The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Texas Game Warden shot and killed by poacher

trooper3385 · March 27, 2007, 01:23 AM

RsqVet, I don't think you over reacted at all. In fact, I think you hit the nail on the head. Unless your there and know the details behind it, how can you sit there and armchair quarterback the decisions made.

The majority of pursuits are initiated from minor traffic violations. The majority of the time, the person is not running to try to get out of a ticket, there is something else going on that there running from. They might be a fugitive, drunk, or have your wife or child tied up in the trunk after they just kidnapped them or car jacked them. You never know. How would someone feel if there loved one was tied up in the vehicle and an officer had a chance stop them and they didn't.

Lets look at some of the facts in the incident with the game warden. The Warden see's a car stopped on a rural county road at night and shots are fired. At the time, he doesn't know if they guy is just poping off some rounds, poaching, or just murdered someone. The guy is obviously armed and refuses to stop. The pursuit never got to the point that it was indangering innocent bystanders, so there was no real reason to terminate the pursuit.

It ended up in a large gun fight with high powered weapons. You never know how an incident is going to play out, until it's over with. I'm sure there are some things that could have been done different in regards to the gunfight, but the fact is, you could do everything right and still end up getting shot in a gun fight when high powered rifles are involved. Game Wardens are trained in pursuit driving and making felony stops.

DPS does not take over pursuits initiated by other agency. They can assist in anyway possible, but cannot take over the pursuit. The fact is, as you know, law enforcement is a dangerous job and all officer's know that each day they go to work, they may be seriously injured or might not come home. It's a real shame that a good officers lost his life and just be thankful that this POS is off the streets and hopefully will get what he has coming to him.

They guy was obviously a time bomb waiting to go off. The point of this thread and the reason I posted it in the hunting section was not to armchair QB the incident, but to remind us hunters that there a real dangers out there when hunting and you need to stay alert to people like this out there hunting.

March 27, 2007, 01:23 AM	#18
trooper3385 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2005 Location: South Texas Posts: 814	RsqVet, I don't think you over reacted at all. In fact, I think you hit the nail on the head. Unless your there and know the details behind it, how can you sit there and armchair quarterback the decisions made. The majority of pursuits are initiated from minor traffic violations. The majority of the time, the person is not running to try to get out of a ticket, there is something else going on that there running from. They might be a fugitive, drunk, or have your wife or child tied up in the trunk after they just kidnapped them or car jacked them. You never know. How would someone feel if there loved one was tied up in the vehicle and an officer had a chance stop them and they didn't. Lets look at some of the facts in the incident with the game warden. The Warden see's a car stopped on a rural county road at night and shots are fired. At the time, he doesn't know if they guy is just poping off some rounds, poaching, or just murdered someone. The guy is obviously armed and refuses to stop. The pursuit never got to the point that it was indangering innocent bystanders, so there was no real reason to terminate the pursuit. It ended up in a large gun fight with high powered weapons. You never know how an incident is going to play out, until it's over with. I'm sure there are some things that could have been done different in regards to the gunfight, but the fact is, you could do everything right and still end up getting shot in a gun fight when high powered rifles are involved. Game Wardens are trained in pursuit driving and making felony stops. DPS does not take over pursuits initiated by other agency. They can assist in anyway possible, but cannot take over the pursuit. The fact is, as you know, law enforcement is a dangerous job and all officer's know that each day they go to work, they may be seriously injured or might not come home. It's a real shame that a good officers lost his life and just be thankful that this POS is off the streets and hopefully will get what he has coming to him. They guy was obviously a time bomb waiting to go off. The point of this thread and the reason I posted it in the hunting section was not to armchair QB the incident, but to remind us hunters that there a real dangers out there when hunting and you need to stay alert to people like this out there hunting.