He stood his ground

He stood his ground

by digby

Being armed and hyper-vigilant has a price:

A New York police officer killed his son after thinking he was an intruder and shooting him.

Michael Leach, of Rochester, was staying at the Clark Beach Motel in Old Forge, Wyoming County.

The 59-year-old and his son were part of a group of police officers who had driven to the area on motorcycles for a long-weekend getaway.

‘It was just a group of guys coming to have a good time,’ motel owner Dan Rivet Jr told uticaod.com.’We have very little violence in Old Forge.’

Leach was disturbed by someone coming into his room shortly after midnight.
Believing the disturbance to be an intruder Leach grabbed his police department-issued .45-caliber Glock handgun and opened fire.

After realising his error the 59-year-old called 911 and reported the shooting.
37-year-old Matthew Leach was pronounced dead at St Elizabeth’s Hospital and his father was taken to St Luke’s Hospital for mental support.

He stood his ground.

Why he felt he needed to have a loaded gun near his bed is a question someone would ask in a sane country. But here, it’s evidently become routine to be armed to the teeth and ready to shoot to kill at a moment’s notice.

Here’s an interesting little bit of context on this:

In November 1975, Michael Leach, then a 22-year-old officer in the Rochester Police Department, shot and killed Denise Hawkins, an 18-year-old who was coming toward him with a knife in the basement of an apartment building.

The incident led to extensive protests from black community leaders and a grand jury investigation. The shooting was ruled to be justified.

He’s got another notch on his belt.

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