Cops shoot man after he helped stop possible church shooting

[Madmallard]

The good guy with the gun got shot.

Another mass shooting set within sacred confines nearly could've taken place on the same day as the massacre in Parkland, Fla., were it not for one man joining with a group of congregants to take down the gunman.

Unfortunately for Tony Garces, he still got shot, though not by the assailant, but by police responding to the scene at Faith City Mission in Amarillo, Texas.

"I got the gun, I thought it was over," the 37-year-old told KVII, "but the cops shot me. The good guys shot me."

According to the Houston Chronicle, Joshua Len Jones entered the church after 9 a.m. Feb. 14, took out a gun and proceeded to hold approximately 100 churchgoers and staff members hostage.

While police were on their way, Garces and a small group of people rushed Jones, bringing him to the floor of the house of worship and allowing Garces to seize the weapon.

"I said, 'Hey, hey, I got the gun,'" he recalls. "'I took the gun away from him, we got him.' Then pop, pop!"

Police had shot the former convict in the neck and chest.

Faced with a massive medical bill, Garces hopes the city will take care of the expenses, but in the mean time he has some advice for police.

"Train them better, man," he said. "That guy didn't know what he was doing."

There were no other injuries.

Police shoot man after he helped stop possible church shooting

 

[Airborneguy]

I’d like to know more about this one. Hard to pass judgement. We’re literally ripping apart a department that stayed outside and did nothing, can’t then turn around and immediately fault a cop who ran in with unknown info and shot the person he saw holding the gun.

It would be nice to hear what the cop knew going in. Could be an unfortunate but understandable outcome.

 

[Bananabandit]

guess we come in hot nowadays!

 

[GOYABEAN]

Neck and Chest Double tap and still survived

 

[MothMan]

3,2,1.. caliber wars

 

[kev74]

Its unfortunate, but that's one of the risks of participating in a gun fight. Still beats cowering in a corner hoping for mercy though.

 

[Robin]

Neck and Chest Double tap and still survived

Probably a 9.
Robin

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

Probably a 9.
Robin

I thought so too.

 

[Saltwater60]

I’d like to know more about this one. Hard to pass judgement. We’re literally ripping apart a department that stayed outside and did nothing, can’t then turn around and immediately fault a cop who ran in with unknown info and shot the person he saw holding the gun.

It would be nice to hear what the cop knew going in. Could be an unfortunate but understandable outcome.

I agree with you, but what was the guy shot doing with the gun. Was he pointing it at the Capp, was his hands in the air with it? Not really faulting the cop and the guy should not have been seen with a gun by the cop, but it does mean something.

 

[spat]

the

I’d like to know more about this one. Hard to pass judgement. We’re literally ripping apart a department that stayed outside and did nothing, can’t then turn around and immediately fault a cop who ran in with unknown info and shot the person he saw holding the gun.

It would be nice to hear what the cop knew going in. Could be an unfortunate but understandable outcome.

There are no perfect rules of engagement.

You can do everything right and still end up dead (or end up killing the wrong guy in this case)

OTOH, doctors have an oath that says "first do no harm". Meaning if you're not sure if what youre doing is going to be good or bad, err on the side of inaction. In short, don't make things worse.

Maybe a little of that and a little more "know your target" would have saved an innocent life here.

 

[Airborneguy]

Well they knew their target and hit it: the guy holding a gun during a shooting/hostage call.

Guy’s an ex-con too, so unfortunately for him he likely had a look that didn’t help when the cop(s) is amped up, running in as we’re trained to do, with no regard for our own lives during active shooter incidents.

 

[Shadow2]

So he looked like he should get shot? That's your rational? Do police her themselves talk? God bless the police doing there jobs, but last time i looked when most people don't do the job as required they loose said job. Regardless if they meant to fuck up or not. Its generally how employment works but never seems to apply to government employees.

Well they knew their target and hit it: the guy holding a gun during a shooting/hostage call.

Guy’s an ex-con too, so unfortunately for him he likely had a look that didn’t help when the cop(s) is amped up, running in as we’re trained to do, with no regard for our own lives during active shooter incidents.

 

[Airborneguy]

Well most of the people you are referring to don’t have “running into armed combat” as part of their job duties, so...

I also never said he should have gotten shot. Like I said in another post recently, “debating” here is getting quite boring, this being another example of why.

Attack me for things I have actually said. Simply making it up as you go along is amateurish.

 

[kev74]

The guy did a convincing impersonation of a perp.

The cops were running in hot to a report of an armed man with a gun holding 100 people hostage. When they got there, they saw a guy down, likely being "attended to" by several people, and another guy waiving a pistol around saying, "Hey, hey, I got the gun." I don't blame the cops. I blame the asshole who tried to hold a church congregation hostage.

Its unfortunate that the wrong guy got shot, but its a crappy situation all around. Depending on where the guy was pointing the gun, the cops might have been spot on in their reaction.