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Mesquito Whitey thank you for your comments.
As a retired LTC USAR with over 20 years of experience, I recognize Military Tactics.
As an Arkansas Deputy Sheriff, left as a LT and Training Officer, I had the oppurtunity to review and comment on the AR SWAT Training Manual.
The one point I emphasised and was adopted as policy, at that time, was as follows:
When facing an unknown situation with a potentially armed individual involved, The responding Officers will take cover and establish a permiter. They contain the armed individual until the situation can be evaluated and a determination made as to the threat.
This is not a direct quote but my recollection of my contributation to the Manual.
Given the time line, the Responding Officers did not use good judgement. They went in hard. I will not speculate on their intent. However, given the order of commands reported, the command to shoot was given prematurely.
The Prosecutor has agreed with this position as he dismissed all charges. This action has opened the County, Department and the individual Officers to a major civil law suit.
A review of the Canton Ohio incident, in particular the comments by Spats McGee, will support this view. Spats is a City Attorney and gives an excellent discussion of the position a Prosecutor is in when dismissing charges in a situation such as this.
Having observed the impact of PTSD close up, The Officers involved could/should be in fear for their lives. The authoriteis need to quickly insure that Davids sense of justice is restored. PTSD suffers and Marines in general have a strong sense of duty and justice.
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