Oklahoma Police Kill 5-Year Old Boy While Shooting at Snake

[Lasse]

NOBLE, Okla. —  A stray bullet fired by a police officer trying to shoot a snake hit and killed a 5-year-old boy fishing at a nearby pond, officials said.

Austin Haley was fishing with his grandfather, Jack Tracy, Friday evening when Tracy said he heard a shot and saw a bullet hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing.

Moments later, a second shot was fired that hit Austin in the head.

A Noble police officer who had responded to a report of a snake in a tree apparently fired the deadly shot while trying to kill the snake, according to City Manager Bob Wade.

Tracy said he initially thought he and his grandson were under attack by someone trying to kill them, so he put the boy into the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there," he told The Oklahoman. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing."

The boy was taken to an Oklahoma City hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A resident of the Crest Lane neighborhood called police after discovering a large snake in a tree, Wade said.

"I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged," Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there."

Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

"This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated. ... We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else," Wade said.

A state investigation has been launched into the shooting, and it appears the fatal shot was fired by the officer, said Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown.

"We have no reason to believe it's not," Brown said. "But there certainly will be an investigation."

Tracy has little doubt about what happened.

"I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose," Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292168,00.html

I know, I know. It's foxnews. But still. Imagine if a civilian gun owner had done this. Look at all the excuses.

[41mag]

Know your target and what is beyond it!

[KJM]

First of all, who calls the police if they found a snake in a tree? Police are law enforcement officers, so exactly what law did this snake break? The article doesn't mention if the snake was poisonous or not, but only 7 out of like 50 species in Oklahoma are dangerous to humans and it would be really sad if this wasn't even one of them. If it wasn't harmful, they should have just let the damn thing be. If it was potentially harmful and it bothered them that much, they should have called a pest control professional. What was this person thinking?

Now for the police officer. I don't suppose the training he received for his sidearm ever included the concept of "collateral damage." Even if it didn't, common sense dictates that bullets that miss their target will continue to travel until they penetrate something else, which could very possibly be an innocent person. I also was under the impression that officers weren't supposed to draw their weapons, much less discharge them unless their own lives, or those of another person were in immediate and immanent danger. What the hell was this person thinking?

[Quantrill]

Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

[Spencer]

Once again proving that only the police and military should have guns . . .

[LiveFree]

Nice shootin there Officer Rambo.  I hope the settlement is crippling to both the PD andthe officer as an individual.

[J’raxis 270145]

Nice shootin there Officer Rambo.  I hope the settlement is crippling to both the PD andthe officer as an individual.

It ought to be. But the settlement will come out of tax dollars, and the police department will probably just have their budget raised this year by the exact amount of the settlement.

[KBCraig]

On another forum I frequent, even the most uptight, law & order, "the police are always right"-type is demanding negligent homicide charges against this knucklehead.

[Search4Lancer]

I also was under the impression that officers weren't supposed to draw their weapons, much less discharge them unless their own lives, or those of another person were in immediate and immanent danger.

Then how do you expect them to shoot the horse when the buggy gets hit by a car?

[MTPorcupine3]

First of all, who calls the police if they found a snake in a tree? Police are law enforcement officers, so exactly what law did this snake break? The article doesn't mention if the snake was poisonous or not, but only 7 out of like 50 species in Oklahoma are dangerous to humans and it would be really sad if this wasn't even one of them. If it wasn't harmful, they should have just let the damn thing be. If it was potentially harmful and it bothered them that much, they should have called a pest control professional. What was this person thinking?

Amen. It had to be harmless. In that part of the world, arboreal snakes are harmless. Even the poisonous snakes in North America are generally not aggressive. I wish people would learn to respect them.

[Search4Lancer]

Amen. It had to be harmless. In that part of the world, arboreal snakes are harmless. Even the poisonous snakes in North America are generally not aggressive. I wish people would learn to respect them.

OMG!!!1!11 Teh snake!!! Call teh copz! It'sa kill us all!

How about the cop calling in more specialized resources to deal with the snake. Such as, say... animal control? Or such as, say... a boot with which to kick the caller in the ass? A snake isn't going to chase you... just go away. Both of you.

[KBCraig]

They're being prosecuted, and have been fired.

http://www.normantranscript.com/archivesearch/local_story_283012406

August 13, 2002 12:00 am

All three Noble police officers involved in the shooting fired
The Norman Transcript

Transcript Staff Writer

NOBLE -- All three officers involved in the accidental shooting death of a 5-year-old boy were fired late last week for "just cause," the city manager said Tuesday.

"Late last week I did issue termination letters to those officers involved in the shooting," City Manager Bob Wade said.

Wade said they were terminated for "just cause," but would not say exactly what that meant or release the city's investigation documents.

"Obviously it's based on a full investigation of the events and their (the officers') comments," he said.

The three were fired because of their actions or inactions when they responded to an animal control call that lead to one officer shooting at a snake in a birdhouse. A bullet from the gun struck and killed 5-year-old Austin Haley who was fishing at a pond with family members.

Brad Rogers, 34, and Shawn Richardson, 29, were charged with second-degree manslaughter last month.

Rogers, who had been at the Noble Police Department about a month, reportedly fired the gun. Richardson was the supervising officer at the scene.

The other officer at the scene was Michele Key. She responded to the animal control call first and then called the other two officers for backup, according to court documents submitted in the manslaughter charge.

She was not charged with anything, but was fired by the city along with the other two officers.

"Based on the investigation, on her actions and inactions on that night and her record as a police officer here," the city decided to fire her, Wade said.

The officers were given a chance to respond to the investigation at individual hearings last week, Wade said.

The letters of termination were mailed last Friday, but Wade refused to reveal the terminations until Tuesday so the officers could be notified first, he said.

Ben Daves, the Noble police chief at the time, recommended all three be terminated, Wade said. Daves was fired Friday, as well.

An interim chief was appointed immediately. Keith Springstead, a recently retired assistant chief from the Chickasha Police Department.

"I was more than willing, since I wasn't doing anything else, to come and try to help out," he said.

Rogers and Richardson turned themselves in last month and were released the same day on a personal recognizance bond. Their preliminary hearing conferences will be Oct. 23.

Jack Haley, the father of Austin, said he thinks the firings were necessary because of the "gross negligence" displayed in the shooting.

"There could have been so much more done that night," he said.

A fourth officer, Bobby Brent Sirpless, was placed on administrative leave last month after he was charged with driving under the influence.

The police department is conducting an internal investigation into that matter, as well, and will be done probably sometime this week, Wade said.

The Noble Police Department is down to only six acting officers, including the interim chief, Springstead said Tuesday.

Springstead said the department's number one priority is hiring more officers.

The change of leadership shouldn't slow down the process at all, he said.

He went ahead and continued with a job offer Daves had made, even pushing up the hiring date for an officer hired this week.

The officer is not certified yet, so won't be an active officer for several months, Springstead said.

The Cleveland County Sheriff's Department is still assisting Noble to patrol the area, he said.

"They've been very gracious in helping out the town during the crisis here," Springstead said.

[alphaniner]

First of all, who calls the police if they found a snake in a tree? Police are law enforcement officers, so exactly what law did this snake break?

+1

This.  While the ultimate responsibility no doubt lies with the officers, I hope the caller, the 'answerer,' and everyone else involved learns something from this, as they are all partially responsible.