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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Police are seeing more guns pointed at them.

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posted by Bob at Tuesday, May 01, 2007

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Blogger Bob said...

Twice in one day, police shoot at suspects in unrelated cases
The chief notes that officers are seeing more guns pointed at them.

By David Chanen, Star Tribune

Last update: April 30, 2007 – 11:36 PM


Minneapolis police officer Tony Adams was working on a problem property on the city's North Side about noon Monday when a man pointed a sawed-off shotgun at his marked squad car, setting off a chase and an exchange of gunfire. Three hours later, Sgt. Bill Blake shot at two would-be robbers at a Northeast bar.

It was the third time in 10 days that officers pulled the trigger as someone raised a gun toward them. Chief Tim Dolan noted a growing number of gun-pointing cases.

"Officers are well aware there have been more of these types of incidents," he said. "This is not a game for them."

The three cases in 10 days stand in contrast to each of the past two years, when seven Minneapolis officers fired at people, according to a recent report about the Police Department's use of force.

In five of those cases, someone died.

Monday's chase involving Adams easily could have ended with multiple victims, said Fourth Precinct Inspector Lee Edwards.

Adams, parked at 12th and Upton Avenues N., heard shots nearby and two male suspects with guns came around a corner. One pointed his shotgun at Adams. The officer fired several times.

The suspects jumped into a car driven by a woman, Edwards said. During the ensuing chase, shots were fired by the suspects and Adams shot out the car's back window.

Adams pursued the car as the male suspects continued to point their guns at him. The car stopped at Washburn and Plymouth Avenues N., where one suspect got out, pointed his sawed-off shotgun at Adams and fled. Then Adams arrested the other suspect and the woman in the car.

Not only did he find a gun in the car, but he found a baby strapped into a car seat, Edwards said. Adams couldn't see the child through the car's tinted windows, Edwards said.

"That really rattled him," he said.

The other suspect was arrested a short time later, and police found a gun belonging to him. More and more, Edwards said, officers are running into suspects who "just don't give a crap."

Tom Walsh, spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department, said his department hasn't observed an increase in gun-pointing incidents this year.

Lunch, with action

As Minneapolis officers and crime lab technicians were investigating the North Side shooting, two gunmen were attempting to rob Legends Bar & Grill at 825 E. Hennepin Av. about 3:30 p.m. The men had gone into a restroom and put on ski masks, said Deputy Chief Rob Allen.

By chance, Sgt. Bill Blake was at the bar with his cousin Steve Blake, a member of Minneapolis' Police Community Relations Council. Bill Blake was on duty and in plain clothes.

Steve Blake, who is also chairman of the Twin Cities American Indian Movement patrol, said he and his cousin always sit facing the door when they go out.

When the men came out of the restroom yelling at the 15 customers and employees "to give it up," Bill Blake was already crouched in a stance, with his gun pointing at the would-be robbers, Steve Blake said.

Bill Blake shouted "police" and ordered the men to drop their guns. When they pointed the weapons at Bill Blake, he fired at least two shots, Steve Blake said.

A gun was shot out of one man's hand, Allen said. Pieces of the gun were found inside the bar.

"People were scattering for the doors and diving under tables," Steve Blake said. "Bill chased after [the suspects] but then came back into the bar to make sure everybody was OK."

The suspects, who were a couple of yards away from Blake when he fired, didn't fire any shots, police said. The injured suspect turned himself in to police with non-life-threatening injuries. But the other remains at large.

"I'm very proud of my cousin," Steve Blake said. "He should get a medal."

Blake and Adams, both veteran officers, were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, Dolan said. Both officers handled "these situations very, very well," he said.

"This was a very unusual day," he said.

Dolan talked briefly about another recent incident, in which an officer responded to a report of an unwanted group of people gathered in the 1700 block of Glenwood Avenue N. about 8:30 p.m. on April 20. When the officer arrived, a juvenile grabbed a gun from another juvenile and pointed it at the officer. When the officer told him to drop it, the juvenile raised the gun toward the officer.

The officer reacted by attempting to fire his gun, but it jammed, and the juveniles scattered, leaving behind the weapon -- a replica gun.

The increase in such incidents would naturally coincide with the increase of guns on the streets in the past two years, Dolan said. Officers are trained to handle these situations, but people should realize that when they point a gun at police officers, police are going to shoot, he said.

"The officers need to go home at the end of the day," he said.


David Chanen • 612-673-4465 • dchanen@startribune.com

8:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am sure we will be hearing of a lot more of these types of incidents as the warm weather approaches and people are feeling stressed and helpless due to lack of housing, the statement that they don't appear to give a crap is correct, they propbaly don't because they also feel the city doesn't give a crap about them either so the feeling is mutual!

9:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When the cops go back to enforcing the law and not politics, then I'll feel something for them. In the meantime I hope these gangbangers shoot every fucking cop they see. It'll be one less asshole the law abiding people have to deal wtih.

5:05 PM  

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