Current Events > Off duty cop shot & killed armed man who was walking away from him.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Mq-CNxJ4Q

Vallejo releases video of off-duty Richmond cop fatally shooting man during argument over parking space

The videos show Thomas, driving a light-colored Mercedes, and Reason, driving a dark-colored van, both go for the same parking spot. A pedestrian blocks Reason, and Thomas pulls into the spot first.

Reason then parks his van behind Thomas, in the middle of the lot, then walks over to Thomas and confronts him. The two have what appears to be a heated discussion, which lasts several seconds. Then Reason walks back toward his van, while Thomas walks in the direction of the convenience store, stops and observes Reason opening the hood of his van.

Reason appears to retrieve a pistol from the front of the van, then walks back over to Thomas, gun in hand. The two again exchange words, and Reason turns back toward his van, while Thomas can be seen drawing a weapon from the belt of his pants.

Thomas then begins to shoot, while Reason apparently realizing the danger starts to run away. Thomas then moves toward the middle of the parking lot, aims in Reasons direction and fires several times while Reason continues to run.

Reason is running across Sereno Drive about 50 to 100 feet away from Thomas, with his back to the officer when he is fatally struck and falls to the ground, where he was later pronounced dead. An attorney for the Reason family said Reason was shot in the back of the head.

On Wednesday morning, Thomas attorney, Justin Buffington, issued a written statement referring to Thomas as a decorated veteran police sergeant and Reason as an irate convicted felon.

Reason boxed Sgt. Thomas and his wifes car in, retrieved a semi-automatic handgun with a 30-round magazine from its hiding place under the hood and confronted Sgt. Thomas and his wife. Sgt. Thomas attempted to deescalate the situation but ultimately had no other choice but to draw his own firearm to defend he and his wife, Buffington said. Although Reason fled when he realized that he had attempted to attack someone capable of protecting himself, he refused to drop his gun and, in fact, continuing to present a deadly threat.

Buffington, who works for the Rains Lucia Stern law firm, suggested it was the first time in Thomas career he had fired his duty weapon, and added that Thomas had no other choice.

Thomas was interviewed the evening of the shooting, and put on temporary administrative leave, which is standard in use-of-force confrontations offices are involved in. Vallejo police and the Solano County District Attorney are still investigating the shooting. Vallejo police have issued a statement saying Thomas was legally defending himself.

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https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/21/vallejo-releases-video-of-off-duty-richmond-cop-fatally-shooting-man-during-argument-over-parking-space/

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St0rmFury posted...

put on temporary administrative leave

justice prevails once again

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i mean pulling out a gun is just asking for trouble. nothing good will come out of it.

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To serve and protect

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You gotta love that mother's testimonial.

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That's murder

The officer should not have continued shooting him as he ran away, but the initial shots fired were entirely reasonable IMO

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Officer of the Peace

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If anyone else shot someone in the back when they walked away. That would be considered murder. It's a cop though so probably not.

jesus christ man. And he got away with that too. Video doesnt even matter

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Kolibri X posted...

You gotta love that mother's testimonial.

Honestly I hate when they air stuff like that, this woman just lost her son ffs

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He runs away, realizes you stopped shooting and then turns around and kills you.

You shouldn't pull a gun unless you plan to use it. The situation got escalated due to him.

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This is sort of a hard one but damn you look like shit opening fire on someones back running away from you.

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It was only a matter of time before he killed someone or got killed. Dude was driving around with a gun hidden in a bag in the engine of his vehicle. That's not a self defense weapon. He just happened to pull it on someone who wasn't afraid to shoot first

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What reasonable reason would Reason pull a gun from the engine bay from his van?

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RoadDoggDX posted...

What reasonable reason would Reason pull a gun from the engine bay from his van?

Theres no reason for Reason to pull his Reason gun from his Reason van....No reason at all.

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Bump
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So a felon had a gun with an illegal magazine hidden in the engine compartment of his vehicle? Hmmm

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Another messy one. Maybe the first shots were justified, but finishing him as he's running seems like a stretch to me. Maybe he thought the guy might come back for him or his wife?

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1NfamousACE_2 posted...

He runs away, realizes you stopped shooting and then turns around and kills you.

You shouldn't pull a gun unless you plan to use it. The situation got escalated due to him.

The situation escalated when a person who legally should not own a firearm retrieved one hidden in his vehicle, then walked towards somebody with it......

that being said, I agree with Eston. The shots while running away was overkill. But hes covered by TN v Garner all day. Fleeing armed felon

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Last bump
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Well, I think that the shooting was possibly a bit over the top but also, the dead dude is the one who pulled a gun first, so...he played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.
So I don't really care about the outcome or cop's punishment in this instance.

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Blighboy posted...

St0rmFury posted...
put on temporary administrative leave
justice prevails once again

erm that's always what you do

are you saying you want people fired and arrested before the investigation?
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another power tripping pig murdering people
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That's a tough one. Strangely, I think the cop would be ok if he shot the deceased as soon as he pulled the gun from his car and started to come towards him. But in the back after he was already leaving is sketchy.

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This is a hard case as both sides are wrong.

Dead guy, pulled out gun even though he didnt raise and aim it at the other guy. Still considered a dangerous person.

The cop didnt just fire a few shots. He emptied his entire gun into the 'back' of dead guy walking away.

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Don't pull a gun on someone if you don't want to get shot lmao

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Guy drawing a gun in the first place had it coming, but shooting a man in the back is unconscionable.

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