Prayers for the officer. Sloppy police work.


Police in Allegheny County, Pa., are searching for a 22-year-old suspect accused of shooting an officer three times in the neck at torso on Sunday while being transported outside a precinct after an earlier arrest.

Koby Lee Francis was arrested shortly after he was served a protection from abuse order. (He was found parked outside a residence in violation of the order, police said.)

The brazen shooting occurred outside the McKeesport police station, authorities said. Police said the suspect was already searched for firearms and they seized one. But there was apparently another one that was concealed because while he was being led out of the police car, he opened fire on the officer, police said. He was handcuffed at the time, they said.

"When he got out of the car, he had a second gun that we didn’t locate on him and he fired on our officer multiple times, hitting our officer at least two times," Adam Alfer, the McKeesport police chief, said.

Police issued a statement that said Francis was seen on camera fleeing from the scene, still in handcuffs at about 4:18 p.m. As of early Monday, police were still searching for Francis, who will be charged with criminal attempt (homicide), escape, flight to avoid apprehension, aggravated assault and violation of the Uniform Firearms Act.

The officer was described as a 32-year-old who has been on the force for four years. Local reports indicate that the officer may have been saved by his bulletproof vest.

The Allegheny County Police Department is in charge of the investigation. CBS Pittsburgh reported that police in the area have set up checkpoints at the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge.

Francis was described by police as Black and about 6’2. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie and camouflage pants. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/mas...cer-while-handcuffed

I did not get a buck this year....an many others did not also. More than happy to fill our tags on this scum.

If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

Jim

Not to be ghoulish, but I'd like to see footage of this, if eventually available.

Sounds like a big CF and lots of failure to follow procedure, unfortunately.

Was he cuffed behind his back??

quote:

Police said the suspect was already searched for firearms and they seized one. But there was apparently another one that was concealed

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

They're looking for X. They search and find X. Cop's brain says: "Good job! Search was successful. Check that box. Next task."

Then during a subsequent search (usually at the jail), more X is found, because the cop stopped after the initial success of his search.


It takes specific mental commitment to remember that just because you found X doesn't mean you won and the search is over. There could be X2 or X3 as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

It's probably likely to happen more often to experienced LEOs. (Or at least semi-experienced... This one had 4 years on, which is right in the post-rookie but not-quite-experienced-veteran phase, where they start feeling like they have a good handle on what they're doing and they start to relax a little.)

Complacency kills.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Police said the suspect was already searched for firearms and they seized one. But there was apparently another one that was concealed

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

They're looking for X. They search and find X. Cop's brain says: "Good job! Search was successful. Check that box. Next task."

Then during a subsequent search (usually at the jail), more X is found, because the cop stopped after the initial success of his search.


It takes specific mental commitment to remember that just because you found X doesn't mean you won and the search is over. There could be X2 or X3 as well.

Exactly this. I have NO qualms about having another officer pat down or search a suspect (depending on the scenario) or vehicle that I have already done. It is especially effective with vehicle searches.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
Not to be ghoulish, but I'd like to see footage of this, if eventually available.

Sounds like a big CF and lots of failure to follow procedure, unfortunately.

Was he cuffed behind his back??

Handcuffed behind his back may have allowed the second weapon to be more accessible. I found knives and other contraband in butt cracks.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Police said the suspect was already searched for firearms and they seized one. But there was apparently another one that was concealed

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

They're looking for X. They search and find X. Cop's brain says: "Good job! Search was successful. Check that box. Next task."

Then during a subsequent search (usually at the jail), more X is found, because the cop stopped after the initial success of his search.


It takes specific mental commitment to remember that just because you found X doesn't mean you won and the search is over. There could be X2 or X3 as well.

Exactly this. I have NO qualms about having another officer pat down or search a suspect (depending on the scenario) or vehicle that I have already done. It is especially effective with vehicle searches.

It's far too common and with arrestees all too willing to start screaming "He/she is handling my junk!", officers are becoming more concerned with public reactions to the unpleasant necessities of doing the job right than maintaining officer safety.

Whether it was for the recovery of evidence or protecting my safety and that of other officers, I asked for, welcomed, and encouraged other officers to double check my searches and did the same for them. We regularly found stuff missed by other cops and in one case, I found a gun that had been used in a homicide, after searching a tiny bathroom that no less than two other experienced officers had searched previously without success. "Shit happens", but less frequently when others double or even triple check to verify important things were handled correctly.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

Jim

Should not happen to any police officer! Seems to me that there was a serious lack of training there. Why were the perp's hands not cuffed behind him?

It's not clear that the officer who was shot was the officer who searched and cuffed the perp. If that is not the case, I don't know what the procedure is for handing off a cuffed subject for transport, if the receiving officer is supposed to re-search the subject.

But, yes, whoever did the search needs retraining.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
If that is not the case, I don't know what the procedure is for handing off a cuffed subject for transport, if the receiving officer is supposed to re-search the subject.

Even if it's not policy or set procedure, it's a Good Idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

Jim

Should not happen to any police officer! Seems to me that there was a serious lack of training there. Why were the perp's hands not cuffed behind him?

People "slip" their cuffed hands from behind them to the front all the time. How secure someone is with their hands behind their back varies according to body shape, flexibility, and and practice. Training and policy are dandy, but an offender (like a foe in combat) still "has a say" when it comes to carrying out the best laid plans.

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:
How secure someone is with their hands behind their back varies according to body shape, flexibility, and practice.

And type of cuffs: Hinged cuffs are harder to slip forward than chain cuffs thanks to the shorter distance between the two cuff loops. (You can even cuff them in a rear stack with hinged cuffs to make it impossible, which shouldn't be your standard method since it can be painful but is a potentially useful technique to have in your back pocket for recuffing someone who's already managed to slip forward once.)

Also method of cuffing: Properly cuffed back-of-hand to back-of-hand (thumbs up) is harder to slip forward than improperly cuffed palm to palm (thumbs down). Or improperly loose cuffs that allow someone to rotate their hands around to transition from thumbs up to thumbs down.

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
If the officer involved recovers from his injuries, he'll need to get some serious re-training. That kind of thing should never happen to an experienced LEO.

Jim

Should not happen to any police officer! Seems to me that there was a serious lack of training there. Why were the perp's hands not cuffed behind him?

People "slip" their cuffed hands from behind them to the front all the time. How secure someone is with their hands behind their back varies according to body shape, flexibility, and and practice. Training and policy are dandy, but an offender (like a foe in combat) still "has a say" when it comes to carrying out the best laid plans.

Other than slipping the cuffed hands down far enough to get their feet thru the cuffed hands, how is that possible? And why would his efforts not attract attention of the LEOs involved?

Or, in the name of LEO safety, use a chain around his/her waist and the cuff the hands to that?

With the hands cuffed behind the perp's back. Or would that be an unacceptable level of police brutality?

It seems that every generation of officers has to learn of this the hard way. And hinge cuffs should be the norm.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
And hinge cuffs should be the norm.

Agreed. Extra leverage/control with one loop applied. Easier to ensure proper orientation (if the first loop is on right, the second one can't get twisted around the wrong way in a struggle). Harder to slip forward.

They're my go-to. The only time I use chain cuffs is if I run out of hinge cuffs.

Even still, I've had a handful of folks who almost slipped hinge cuffs forward, so it's not a 100% substitute for monitoring them as much as possible.

hate to see this happen !

------------------------------------------

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Police said the suspect was already searched for firearms and they seized one. But there was apparently another one that was concealed

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

They're looking for X. They search and find X. Cop's brain says: "Good job! Search was successful. Check that box. Next task."

Then during a subsequent search (usually at the jail), more X is found, because the cop stopped after the initial success of his search.


It takes specific mental commitment to remember that just because you found X doesn't mean you won and the search is over. There could be X2 or X3 as well.

Exactly this. I have NO qualms about having another officer pat down or search a suspect (depending on the scenario) or vehicle that I have already done. It is especially effective with vehicle searches.

I hope the officer makes a full recovery. At the academy and our defensive tactics inservices they drilled into our heads when you find something expect to find more and search like there is more.

The local news posted a video of the shooting.

WPXI Video of Police Shooting

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
The local news posted a video of the shooting.

WPXI Video of Police Shooting

Looks like he was cuffed with his hands in the front after seeing the video.