Mesa police shoot two MORE men

[VermontDem2004]

Sept. 11 - Mesa police shot two men in separate incidents Wednesday, the fourth time in about two weeks officers have shot someone, officials said.

Neither man suffered life-threatening injuries. Those shot in the earlier incidents, Mario Madrigal Jr., 15,(He went to my High School) and Mary Ann Minchew, 23, were killed.

Police said Richard Vasquez-Olvera Jr., a 22-year-old wanted for parole violation, was shot about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday near Southern Avenue and Mesa Drive after police said he fell from a bicycle, then pointed a gun at officers while running away.

It was the second encounter Vasquez-Olvera has had with police during the past week, said Mesa police detective Tim Gaffney. Last week, the man threatened police officers when they arrived at a house in the 400 block of East Glade Avenue, Gaffney said. He was able to escape when police backed away and attempted to surround the house.

About 2 a.m. Wednesday, Jason J. Evans, 24, was shot after he came out of an apartment at Country Club Green apartments, 350 W. 13th Place. Police, who were called to the complex about a drunken person creating a disturbance, said he was wielding a 12- to 14-inch butcher knife and refused repeated commands to drop it. At one point, Evans singled out officer Eric Kask, one of three officers standing outside the apartment, Sgt. Mike Goulet said.

http://www.msnbc.com/local/aztrib/m324624.asp?vts=91220030608

[xchrom]

1. shoot first

ask questions later.
these guys must be pretending they are in baghdad.

[Desertrose]

2. Arizona- shoot first...then ask questions

Sometimes the whole friggin' state feels like an old Western, ya knkow?

(They actually did film a lot of John Wayne and faux Indian movies here in my town back in the 40's-50's)

Seriously...this is a very sad state of affairs...to shoot someone who only has a knife?? Someone who fell off a bike-running away..was it a gun?? This happens because of the heightened state of fear we all live in...I give the law enforcement credit for doing a job I wouldn't want any of my loved ones to do...but on the other hand I have seen how out of control many of those officers are...its just a bad situation all the way around.....
....sigh.....

Peace
DR

[VermontDem2004]

3. Mesa police are assholes

in the least bit this doesn't surprise me, two years ago on June 30th two kids stole a car at the local Circle K not far from me, all they did was back up out of parking area and they launced 30 shots. One time I thought they were going to shoot me, someone thought me and my friends were doing some illegal activities so had the police called on me, they came out and started interrogating the hell out of me, they gave me a field sobriety test and I wasn't even drunk. I have never met with police who were assholes like that in my entire life. The madrigal case he was drunk, but they shot him with a stun gun he dropped the knife, he fell, then once he got up they shot him 8 times(fired 12 bullets).