Another Officer Down: No Outrage, No Riots...

Pilgrim · Sep 16, 2015

Turtle said:
Yes, all of the journalists accurately quoted the officer and correctly reported what he said. I just find it a little odd that an officer would pull someone over for driving 103 MPH, find him in possession of a suspended license, and with an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Missouri (which Kentucky has a reciprocity agreement with), and decide to give him a pass on it all and instead arrange for a hotel room for him and the passengers. Don't you find that a little odd?

There's something we can agree on - odd to say the least that this trooper wasn't arranging accommodations for this convicted felon in the county's Turnkey Hotel after this stop and supposedly accurate ID of the driver. Speeding, reckless driving & driving on a suspended license should have been enough, the outstanding warrant notwithstanding. Of course possession of a loaded weapon wouldn't have helped him either. And since we're speculating a little bit, I'll go one further and lay odds that there were drugs involved as a possible reason for Shanks' behavior considering he had been busted for possession in the past.

We know this guy was driving over 100 mph at night on a suspended license, carrying a loaded weapon, with two women and two small kids in the car, obviously showing no consideration for the possibility he might be stopped or for the safety of his other passengers. I'll also lay odds that there were drugs in the car as well, offering another good reason for him to take off so they could be tossed out. It will be interesting to see if Shanks' autopsy results are ever published, and whether or not the follow-up investigation reveals that he and his companions were high on something. At any rate, he had a chance to come out of this with spending a couple of years (maybe) in jail. Instead, he kills a cop in cold blood and gets killed himself - as is usually the case - resisting arrest. We shouldn't be surprised any more when we see 3 or 4 cruisers around one stopped car. Obviously there's no longer any such thing as a routine traffic stop.

But wait - there's more: another cop in Phoenix was shot last night during a "routine" traffic stop. Fortunately, he was wearing a bulletproof vest that saved his life. The animal(s) that committed this cold blooded shooting are apparently still on the loose after abandoning their car nearby.

Officer wearing protective vest expected to survive shooting

Phoenix officer shot during traffic stop; vest likely saved life

This nonsense needs to stop.

Tennesseahawk · Sep 16, 2015

LDB said:
Yes, the bad officers need to be gone. Yes, they are a very small minority. That in no way excuses those who attack police officers and in no way suggests anything less than the most extreme punishment possible for those who do so.

Cops who protect the blue brotherhood... are they bad cops? If that's the case, we would have very few cops left.

Turtle · Sep 16, 2015

I think drugs in the vehicle is a distinct possibility, and would explain why he sped off in a panic. I think they were up to 115 MPH or something like that during the chase. That's crazy pretty much anywhere at night, but especially in that particular part of Kentucky (Lyon County) is one of five counties boasting the largest deer populations in the state.

If you would, please define "cold blooded" for me, because you and I have very different definitions for the term.

Yes, people need to stop shooting cops, but that's as unlikely to happen now as it was 100 years ago. We will always have bad guys who will shoot at cops in order to try and not be arrested.