THE FERGUSON MESSAGE

  A man six foot four inches tall, weighing 303 pounds and allegedly shot by police while unarmed.  The officer, is of average height and build, and attacked after initial confrontation with the deceased.  There is a physical struggle and necessary for the officer to retain possession of his police firearm.  The officer gains control of his weapon and the assailant/deceased is alleged to retreat. Something in the mind set of the deceased encouraged him to re-engage the police officer and it was a fatal decision.  It is alleged the deceased hands are raised in surrender.

What transpired during and after the incident is really not a mystery.  It is logical in the mindset of a police officer that has been attacked in similar circumstances.  Confronting a person with physical characteristics of a World Wrestling performer and having the ability to inflict great physical harm is more than a challenge.  The officer, if average size, is at a tremendous disadvantage.  Size is a crucial element in physical confrontation.  In real life and death situations I look back over my career and if I had been any smaller I would not be writing this now.  There is not a salary paid that equates to fighting for our lives.  The officer was treated medically for a fractured eye socket sustained from the encounter.

The deceased was the suspected perpetrator of a store unarmed robbery.  The televised video indicates he robbed a store and physically assaulted the clerk, stealing fifty dollars worth of cigars, fifteen minutes before he was shot.  This video should have been released on the day of the shooting.  In Massachusetts Chapter 265-19, Unarmed robbery can carry a felony punishment of twenty years to life sentence.  So, this is not some pickpocket stealing lunch money. We can assume the mindset of the deceased was not one of kindness in the time frame of the robbery to the shooting.

Much is said about the officer not knowing about the robbery and confronting the deceased in broad daylight in the middle of the street.  Police do not customarily use physical force for J-walking, especially on a perpetrator nearly twice our size.  Nor do we awaken and start the day planning a shooting. The officer's service record will reveal how many confrontations he has had over J-walking.  To speculate as the media does on ridiculous conclusions is just plain silly without research.

The gunshot wounds to the victim, six in all, from the front.  He was not retreating or running away, he decided to re-engage the officer.  It is reasonable to deduct that the two head wounds of the deceased are the final wounds.  The other four wounds are in the right hand and arm.  I suggest the four arm wounds are the beginning of a series of discharged bullets indicating the officer was bringing his weapon up to a firing position with necessary haste.  If he had his weapon trained on the deceased intending on execution, as alleged, I doubt if he had been aiming at the victim’s hand.  If the victim’s hands were raised, as alleged, it would be a little improbable that the officer was aiming over the victim’s head, firing as he brought the weapon down.  The bullet trajectory will be assessed and should reveal the position of the arm when it was wounded.  The bullet trajectory of the head wounds should reveal more evidence and will under more scrutiny. If the deceased was not advancing on the officer that would give time for more calculated marksmanship and the wounds do not indicate that.  A toxicology result from the autopsy will reveal any controlled substance abuse.  This is an opinion, based solely on my own practical experiences; we will witness a circus the news media will make of this tragedy.  We have lived through similar events.  It is unfortunate that it ever happened.

Peter Risatti