concealed-carry holder shoots cop 4 times in head,claims self defense

[Algorem]

Lawyer for Thompson claims self defense; defendant had CCW permit

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07/lawyer_for_thompson_claims_sel.html

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/

Posted by Karen Farkas July 14, 2008 14:04PM
Categories: Breaking News, Crime

The lawyer for Ashford Thompson, the man charged with murdering Twinsburg police officer Joshua Miktarian, said his client shot the officer in self-defense.

Attorney Larry Zukerman made the statement after Thompon's hearing in Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court. Zukerman would not elaborate other than to say that he had interviewed an eyewitness to the shooting.

Thompson had a permit from the state to carry a concealed weapon, although it's unclear if the registered weapon was the one used to shoot Miktarian, said David Maistros, the Twinsburg city prosecutor.

Investigators are still trying to piece together what lead to the shooting...

COMMENTS (14)



Slain officer was shot four times in the head

http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/07/slain_officer_was_shot_four_ti.html

Posted by Metro staff July 14, 2008 13:30PM
Categories: Top Story


Twinsburg police officer Joshua Miktarian was shot four times in the head, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office.

The man accused of killing him, Ashford Thompson, remains in jail on $5 million bond. He is charged with aggravated murder. His bond was set at a hearing Monday afternoon in front of Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Judge Kim Hoover.

Twinsburg Police Chief Chris Noga said Monday that Miktarian's gun was still holstered when police found him. Miktarian's car was equipped with a dashboard camera but it was not turned on at the time of the shooting, Noga said.


COMMENTS (10)

[sui generis]

1. was his Taser still holstered?

:shrug:

[Hydra]

2. Dashboard camera not on?

How convenient.

[SheilaT]

3. Isn't this sort of thing

the very logical outcome of citizens being armed. In the past it's been declared okay to shoot and kill any trespassers, and all too often (in my opinion) gun supporters claim that various shootings could have been prevented had only more people been armed.

[pipoman]

5. Logical?

Depends on who is noodling it through I guess. If the person is basing their logic simply on their own pre-conceived notions, maybe. If the person is looking at actual statistics on concealed carry compiled from states which have 'shall issue' laws on the books, the logic of such a conclusion fades away very quickly.

[tburnsten]

6. How is this the "logical outcome of armed citizens"?

How did you come to the conclusion that one man's actions are the "logical outcome of citizens being armed"? So this is one officer shooting, probably murder, where the perpetrator was a concealed carry permit holder. How many other officer murderers were NOT concealed carry licensed? This is an incredibly isolated incident, the first of its kind I have ever heard of, not the logical day to day happenings of armed citizenry.

Sounds like you have a serious bone to pick.

[krispos42]

9. It's one side of the bell curve

Not common, but it can happen. Obviously, you can't fall down stairs if your home has no stairs to begin with, and if you can't legally carry a pistol, then you won't have any permit-holders making mistakes.

Doesn't mean it will help with overall crime rates, though.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. and your point is???

[tburnsten]

7. Sad, but not enough information at this time.

Who knows what really happened yet, it is unlikely that the man is innocent of murder but at the same time stranger things have happened, more information is neccessary. That dash cam would have been very helpful.

[russ1943]

8. logical & inexorable

All of the agreed (skimpy) facts known so far make for a fascinating scenario.

The gun enthusiasts have been pretty successful in creating a framework whereby the CCW holder may not be able to be prosecuted. How can his claim of, “SELF DEFENSE” be disproved? He apparently has no criminal record. The only other person known to have been present is dead.

"I was in complete and total fear for my life!"

What else does the CCW holder have to claim?

A conventional wisdom perspective so to speak allows me to think it is more likely than not, that this policeman was murdered by the CCW holder.

(I understand the CCW holder or at least his lawyer has made some reference to a witness but I’m putting that aside for this discussion & my assumption that the CCW holder killed the cop also precludes a rogue cop context).

More guns, in more peoples hands in more places more often, will inexorably lead to more people being shot, some dead some injured some scared s@#$tless.

[pipoman]

11. Logical and inexorable?

More guns, in more peoples hands in more places more often, will inexorably lead to more people being shot, some dead some injured some scared s@#$tless.

Any stats from anyplace? Over the last 20 years CCW has compounded dramatically yet gun deaths have decreased to 40 year lows.

Here are some interesting stats and graphs related to gun crime compiled by the US justice department:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm

and more

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/fidc9397.htm

Unless you have stats from some source other than gun control activists supporting your claim, the inexorable logic seems to be figments of your imagination.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. Notice the lack of response to the facts.

[krispos42]

10. The articles are remarkable short on details

What happened immediatly after the shooting? Did the shooter flee? How could it be "self defense"?

But the shooter must have been hiding something, though.

I assume it was a uniformed officer, not an undercover, btw.


But why was the camera off and the dog in the car?

[AtheistCrusader]

13. Finding a lot of different details on this

in random places. No coherent summary. Barring some sort of police brutality, sounds to me like the suspect is a bad guy.

Suspect was arrested with one end of a set of handcuffs already on one arm. I suppose there are still some possibilities, the world is a strange place. But it doesn't really smell like self defense to me.

[JMackT]

14. Witholding judgement

Until I get more details.

[Erebus67]

15. Gonna be a tough defense, that's for sure.

With the cop's gun still holstered I am having a hard time imagining what kind of threat the cop posed that would justify deadly force. There have been cases of uniformed officers committing murder but they are about as rare as CPL holders committing murder.

Definitely thin on facts though.