This just gets worse by the day. Less than 4 weeks ago the officer was involved in another shooting, and now this. It will be interesting to see what is on the body cams. I lived in A-Town in the very late 90's. No way I'd live there now, especially not Mont-ghetto (Montbello).

Some of you guys nailed this one!

From the UK Daily Mail:

(AGAIN, we have to go outside our own news sources to get anything )

quote:

Burglarized homeowner, 73, shot dead by cop 'failed to drop his gun despite being asked five times because of significant hearing loss from Vietnam War'

-Richard Black was killed by Aurora police officers at suburban home in Denver
-Police said Black had 'significant hearing impairment' he suffered during the Vietnam War and may not have heard the five orders for him to drop his gun
-Cops did admit that the officers failed to identify themselves before opening fire
-Black, 73, was handcuffed on the floor of his home after being shot and later died in hospital
-He was armed because he was protecting grandson, 11, from naked intruder Dajon Harper, 26, who was found biting and choking the child

Link

Hearing loss from the war, probably aggravated by firing at the intruder a short time before. Very sad.

He fired two pistol shots in a small room, likely with enough hard surfaces to really accentuate the noise of it if it was the bathroom. Poor guy was probably in full tinnitus. So messed up.

https://www.kktv.com/content/n...iled--501845601.html

[Graphic Video Warning in linked article]

WARNING: Graphic video included as no charges are filed against Colorado officer who shot homeowner

By AP | Posted: Mon 9:38 PM, Dec 03, 2018 | Updated: Mon 9:42 PM, Dec 03, 2018

DENVER (AP) - Prosecutors say a police officer will not face charges for the death of a homeowner who had just killed an intruder inside his suburban Denver home.

Adams County District Attorney Dave Young released his decision Monday, writing that body camera footage shows police repeatedly telling Richard "Gary" Black to drop his weapon before an officer fired.

Police later learned that Black, a 73-year-old Vietnam War veteran, was defending his grandson from an intruder beating the child.

The letter says police arriving at the house heard shots then saw Black emerging from a hallway holding a handgun and a flashlight.

Camera footage showed Black coming toward officers, raising the flashlight, and Aurora Police Officer Drew Limbaugh firing three times.

Police have said Black had hearing impairment due to his military service.

Chief Metz has released the following statement today, December 3, 2018, in regards to an officer-involved shooting that occurred on July 30, 2018 at 10609 East Montview Boulevard:

"On July 30, 2018, Aurora Police officers were involved in a tragic incident where Richard “Gary” Black was shot by police. Officers responded to reports of an intruder attacking a child. The officers approached Mr. Black’s home upon hearing shots fired from inside. Officers then saw a man with a gun and a flashlight in hand. For reasons unknown to those officers, the man did not respond to commands to drop the weapon and an officer shot him. At the time, the officers did not know the man was Mr. Black and he had just shot the intruder who was viciously attacking his grandson.

The case was referred to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s office, who issued a “declination” letter earlier today, which can be found here. The District Attorney has determined the evidence in this case does not support the filing of any criminal charges against the officer in discharging his weapon in the fatal shooting.

We understand the public’s interest in this tragic case. The Department weighs this along with its responsibility to protect the child victim, as well as the family’s privacy interests. In consult with the family, we are sharing a mutually-agreeable portion of the involved officer’s body-worn-camera in this chaotic incident.

The officer who shot Mr. Black currently remains in a non-enforcement role. With the release of the DA’s declination letter, an internal investigation will begin.

This was a heartbreaking and tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Mr. Black’s family and those involved."

This turns my stomach.

I am just curious about his hearing loss and being a former Federal Agent which I assume came after his Vietnam service. More likely its from
just firing his weapon or came on later in life.

I have mixed feelings and feel for the police officer. Good to read that his grandson was saved.

I watched the 2 body cams in the police video in the link. Sad outcome but can’t fault the officer for firing due the way he came around the corner while they shouted.

As I opined July 30, it was a hearing issue. Not hearing officer after you just shot some druggie trying to drown your grandson isn’t a surprise (especially if you already had headring damage) but being able to hear the officers ask who was in the house after being shot was a surprise.

Sometimes you hear cases where the cops clearly screwed up, like the Somali cop in Minnesota, and the authorities go into CYA mode.
This just sounds like an unfortunate fast moving incident. I'm not sure what anyone could have done different.
This probably happened very quickly and the victim and the cops didn't have time to hesitate. Sounds like he didn't know they were the cops and they didn't know he wasn't the bad guy. Both had guns in their hands and it was dark outside.

Shitty situation. I’d imagine the officer was completely within protocol/policy. With a baby inside getting drowned in a bathtub (at least that is what one officer said to another) there would have been a lot of pressure to get in and take control of the situation. Falling back, getting more information from the woman outside as to who they were dealing with, all kinds of things that might seem like good ideas when in MMQB mode, may not have seemed like options then. Bad deal.

9 million dollars to the son

What a terrible situation.

A big lesson learned is that it's going to be very difficult to hear much of anything after shooting your gun indoors, even if your brain doesn't perceive the hearing loss due to the adrenaline dump. I wish the police were at least aware of this too when deciding to shoot if somebody doesn't immediately follow their commands. I've had my hearing damaged by a particularly loud rifle shot while hunting (due to the terrain reflecting the muzzle blast), and the immediate loss of hearing and partial disorientation was startling.

Uniformed police officers aren't nearly as likely as the average homeowner to get shot by other police officers in this post-shooting hearing loss scenario because their fellow officers aren't yelling at them "to put down the gun or they will be shot."

For me this shows the usefulness of having a small suppressor on your home defense gun. Yes it will still be very loud, but your ability to hear what the heck is going on immediately after the fact will be much improved compared with a non-suppressed gun. I want to hear if there are other bad guys in the house, communicate with my family members, and yes hear the police when they arrive and start yelling orders. A suppressor will also lesson the temporary hearing loss of your family members if they are in the same room as you.

quote:

For me this shows the usefulness of having a small suppressor on your home defense gun. Yes it will still be very loud, but your ability to hear what the heck is going on immediately after the fact will be much improved compared with a non-suppressed gun. I want to hear if there are other bad guys in the house, communicate with my family members, and yes hear the police when they arrive and start yelling orders. A suppressor will also lesson the temporary hearing loss of your family members if they are in the same room as you.

On a similar note, so will a $40ish pair of electronic hearing protection muffs. Gun and electronic muffs isn't as fast as a suppressed pistol, but it's less expensive, easier to store, can crank sound way up if you already have hearing loss, and not as many questions if ever in the situation to defensively use firearm.

Read the articles carefully. The cops fired from outside, INTO the home.

Watch the video, it was a chaotic scene.

Definitely full of the fog of war.

Broken down door, lights on, people yelling, some dude coming out the front of the house (maybe a neighbor who had been inside?), then gunshots.

Life is a dangerous event. You can do everything 'right' and still get killed. This is certainly a tragedy if you watch the video.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
On a similar note, so will a $40ish pair of electronic hearing protection muffs. Gun and electronic muffs isn't as fast as a suppressed pistol, but it's less expensive, easier to store, can crank sound way up if you already have hearing loss, and not as many questions if ever in the situation to defensively use firearm.

They are certainly a good stopgap for those without the means to use a suppressor. I will say that I've hunted with them in exactly that case (didn't have my can approved yet) and they are terrible for directional and situational awareness compared to open ears and a suppressed gun. In fact that's exactly how I damaged my hearing.

During a hog hunt in the TN woods I had electronic muffs around my neck (since I couldn't perceive direction of sounds well enough with them on) when a hog came running through the area behind me (an unexpected direction). I didn't have time to put the muffs on my ears before losing the shooting opportunity, so I took the shot without them and paid the price. I've since shot many hogs while using a suppressor and the differences are dramatic.

I have also never seen a case where use of a legally owned can was held against a legitimate self defense shooter. If ever required to defend my actions I would cite this very case. I was worried about getting shot by cops after the fact when they showed up at my house, so I protected the hearing of myself and my family to ensure we could ALL hear their orders and properly comply. Cans are legal and the use of one in my home does not change the legitimacy of a justified self defense shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Watch the video, it was a chaotic scene.

Definitely full of the fog of war.

Broken down door, lights on, people yelling, some dude coming out the front of the house (maybe a neighbor who had been inside?), then gunshots.

Life is a dangerous event. You can do everything 'right' and still get killed. This is certainly a tragedy if you watch the video.

Yeah I watched it. The homeowner had shot his gun twice while inside what looks like a small room only about 15 seconds before the cops start shouting "drop the gun" from outside of the house. I'm not at all surprised that he couldn't hear them in that situation.

disgusting display

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Watch the video, it was a chaotic scene.

Definitely full of the fog of war.

Broken down door, lights on, people yelling, some dude coming out the front of the house (maybe a neighbor who had been inside?), then gunshots.

Life is a dangerous event. You can do everything 'right' and still get killed. This is certainly a tragedy if you watch the video.

Agreed on the video. The officers walked into chaos, a hysterical woman screaming there is a guy in the bathroom hurting her grandson. The shots are heard, a guy appears inside holding a firearm. Repeated orders to drop the weapon, more movement and an officer fires.

This is PURE speculation... 100%, but from the video clip I saw, I'll guessthe officer heard the woman, heard the shots, thought the grandson had been shot, saw a guy with a gun appear and if he even looked like he was going to engage pulled the trigger having no idea the homeowner was in there with a gun.

they made an awful lot of guesses, all of them were wrong and it cost an innocent man his life

I see nothing to admire

that's their job and they utterly failed at it