Sheriff's Deputies Killed

[Lenny]

Yesterday, for the third time in as many weeks another Sherrif's Deputy was killed. Two in South Florida and now this one in Tampa.

A fifty five year old 20 year veteran of the Hillsboro County Sheriff's Department was shot and killed while sitting in his police cruiser waiting for a traffic light.

A career criminal with a record as long as his arm was let out of prison and had a hatred for law enforcement officers and just decided to shoot and kill this father of four children for no reason.

A swat team later cornered the assailant who was killed in a shootout with the swat team.

I blame the system and the judges for letting these violent repeat offenders out because of jail overcrowding. No money to build more prisons to protect citizens, but plenty to go up in smoke with each space shuttle. I think this country needs to get its priorities in order. The millions that go up with each space shuttle could be put to better use by building prisons, funding research for diseases and providing medical care for Americans and to care for the elderly so they won't have to choose between medicine or food and to build facilities for the aged with Altzheimers and other geriatric care.

Let's take care of immediate human needs and put NASA on the back burner until after we take care of our immediate problems.


That's my two cents.

[Deleted]

there are more police killed in the line of duty then you realize-- usually you only hear about the ones that take place locally to where you live

[Deleted]

here is the story off a police web site

Related: Fla. sergeant shot sitting in his patrol car

BRANDON, Fla. — A career lawman who threw himself into his work and a 24-year-old man arrested 19 times.

Sgt. Ron Hamlin Harrison and Michael Allen Phillips couldn't have been more different.


Now Hillsborough County sheriff's investigators are trying to find out what brought them together, what made Phillips fire a .45-caliber handgun into the patrol car Harrison was driving while on DUI enforcement duty shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

They say Phillips killed the 55-year-old sheriff's deputy with two shots to the upper body. Phillips died shortly afterward in a shootout with lawmen at his home nearby. Phillips got off more than 10 shots; two snipers needed just one shot each to kill him. He was hit in the chest.

Investigators said they have no motive.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff David Gee said he didn't know of a connection between Harrison and Phillips.

"I can't rule that out, but I don't know," Gee said.

"He was a thug, I can tell you that."

Investigators gave this account of the morning's events:

Harrison contacted dispatchers at 12:38 a.m. as he drove north from Kings Avenue and Lumsden Road to inform them he was wrapping up a DUI checkpoint.

It was the last contact made by Harrison, a veteran of almost 28 years with the Hillsborough sheriff's office.

He was headed east on Lumsden, preparing to turn north on Kings, when shots rang out, the driver of a nearby car reported.

Harrison's unmarked patrol car clipped the witness' vehicle and went out of control. The deputy activated his emergency lights, crossed the median and crashed into a tree about a half-mile away.

"We believe he was trying to get himself to a hospital," Gee said. "It was the kind of severe wounds that would have [made him] quickly incapacitated."

Harrison was taken to nearby Brandon Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Gee said Phillips probably was in a pickup when he shot Harrison, although deputies haven't confirmed that. The window of Harrison's unmarked vehicle was rolled down and unbroken, leading Gee to speculate that Phillips pulled up alongside the car and signaled Harrison to open his window.

"One wound was not a survivable wound," Gee said. The bullet hit him just beneath the armpit.

A Tip Comes In


Within minutes, the sheriff's office received an anonymous phone call from a woman who said a man she knew shot an officer three times. Deputies traced the call to Rosa Bradley of Riverview, Phillips' ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child.

She provided an address about a mile from the crash scene, at 1707 Village Court. Deputies arrived to find the man had barricaded himself inside.

The first deputy at the scene made contact with Phillips' mother, Regina Van Amburg, who said she was afraid of her son and that there was a 4-year-old inside with her. Van Amburg and the child left the home.

Attempts were made to negotiate with Phillips, but he went to a second-floor window twice, firing shots at deputies.

"The conversations were very short," Gee said. "His answer, after he would speak, was gunfire."

The bullets struck a deputy's vehicle and another vehicle parked at the home.

"I authorized deadly force be used," Gee said. "He was shot and killed by SWAT officers at the scene."

Deputies Shawn Dugan and Robert Carr, who were involved in the shooting, have been placed on administrative leave with pay pending review.

Brandon traffic was rerouted as deputies investigated the scenes of the two shootings. Lumsden between Kings and Parsons Avenue was closed to traffic until shortly after 9 a.m. North and south traffic on Kings remained closed until late morning.

His voice choking with emotion, Gee said, "He was a good guy, a good officer with a lot of years."

He said Harrison's funeral probably will not be held until at least next week because he had relatives out of state.

Wednesday evening, Harrison's family and colleagues shed tears as his name was etched in the monument to fallen Hillsborough law enforcement personnel. More than two dozen deputies, their badges partially covered by a black band, stood in line outside the sheriff's operations station in Ybor City.

Deputy Felix Moret went to the front of the monument, made the sign of the cross and wiped away tears.

"He was very brave," Moret said. "He put people first. He loved the job and was an excellent man."

Neighborhood Reacts


Larry Conner lives across the street from 1707 Village Court and said he was awakened by gunfire Wednesday morning.

"I was just hearing popping, like pow, pow, pow," he said

He started turning on the lights at his house until a deputy came to his back door and told him to turn them off.

"It sounded like a war zone," Conner said. "It was one of the scariest things I've ever been through."

Conner went from his living room to his bedroom seeking safety and finally hid in a closet with his cat, Roxy. Conner said he did not know Phillips well but occasionally checked out the family's garage sales.

Conner said the gunfire started as soon as deputies arrived.

"As soon as they pulled in, he started firing," he said. "He had a death wish. He wasn't trying to get out of this alive."

Conner said Phillips was doing more shooting than the deputies.

Other neighbors said Phillips had caused trouble in the neighborhood.

He and his friends often sped up and down the streets, said Wayne Thomas, who lives about two blocks away on Tradewinds Drive.

"He thought he was a badass," Thomas said.

Don Zahn, 73, who also lives on Tradewinds, said he knew the family in passing and often was greeted by their Chihuahua on his neighborhood walk.

"It's really sad," Zahn said. "I hate to see a policeman or any young man lose his life."

[Deleted]

May He Rest In Peace. Lenny, there is a lot of spending going on by our government that needs to be put on the back burner!

[LARRY]

WHY DO THEY LET THESE "DIRT BAGS" OUT OF JAIL?THEY ALL SHOULD ROT IN HELL.[/color]

[Deleted]

bronxboy said:

WHY DO THEY LET THESE "DIRT BAGS" OUT OF JAIL?THEY ALL SHOULD ROT IN HELL.

[/color][/quote]


I think they should send them to Iraq. Then they will know what is like to get shot at. If they chose to desert that will be even better they will wander in the desert and get killed there.

[Deleted]

there is a guy here in portland that was arrested for dui a few months ago and he signed a statement that he was an illegal alien --- and nothing happened ---he is now in jail for rape and murder of a teen age girl

i think these people should be deported when caught-- my problem is that the beaverton pd only has 4 cells where people are held til they are transoported to the county jail -- what are we supposed to do with the 5th person or someone arrested for a crime that isnt illegal-- how fast will the county lockup become overcrowded-- where do we store and house these people til that can go before a judge to be deported-- who pays for all of this and unless we fix and i mean really fix the borders they will only be back ---politicians have to stop pandering to these groups for their votes

[lori]

phyllis said:

bronxboy said:

WHY DO THEY LET THESE "DIRT BAGS" OUT OF JAIL?THEY ALL SHOULD ROT IN HELL.

[/color][/quote]


I think they should send them to Iraq. Then they will know what is like to get shot at. If they chose to desert that will be even better they will wander in the desert and get killed there.[/quote]

I think that is a great idea Phyllis!!

[pegleg]

In the first 6 months of 2007, there were about 101 police officers killed in the line of duty in the US, about 39 of which were shot to death (most of the rest were in traffic accidents). The average for the past 15-20 years, has been about 2-3 officers murdered, per week, in the US. We seldom hear of them except in the local area. But let one officer hurt a perp and the media plays it up big time, nationwide.

As for the shuttle, NASA has heard your lament and decided to retire the shuttle in about 2-3 years, by 2010 (seriously). There will probably be no more than 12-14 additional shuttle flights. The Russians will provide the launch services for the Space Station after that. (Talk about exporting American jobs ;-)

While we're killing US space programs, how about killing the GPS navigation satellites, the NOAA weather satellites, the earth resources satellites, all of the communications satellites (hundreds of those), the Hubble Space Telescope, etc? And I suppose the military has some satellites they don't need either. That would save, literally, Billions and Billions$ (as Carl Sagan would say) for all those jails we need. And we'll need those jails to get the unemployed NASA folks off the street when they start car-jacking the tourists in FL.

BTW, interesting thought process that went from the murder of 3 officers to killing the space program.... Just playin' wid ya

[Deleted]

so far this year there has been a 44% increase in law offices killed in the line of duty

www.policeone.com/news/1341371/