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Tag: attacks on law enforcement

  • Los Angeles Police On Alert After Patrol Officers Targeted By Rifle Fire; Florida Deputies Also Targeted

    The Los Angeles Police Department went on tactical alert late last night after two patrol officers in a squad car reportedly were targeted by rifle fire. Neither officer was hit, and returned fire.

    In a separate incident earlier on Sunday, Pasco County deputies in Florida reportedly also were shot at — this as they sat in patrol cars parked at Northside Baptist Church in Dade City. Neither officer was hit.

    Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the unknown suspect(s) in this case, the organization said on Facebook.

    Also see CNN report.

    These incidents occurred about a week after two police officers in New York City were assassinated while seated in their car in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon.

    In October, NYPD officers were targeted in a hatchet attack.

    A similar attack later occurred in Washington, DC.

  • ‘They Were, Quite Simply, Assassinated’

    Officer Wenjian Liu.
    Officer Wenjian Liu.

    At 2:47 p.m. Saturday, New York Police Department officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were very much alive. They were seated in their cruiser in Brooklyn. It was parked curbside.

    No one knows what they were talking about or thinking about. They expected to return to their loved ones after work, though. Liu, 32, was a newlywed; Ramos, 40, was married and had two sons.

    Neither officer would live to see 2:48. Police Commissioner William Bratton — on national TV Saturday — said Liu and Ramos “may never have actually even seen their assailant — their murderer.”

    That’s because Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the assailant and murderer, ambushed them. He did so after announcing his intent on Instagram and apparently even publishing a photo of the gun he intended to use. This he did after shooting his ex-girlfriend in Maryland earlier in the day.

    Any two cops would do.

    Officer Rafael Ramos.
    Officer Rafael Ramos.

    Brinsley, 28, “walked up to the police car,” Bratton told the New York public and the American people. “He took a shooting stance on the passenger side and fired the weapon — his weapon — several times through the front passenger window, striking both officers.”

    “They were, quite simply, assassinated — targeted for their uniform, and for the responsibility they embraced to keep the people of this city safe,” Bratton said.

    By yesterday it had become clear that using Instagram to announce his plan to execute two police officers — or, as he put it, “Putting Wings On Pigs” — would not be enough. Seconds before he ambushed Liu and Ramos he reportedly told passerby, “Watch what I’m going to do.”

    After shooting a human being in Maryland and killing two others in New York, Brinsley then took another human life: his own.

     

     

  • BULLETIN: Ambush Attack Leaves Florida Deputy Dead

    BULLETIN: A Leon County sheriff’s deputy has been shot and killed in what authorities are calling an “ambush.”

    Early reports suggest the following circumstances:

    • A house in northwest Tallahassee, the state capital, was set ablaze.
    • The deputy was a first-responder and was shot and killed at the scene of the fire by the person who set the fire.
    • The person who shot the deputy took the deputy’s gun and fired shots with it in the neighborhood, striking another deputy.
    • Other law-enforcement personnel at the scene shot and killed the suspect.

    Video of remarks by Sheriff’s Department at scene:

  • Warrant Issued For Arrest Of Eric Matthew Frein, Pennsylvania Man Suspected Of Ambushing 2 State Troopers At Rural Barracks In Cowardly Nighttime Attack

    Eric Matthew Frein. Source: Pennsylvania State Police.
    Eric Matthew Frein. Source: Pennsylvania State Police.

    2nd Update 11:35 p.m. to note that Frein has been added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitive List.

    Normalcy has not returned to Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Two troopers allegedly were ambushed outside their barracks in a nighttime, shift-change attack at the Blooming Grove station in nearby Pike County on Friday.

    Cpl. Bryon T. Dickson, 38, was shot and killed. Tpr. Alex T. Douglass was seriously wounded.

    Pennsylvania State Police now say Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, Pa., is wanted in connection with the shootings. Canadensis is in Monroe County.

    Frein, described in media accounts as having “survivalist” skills, reportedly belongs to a group that reenacts European military campaigns.

    Here’s the lede in a Sept. 17 story from the Times Leader (italics added):

    Friends described homicide suspect Eric Matthew Frein as intelligent, an Eagle Scout and a military re-enactor, while the state police call him a “coward” who dressed up as a Serbian soldier.

    The manhunt for the 31-year-old Canadensis man continued Wednesday throughout the rural and dense areas of the Poconos in Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties, prompting the closure of several schools in the region.

    From a Sept 18 story at TheDailyReview.com (italics added):

    [State Police] Lt. Col. [George] Bivens declined to say which group Frein belonged to because they are hoping for cooperation from its members. But Frein is pictured repeatedly on the MySpace page of Istocni Vuk, a group that dresses up as Serbian Army soldiers. Roughly translated, the name Istocni Vuk means “Eastern Wolf.” On the page, Frein is referred to in one photo as Vuchko, which was the wolf mascot in the Sarajevo Winter Olympic games in 1984. On some sites online, Vuchko is referred to as “the tough and courageous wolf.”

    UPDATE 11:35 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Frein has been added to the FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitive List.

  • 2 Los Angeles Police Officers Reportedly Ambushed By Gunman

    Multiple media outlets are reporting that two Los Angeles police officers were ambushed by a gunman early this morning outside the Wilshire Division police station. Early reports suggest the officers were injured — but not seriously. A manhunt is under way for their alleged assailant.

    See KTLA coverage.

  • 12 Law-Enforcement Agents Reportedly Injured In Clash With Pyramid Schemers; Dozens Of People Reportedly Detained By Chinese Authorities

    ponzinews1State-run media in China are reporting that 12 members of law enforcement were injured in a clash with pyramid schemers.

    The Xinhua news agency says that a pyramid-inspired uprising began in China’s Anhui Province and that 34 members of the scheme were detained for assault and five were arrested.

    From the news agency (italics added):

    On Saturday, police in the provincial capital city of Hefei arrested five suspects, who led nearly 300 members of the pyramid selling group to attack the law enforcement officers. The officers were investigating the pyramid scheme at a local residential complex, according to the city’s public security department.

    The pyramid scheme members blocked the gate of the complex and stopped residents from getting in or out.

    The PP Blog cannot independently confirm the report.

    See 2010 editorial cartoon from Chinese media and accompanying story on violence reportedly flowing from a pyramid scheme. (The cartoon is exceptionally memorable. As the PP Blog reported in July 2010 (italics added)):

    A cartoon that accompanies the agency’s story on China’s pyramid plague depicts a man tugging mightily on a rope to help victims scale a cliff to flee from a pyramid schemer holding up a box of worthless products in a valley of pending misery below. A woman is assisting the man, pulling with all her might to help a victim escape the huckster. One woman is clinging to a fellow victim’s shirt as she, too, seeks to flee.

    The cartoon depicts the valley pitchman standing in front of a blackboard. One man enthralled by the pitchman’s virtuoso performance is holding a wad of cash and reaching toward both the pitchman and the sky. Meanwhile, a woman who may be a doubter appears to be trying to keep her purse secure as she processes information and strains to get a closer look at details. In the deep background of the cartoon, one of the pitchfest attendees is shown with a dumbfounded look on his face — as though he is trying to process too much information from conflicting images in the incongruous scene.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Mingo County (W. Va.) Sheriff Eugene Crum Reportedly Shot And Killed

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: In yet another disturbing attack against the law-enforcement community, the sheriff of West Virginia’s Mingo County has been shot and killed near the Mingo County Courthouse, multiple media outlets are reporting.

    A suspect is in custody in the shooting death of newly elected Sheriff Eugene Crum, the Charleston Daily Mail is reporting.

    Also see CoalValleyNews.

    From the Officer Down Memorial Page (italics added):

    The suspect fled the scene and crashed during the pursuit near Hell Creek. He was shot during an exchange of gunfire with a Mingo County deputy and was apprehended.

    Sheriff Crum has served as sheriff of Mingo County since January. He had previously served as a magistrate . . .  and with the Delbarton Police Department. He is survived by his children and grandchildren.

  • BULLETIN: Shooting, Stabbing Reported At Courthouse In Washington State; Sheriff’s Detective And Judge Were Wounded

    BULLETIN: Multiple media outlets are reporting that a judge was stabbed and a sheriff’s detective shot with her own weapon at the Grays Harbor County Courthouse in Montesano, Wash. The alleged assailant reportedly is on the loose, possibly with the detective’s handgun.

    A massive manhunt reportedly is under way. Early reports suggest the victims survived. The Seattle Times is identifying the victims as Superior Court Judge Dave Edwards, 63, and sheriff’s deputy Polly Davin, 45.

    See Breaking News report in The Daily World, a local newspaper.

    See print and video report at KIROtv.com.

    See print report at CNN.com.

    Montesano is about 73 miles from Seattle, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation website. The small town is southwest of the major city.

  • FEDS: Texas Man Who Attacked U.S. Marshal With Razor Blade In Courthouse Later Attacked Federal Prosecutor In Courtroom; Jose Garcia Jr. To Spend 28 Years In Prison

    A Texas man who pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to kill a deputy U.S. Marshal with a razor blade later assaulted a federal prosecutor, authorities said.

    In May 2009, Jose Garcia Jr. was being led into a federal courtroom in McAllen to face allegations that he had violated the conditions of his probation. As he was being escorted, Garcia attacked the marshal with a razor blade and caused “serious bodily injury,” the office of U.S. Attorney John M. Bales of the Eastern District of Texas said.

    Garcia, 33, of Mercedes, pleaded guilty to attempted murder of the marshal in December 2009. Sentence court was conducted in Houston in March 2010.

    During the proceeding, Garcia became agitated because a federal judge had denied his bid to change his plea, authorities said.

    At that point, Garcia “charged” a federal prosecutor, “causing the prosecutor to fall backwards against the railing of the jury box and breaking the prosecutor’s fingers in the process,” Bales’ office said.

    Garcia was sentenced later on the same day to 20 years in federal prison for the murderous assault against the marshal.

    Four months later — in July 2010 — Garcia was charged with attacking the federal prosecutor in a federal courtroom.  He was found guilty by a jury in January 2011, and was sentenced earlier this week to eight more years in federal prison.

    The sentences will be served consecutively, meaning Garcia will be behind bars for nearly three decades.