Police Shooting In Warminster

[JamesBrown]

I was reading the paper the other day and read about the cops shooting Sean Sullivan. I'm not disagreeing with them shooting him; he was charging at them with a pellet gun that looked like a Walther p38 but I do disagree with them shooting at him 55 times and missing 49 times....Don't cops have to qualify several times a year?

Sound off with your opinions.

[starblazer]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

I was reading the paper the other day and read about the cops shooting Sean Sullivan. I'm not disagreeing with them shooting him; he was charging at them with a pellet gun that looked like a Walther p38 but I do disagree with them shooting at him 55 times and missing 49 times....Don't cops have to qualify several times a year?

Sound off with your opinions.

Link to story? I can't comment on it if I haven't read it. Thanks.

[danp]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

Don't cops have to qualify several times a year?

I dunno but I watch some of the Philly cops shoot now and then at the range I go to and I've found it to always be one extreme or the other. They either can't hit the broad side of a barn or they're putting rounds through the same 1/2" hole at 50 feet.

[JamesBrown]

Police fired 55 shots

By LAURIE MASON
The Intelligencer

The gun police say Sean Sullivan pointed at them moments before they fired 55 shots at him, six of which struck and ultimately killed him, wasn't real, but it sure looked it.

In fact, prosecutors said Tuesday, the 21-year-old Warminster man was brandishing a pellet gun that was a dead ringer for a Walther PPK, the same gun James Bond used in the 007 spy movies.

Faced with what they believed to be a real weapon, the officers were justified in using deadly force against Sullivan, said David Zellis, Bucks County's first assistant district attorney.

Zellis, releasing the results of a four-day investigation into the shooting, placed full blame for the incident on Sullivan, who forced a standoff with officers trying to serve his mother an arrest warrant.

“It was Sean Sullivan who said he had a gun and threatened police. The officers repeatedly offered him a peaceful way out,'' Zellis said.

He said Sullivan, who had a long arrest history, “squared off” with the cops who tried to stop him from leaving his back yard and kept running even after he was first shot. Zellis said the officers then shot Sullivan as he tried to scale a fence to prevent him from getting to another yard, where there were more police officers and neighbors.

“It was Sean Sullivan who made all these decisions. They could not allow him to leave that yard with that gun,” Zellis said.

The shooting occurred around 6:30 a.m. at the Chestnut Road home Sullivan shared with his mother, Carol Sullivan, 46.

Officers went there to serve Carol Sullivan with an arrest warrant accusing her of giving false information to authorities while bailing Sean out of jail after he was arrested by Abington police two weeks before for credit card fraud.

After a brief struggle, police say, Carol Sullivan was taken into custody, but Sean barricaded himself in his bedroom and told police he had a gun.

At least 10 officers from Warminster and nearby Warrington surrounded the home. Sullivan then climbed out a window and ran toward the cops, pulling the gun from his waistband, Zellis said.

The county SWAT team did not arrive until after the shooting.

The prosecutors said the officers told Sullivan to put up his hands, but he kept pointing the gun and threatening them. After he was hit by the first shot, he continued to come toward them then ran for the fence, Zellis said. The officers fired 55 shots, six of which hit Sullivan in the shoulder, chest, leg and back, according to a coroner's report.


“They believed that such force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to themselves and others,” Zellis said.

The officers who fired the fatal shots were not named. The incident was the first time that cops from either township have fatally shot a suspect.

Warminster Police Chief Mike Murphy said the officers involved in the shooting have been cleared by a psychologist to return to work. But, he said, they will not forget the violent incident.

“The officers involved in this shooting will remember that day for the rest of their lives,” Murphy said. “Every one of those officers felt threatened to a point where they had to use deadly force, and they have to live with that. They did what they had to do to protect the community.”

Carol Sullivan will not face charges stemming from the standoff, Zellis said.

She was arrested on the day of the shooting on charges from the bail incident, however, and could be found in violation of her agreement with a program that allows first-time offenders to clear their criminal records. She was allowed in the program last year after she was charged with possessing marijuana.

Carol Sullivan could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The Intelligencer was unsuccessful in tracking down other family members for comment.

It was unclear why Sullivan had the pellet gun, which can be purchased in many sporting goods stores. To emphasize how real the black metal weapon looks, Zellis placed it on a table next to a real handgun during a press conference in his Doylestown office.

The weapons were almost identical. But on the pellet gun, in very fine print, a warning was etched: “Not a toy. Misuse may cause serious injury or death.”



Do you guys think that they will stil charge the mom with false reports or let her go because they killed her son?

[starblazer]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

Do you guys think that they will stil charge the mom with false reports or let her go because they killed her son?

I'd be surprised if the charges on the mom weren't dropped. I'm also sorry to say, that this kid should have known better than to challenge the cops, fake gun or not. It's too late to be a lesson for him, but hopefully others will realize the stupidity of the whole situation, and not make similar mistakes.

[JamesBrown]

Oh yeah the kids a retard for bringing an airsoft gun to a gunfight. Some aquaintances of mine who knew him said that he was a dope head theif.

I was just wondering what you guys opinion on the cops missing 49 times and 3 shots going into neighbor's bedrooms was. I think that a handgun/assault rifle (1 cop had an AR) course may not be a bad idea for local departments in case this happens again. I think that an 11% hit rate between 4 cops is totally unacceptable, but as someone stated, when someone might have the capability to shoot back at you the situation is different than shooting at paper.

[starblazer]

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

when someone might have the capability to shoot back at you the situation is different than shooting at paper.

Very true.

[FlyinGN]

A warminster cop does all my FFA transactions and Ill bet hes a great shot. Not all are like this...

[ErSwnn]

My own opinion of the 55 shots is that under the circumstances, a youth with a gun who was probably mobile and unstable, the police were keeping covered and making shots as they could at a moving and/or concealed target. The amount of shots isn't unusual in such conditions. Add to that the adrenalin rush (an unavoidable physiological reaction) the cops were under and it's understandable that a lot of shots missed. Also, the police may well have been relocating positions to block escape paths and making shots just to keep the suspect off balance. Alot of x factors are involved in shooting situations and no two are ever alike. I doubt any of them WANTED to shoot the kid. But given the facts, I would have defended myself. The police have the additional duty to protect the general public from such a threat. I'm curious to see the toxicology report on the suspect. Was he high, crazy, or just stupid?

[JoeWilliams]

Most cops shoot about as well as your average citizen. The only range time they get is when they have to qualify.