12-year-old girl shot & killed by Pennsylvania state constable during apartment eviction - Polidicks

[url]http://fox6now.com/2016/01/12/12-year-old-girl-shot-killed-by-pennsylvania-state-constable-during-apartment-eviction/[/url] [url]http://abc27.com/2016/01/12/police-to-id-victims-of-shooting-near-duncannon/[/url] [quote]DUNCANNON, Pennsylvania — A 12-year-old girl was shot and killed by a Pennsylvania state constable during an apartment eviction on Monday, January 11th, WHTM is reporting.[/quote]

Two adults who decided to solve a confrontation with guns leads to an innocent girl being shot to death. It's a tragic shame that no lessons will be learned from this.

Maybe the guy shouldn't have pointed a gun at the constable?

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;49518957]Two adults who decided to solve a confrontation with guns leads to an innocent girl being shot to death. It's a tragic shame that no lessons will be learned from this.[/QUOTE] you almost make it sound like it's unreasonable to expect a cop to shoot you if you point a loaded gun at them

[QUOTE=DeathDoom;49518963]you almost make it sound like it's unreasonable to expect a cop to shoot you if you point a loaded gun at them[/QUOTE] The fact that he had a gun pointed at him to begin with is a central element of this tragedy, and that's why I said [I]two adults[/I], not "so some pig cop decided to..."

[quote]Pennsylvania State Constable Clarke Steele was at the Pfautz Apartments on Rebecca Drive in Penn Township with an eviction order for Meyer and his family. Police said Meyer opened the door and shut it. He then reopened the door and exchanged words with the constable before leveling a loaded .223 caliber rifle that had been slung and concealed along his body, police said. With the rifle pointed directly at his chest, police said Steele, who was in uniform, unholstered his .40 caliber duty handgun and fired one shot.[/quote] [i]why would you do that??[/i]

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;49518976]The fact that he had a gun pointed at him to begin with is a central element of this tragedy, and that's why I said [I]two adults[/I], not "so some pig cop decided to..."[/QUOTE] you're right, the officer should have just neo dodged the bullets what a scrub

That sucks, shame that guy dragged his daughter or what she was into it.

Feel bad for the officer, holy shit that must be horrible for him.

lets give this thread a second chance at having an on-topic discussion lol

Overall horrible situation, it's just a shame that cop is going to get blamed for it when he wasn't even aiming for the girl.

I can only imagine how horrible the constable and the girls relatives feel to have her life taken by a cruel mistake that won't ever leave any of them

This is a really shit time for a copper to get into a nightmare accidental firearm death case in the US. As others have said, the public will blame him and the media will largely omit the facts. The guy might not have shot straight, but he didn't actually pull a gun on a 12 year old and pop one in her like people will want to think.

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;49521070]Overall horrible situation, it's just a shame that cop is going to get blamed for it when he wasn't even aiming for the girl.[/QUOTE] And you know that people are only going to look at the headline and start calling all police "child killers" over this. What a shit situation. Passed right through the guys arm and killed the girl.

[quote]Police tell WPMT Donald Meyer’s rifle had a round in the chamber, and a magazine with 30 rounds. He is facing several charges in this case. He is being held in jail without bail. Steele has decided to suspend his work as a constable until the investigation into this fatal shooting is complete.[/quote] Two odd things here, dad had a [I]fully[/I] loaded rifle, one in the chamber [I]plus[/I] a full magazine. Guy was expecting to need it. IIRC people don't usually keep their rifles loaded like that unless they [I]know[/I] they need it. Also, cop suspended [I]himself.[/I] Take that into consideration before even considering shit talking the guy.

Holy shit the bullet of a .40 caliber handgun penetrated right through his arm and hit his daughter behind him, she was pronounced dead at the scene; this is just a shite story all around

With the circumstances leading to the girl's death (The bullet going through the arm and killing her) feels almost like the fucking world wanted her dead. Just read the stack of coincidences in this : [Quote=Article] [B]According to WPMT, the girl was standing behind her 57-year-old father, Donald Meyer, when the constable shot Meyer in the arm. The bullet passed through Meyer’s arm and struck 12-year-old Ciara Meyer.[/B] [B]Family members said Ciara Meyer had stayed home from school on Monday because she was sick.[/B] [B]She was pronounced dead at the scene.[/B] [/quote] Not only was she only present due to her being sick, the bullet went through her father's arm and instantly killed her. Jesus.

Hate to say it but if there's anyone to blame it's the father for pulling a loaded rifle on the cop, but he's probably blaming himself for it anyway (Inside, at least).

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;49522208]Hate to say it but if there's anyone to blame it's the father for pulling a loaded rifle on the cop, but he's probably blaming himself for it anyway (Inside, at least).[/QUOTE] State can do whatever they want to him, but nobody is going to punish him harder than himself. I don't doubt he thought he was protecting his family with that rifle.

The sad part about this is that the girl didn't even get to experience most of life. :frown: To bad.

[Quote]aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, and reckless endangerment.[/quote] Just charge him with murder and be done with it. When you commit a felony, you can be charged with first degree murder if anyone dies as a result. So if a guy has a heart attack and dies while you rob a bank, you are potentially on the hook for murder. This guy, and nobody else, is responsible for her death.

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;49521070]Overall horrible situation, it's just a shame that cop is going to get blamed for it when he wasn't even aiming for the girl.[/QUOTE] The cop had every right to protect himself but the fact that he had a gun pulled on him will be ignored.

[QUOTE=MasterKade;49518997][quote]Pennsylvania State Constable Clarke Steele was at the Pfautz Apartments on Rebecca Drive in Penn Township with an eviction order for Meyer and his family. Police said Meyer opened the door and shut it. He then reopened the door and exchanged words with the constable before leveling a loaded .223 caliber rifle that had been slung and concealed along his body, police said. With the rifle pointed directly at his chest, police said Steele, who was in uniform, unholstered his .40 caliber duty handgun and fired one shot.[/quote][i]why would you do that??[/i][/QUOTE] How was the cop able to get out his handgun and shoot the guy without being injured himself? Did the guy just not shoot the constable? Did the guy actually shoot the gun but it didn't do enough damage to the constable to stop that?

Rifles are large and unwieldy, especially if you're standing in a door way, you would be able to tell he was doing something quick enough to react, guy was pretty old, too.

[QUOTE=soulharvester;49524226]Rifles are large and unwieldy, especially if you're standing in a door way, you would be able to tell he was doing something quick enough to react, guy was pretty old, too.[/QUOTE] The snippet there implies the officer only started taking his weapon out after the guy leveled his rifle at the constable.

[QUOTE=TornadoAP;49524258]The snippet there implies the officer only started taking his weapon out after the guy leveled his rifle at the constable.[/QUOTE] It was probably as he was leveling it, those apartments look small and the door way was probably cramped. An officer is younger, trained to react quickly with his weapon, and the weapon itself is very short and light. As a trained officer you are also taught to look for clues as to what the man could be doing. The moment the man closed the door I am sure the officer already had his hand resting on his gun as that is a huge red flag and signs towards resistance. All it then takes is for the man to open the door and start pushing the rifle barrel out for the guy to react and pull out the gun. So the door was probably somewhat closed for the old guy thinking to use as cover (good luck) as he tries to slide the rifle around the door in a small amount of space. The weapon would probably be sticking to the left or right of the officer before the man would have enough room to shoulder it and aim especially with the door being partially open. Obviously it could've happened differently, but it seems like that is the most obvious case. Seriously if you have a small doorway go take a 3 foot long object and try to aim it center out the door with it being only partially open to block anyone coming in. Then see how long it takes to pull something the size of a hand gun from your waist with your hand resting on it. It is obvious who would get the first shot in this situation.

the bullet went through the father's arm? this is why cops are trained to hit the center mass and kill whatever target they're aiming at. if they miss, other people will be in danger, as was tragically the case with the girl here.

[QUOTE=TheHydra;49524437]the bullet went through the father's arm? this is why cops are trained to hit the center mass and kill whatever target they're aiming at. if they miss, other people will be in danger, as was tragically the case with the girl here.[/QUOTE] They shoot center mass because anything else doesn't stop the target. Which is the intention. Cops do not "shoot to kill", they shoot to STOP. Over penetration killing people behind the intended target is pretty rare.

[QUOTE=GunFox;49524455]They shoot center mass because anything else doesn't stop the target. Which is the intention. Cops do not "shoot to kill", they shoot to STOP. Over penetration killing people behind the intended target is pretty rare.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure a .40 at point blank would go through a person's chest, especially if it didn't hit any ribs or the sternum. It's not like it's a fault of training either. It was a quick action in a confined space and he probably assumed the daughter was at school and not in the apartment. Hate to pile more blame on the father but if he knew he was going to confront a police officer with a gun, he should have told his daughter to stay in her room.

[QUOTE=TheHydra;49524437]the bullet went through the father's arm? this is why cops are trained to hit the center mass and kill whatever target they're aiming at. if they miss, other people will be in danger, as was tragically the case with the girl here.[/QUOTE] Exactly why people who say shit like "Should have shot him in the arm/leg" are dumb. And tasers don't even work 100% of the time.