Chief: Police killed California robbery hostage

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Chief: Police killed California robbery hostage
By TERRY COLLINS and SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press | August 11, 2014 | Updated: August 11, 2014 6:09pm

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A hostage kidnapped during a Northern California bank robbery was killed by police in an ensuing chase and shootout, likely during a final gunbattle where the lone surviving suspect used her as a human shield, authorities said Monday.

The results of a preliminary ballistics report show that police in the city of Stockton fired the 10 bullets that struck Misty Holt-Singh, 41, and all her wounds likely came during a final burst of gunfire, Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said at a news conference.

Three men robbed a bank July 16, taking hostage Holt-Singh, a customer whose 12-year-old daughter was waiting in the car, and two bank employees, police said. Officers gave chase when the robbers, armed with three handguns and an AK-47, fled with the women in an SUV owned by one of the employees. They survived by either jumping or getting thrown from the SUV as it sped through town.

"We wanted, but never had the opportunity for, hostage negotiations," Jones said.

Jones said 33 officers fired at the vehicle, most of them during the final shootout. Officers were under constant fire and were concerned the suspects would kidnap other hostages, take over businesses or even a school.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Chief-Police-killed-California-robbery-hostage-5681892.php

[edgineered]

1. It just keeps getting worse

Look at the photos - the vehicle was in the middle of nowhere, on what appears to be a road with no nearby buildings. This, plus having the tires shot out and being surrounded by 33 cops, would make one wonder where the other hostages would come from. Where is the nearest business or school?

The suspects did not shoot the hostage 10 times. The cops did.

No cop will be charged in this. This is sickening. Again.

[DhhD]

2. The suspect would have had to have gotten out of the vehicle to nab someone else. Then

the car's tires and radiator could have been taken out by some of the cops. And the suspect could have been shot from behind by the other cops. This reminds me of contractors in Iraq taking out unarmed civilians and anything standing close to their target. Wonder if this was an order given to police or was it a who can empty their gun the fastest at anything standing.

[jaysunb]

3. Is it the cops...or the guns ? n/t

[Loudly]

4. Certainly, the trouble all started because this country

tolerates guns and ammunition in the hands of the public.

[Psephos]

9. You say that knowing that ten cop bullets killed the innocent hostage.

I didn't see a sarcasm tag there. Hope it was an oversight.

[Loudly]

10. They are armed because the population is.

You do realize that, right?

[littlemissmartypants]

12. I got you. nt

[friendly_iconoclast]

16. You think that cops will *ever* disarm?

Have you been hanging with the poster that thinks the Second Amendment will
disappear if enough people chant a mantra?

[Loudly]

17. I think if there are fewer guns, police will relax a little.

The problem with more guns is that shooting first becomes an escalating priority.

[friendly_iconoclast]

18. I doubt it- the profession attracts too many power-trippers

[friendly_iconoclast]

19. It's also not the duty of the citizenry to reassure the constabulary...

[greiner3]

11. I hope you forgot yours also!

And no '/s/' for my post.

[Psephos]

15. Leave the shooting to the professionals so no harm comes to the innocent.

Right.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes...

I've personally had enough abuse at the hands of cops, and seen way more than enough abuse of others with my own eyeballs, to think they should have a monopoly on deadly force. To grant them such a monopoly would require transparency about their powers, integrity in exercising those powers, and accountability for all that they do. Sorry, but that's a nonstarter. The reality is pretty much just the opposite. Plus, who exactly are the people most interested in becoming LEOs these days? They seem like your kind of people, Greiner?

Take a look here. They blew up a baby's face with a flash-bang. Oops, wrong house. Sorry. Definitely not their fault, though, according to a review conducted by...yep...other cops.

https://www.google.com/search?q=swat+team+face+baby+detroit&client=firefox-a&hs=F24&rls=org.mozilla:en-US fficial&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JpHpU_wRjY_IBKW9gJAO&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1165&bih=719

And here's a good article from that known RW mouthpiece rag, The Nation. (yes, sarcasm on)

http://www.thenation.com/blog/180399/report-swat-teams-armed-military-equipment-spend-most-their-time-fighting-drug-war

[Dustlawyer]

5. I guess I was wrong, I stand corrected.

The other day I responded to a post about the situation in Gaza. There was a discussion involving the use of other Palestinians as human shields. The Israelis excuse for bombing schools and hospitals killing hundreds was that Hamas was using them as human shields. I replied by saying that we don't kill hostages when a bank robber uses a customer as a human shield, we talk and wait for an opportunity to safely take them down or they give up.

It seems that our descent into madness and chaos has picked up speed. When will we finally have enough of this crap?

[AgingAmerican]

6. It will keep getting worse

until something really really bad happens.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Like Miami under water? eom

[AgingAmerican]

14. Yeah

Something like that.

[Scootaloo]

23. Oh, did you miss those posters saying such a cop would be "hailed as a hero"?

There are some truly perverse thinkers in the world.

[mackerel]

7. It wasn't like that, I my son was there, it was awful, fecked-up and what they

did to those other two hostages was horrible. The other two are going to have PTSD for the rest of their lives. Those arseholes shot up everything in their site. We are soooooo lucky more weren't killed. My sincerest condolences to the Holt and Singh families.

These guys had hit that same Bank of the West up in January. (Not the 19 year-old kid but the older guys.) The 19 year-old I don't believe knew what he was getting into. The look on his face when he appear in court was so sad.

The whole event was heart breaking and traumatic for all of Stockton, Lodi and Acampo.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. "We wanted, but never had the opportunity for, hostage negotiations," Jones said.

Hard to be heard over the gunfire there, Tex.

[Action_Patrol]

20. Uneven

The AK-47 isn't known for its negotiation skills.

[PeoViejo]

21. Hard-core criminals will always have the weapons, regardless of any Laws.

Even if the Authorities confiscated every legal weapon in the Country, criminals would always have access to whatever they needed. I've seen it first-hand in other Countries. Most weapons were acquired from the Military.

Hardened criminals don't give a fuck about Laws.

[warrant46]

22. Not only don't they care

But in the thug life there's a certain amount of recognition and prowess to be earned by dressing and acquiring the tools to be a "Gangsta"

And then you get "Respect" from your peers by your Hoodlum Behavior.

The community will also keep its collective mouth shut so it doesn't appear to be "Snitching" when the cops snoop around to find out who did what to whom.