing more as to how I should respond and where I should go from here.

February 6, 2012, 11:19 PM	#83
speedycat Member Join Date: June 8, 2009 Posts: 26	Update From The Sheriff I fired an email off to the Sheriff today. I pretty much just pasted what I typed in my OP albeit edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes. I also CC'd the mayor in it. The mayor responded back within 5 minutes of me sending the email. She wanted me to call her ASAP. She was very polite and informed me that the city of Ripley (Wal-mart location) had nothing to do with it and that it was the Sheriff's ball game. I did find it interesting to hear her say "Thank God it wasn't one of our officers!" The email I received is as follows: "Mr. Speedycat, Your email is my first notice of this incident. I believe my Chief Deputy has been made aware of the incident by the officer involved. While I am fully aware of the open carry law in West Virginia, I still find it a little unusual for someone to openly display a weapon in a store such as Wal-Mart. All that aside, I will accept a formal complaint about the incident, and deal with it accordingly, when a formal complaint is made. To do that, I will require that you contact my office, set up an appointment with either my chief deputy or me where we can discuss the incident in detail. If you live outside the county and will be unavailable for further discussion, I’ll accept your email as the formal complaint, and deal with it just as it is written. I do not take this matter lightly, and do not agree with the actions of my officer if they are as detailed in your email. However, I will remain open-minded until I can hear both sides of this story. Please advise what further action you request on my part. Thank You. -Jackson County Sheriff" I will ask that he accept the email as the complaint. Where this incident took place is a bit of a drive from where I live so scheduling a meeting would be difficult. Most of you may have noticed I've been rather quiet in this thread. Since this may very well be a pending legal issue, I have decided it best to keep a low profile and keep my mouth shut. It has a history of getting me into trouble. However, I have been reading each response and have taken most of your advice to heart. I look forward to hearing more as to how I should respond and where I should go from here. Last edited by speedycat; February 6, 2012 at 11:34 PM.