Wild Florida Shootout – 4 Dead

Posted by Jack

https://www.today.com/video/4-dead-in-florida-shootout-after-robbers-hijack-ups-truck-74622021656

Stupid Move #1:  It started with the robbery of a strip mall jewelry store.  As the two robbers exited the store the owner opened fire, wounding one of them.  The bandits returned fire, striking a female customer.  She is now hospitalized.

Was the store owner’s action justified?

This was a theft (albeit armed robbery) and the robbers were attempting to flee.  No shots had been fired and nobody was hurt.  There was no immediate necessity to shoot at them.  But, by the store owner taking the law into his own hands, he raised the stakes.  This action set a whole series of unfortunate events that followed.

In my opinion, by shooting at two fleeing robbers  was dumb.  It was almost as stupid and dangerous as pulling an armed robbery.  (I might have excused him, if he had been a better shot and dropped them inside the store.)

Stupid Move #2:  The robbers panicked after the store shooting.  Thus begins the  momentum of ever escalating events.  Their (robbers) next bonehead move was hijacking a UPS truck.   What could be more obvious and yet less capable of making a getaway than a UPS truck…. an Amish carriage?  Idiots.

Taking the UPS driver hostage only underscored their snowballing stupidity…this is Florida where taking a hostage is just more reason for cops to shoot your dumazz, even if they have to shoot the hostage first.  This happens a lot in Florida, especially by deputies that may have grown up watching too much Miami Vice.

The fact that 13 uniformed officers surrounded the UPS truck after it was stuck in traffic at a busy intersection, during rush hour and figured this was a good place for a firefight, says a lot.  The cops and robbers engaged in this firefight where over two hundred rounds were fired by police in a matter of seconds is difficult to excuse.  I ask you, does this say more about cops wanting to shoot bad guys than cops wanting to save the hostage and protect bystanders?   We don’t know who plugged the lady bystander yet, it may take a few more days to determine, but right now the odds are… it was likely a police bullet.

In this shootout the robbers may have fired the first shot, but does it really matter that much when the police fired over 200 rounds at a van?   You know not every one of those officers had a clear shot.  A clear shot being defined as a shot that would not have endanger the hostage.   You know that not every cop could say where their bullets were headed once they fired in the general direction of the truck, right?   But, it looks like that was the gamble the cops were willing to take….not good.

When their partner starts shooting, it follows that a poorly trained officer will open fire too, with or without a visible target.  This will explain, to a degree, why there were so many bullet holes going into all sorts of crazy places and directions.  Really, not good.

In the end justice was served… ala wild west style.  The bad guys are dead and several thousand dollars worth of jewelry will soon be safely back in their rightful display case.  So all’s well that ends by any means.