Tyler Heilman, 24, was shot and killed outside of his home in Kastoa, Minnesota by Deputy Sheriff Todd Waldron. The shooting is particularly controversial because Heilman was unarmed and wearing only a speedo swimsuit.
Waldron had followed Heilman from a pool in an unmarked Dodge Durango. Police say that he was driving erratically and even went up an embankment at one point.
The family says that Waldron never identified himself as an officer despite the fact that he demanded to see Heilman’s license. The two got into a scuffle and after wrestling on the ground, Heilman got up. It was then that, according to the family, he saw the badge on Waldron’s belt and was raising his hands, when Waldron, 37, fired four shots – two hitting Heilman.
The family insists that Waldron never told Heilman to freeze or gave him a chance.
The incident raises a legitimate question over the use of lethal force. Assaulting the officer certainly allows an officer to take efforts to subdue the suspect with a baton, taser or even pulling his service weapon. A past assault is insufficient if the suspect is raising his hands or not continuing to assault the officer. Such a use would be viewed as retaliation rather than self-defense.
In Tennessee v. Garner, the Court held that lethal force cannot be used to apprehend a suspect:
The use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. It is no doubt unfortunate when a suspect who is in sight escapes, but the fact that the police arrive a little late or are a little slower afoot does not always justify killing the suspect. A police officer may not seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead. The Tennessee statute is unconstitutional insofar as it authorizes the use of deadly force against such fleeing suspects.
An officer cannot only use lethal force if he is under threat of serious harm or protecting others from such an imminent threat. If he pulled the weapon and fired without further provocation or threat from Heilman, there is a real problem with this shooting. The investigation will have to determine if Heilman was charging the officer at the same of the shooting. The prior assault makes the case a difficult one. Even if Waldron did not identify himself as claimed, one usually assumes that someone asking to look at your license is an officer — particularly after (as claimed by the police) you have been driving erratically.
Heilman is survived by a three-year-old son. The family has announced plans for a lawsuit, here.
It is a real shame that crimes like these continue to occur. I’m sure the cop will be shielded from any real punishment, just like all the rest of these situations.
“And the Chief said that after further review, The officer was in his right due to penis envy”
WTF is this country coming to?
Has Tennessee vs Garner ever been read? Over ruled? I guess it has about as much applicability as the Miranda “Rite”.
Some will agree with me on this and other should be ashamed not to. We know who you are.
Do you not think that there should be some moral code in the swimwear industry not to make speedos in Large, X-Large and XX-Large. But then again, some people like that type of stuff.
I suspect that there’s more to this. The family has an interest in saying Waldron did nothing to identify himeself, etc. OTOH, I suspect he would have played cop sooner if he’d had a legit reason , too. Sounds like a drug deal gone bad or something else shady. Neither is probably an angel.
So it is completely acceptable to shoot and murder someone who is clearly unarmed?
Almost anything seems to go in these United States these days. Many police officers seem to be out of control (though I still choose to believe that there are many good people in law enforcement) — I am seeing things that I never could have imagined and, yet, the events taking place are obvious. Some in law enforcement appear to be involved.
There are surveillance/”stalking” groups that are harassing innocent, law-abiding, American citizens in many, if not all, communities across this country. These groups operate with impunity. They are America’s great shame.
If we do not bring consequences for the Sgt. Crowelys and Dick Cheneys of the world, this will continue to get worse.
Rich (see comment above) is, btw, probably a pedophile. How do I know? Because only a pedophile would accuse a dead man he didn’t know of being a drug dealer.
The Sheriff’s deputy didn’t pull Heilman over, he followed him into his apartment building parking lot and accosted him after he got out of his vehicle. No ID was shown, no effort was made to clarify the situation. Heilman reacted exactly like a guy who’d just been rousted by some officious busybody, not like a guy dealing with a cop.
This is an outrageous case and since Heilman was white, there’s a very good chance the deputy will face charges.
“Sounds like a drug deal gone bad or something else shady. Neither is probably an angel.”
Being shot to death for not being an angel. Certainly a new legal theory to me.
Mark,
That may be true, but only a garden gnome would accuse someone they didn’t know of being a pedophile based on their accusing someone else they didn’t know of being a drug dealer!
Shhhhh . . .
My garden gnome is a pedophiliac drug dealer. That’s why I had him encased in concrete.
Yet another example of American police gone wild.
How long will these lawless gangs in blue be allowed to terrorize without facing arrest and punishment?
the union rep for the cop who arrested Prof Gates said on the tv machine that Obama owes an apology to all cops, everywhere.
this one too? the cops who taser grannies? little kids?
I already miss ya tyler
i hope your living prosperious behind those pearly gates my friend……
It is interesting that there seems to be a dearth of comments on this thread yet folks had a lot to say on the thread regarding Gates. How pitiful. An unarmed suspect is dead. No doubt the officer will be cleared. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.
What amazes me is that if the situation was reversed and Tyler shot the cop there would have been charges right away, Tyler would have been put in jail on the spot, the public would have had the cops account of the story. The BCA is saying that their investigation will take 6-8 weeks and that the public should withhold judgement until then. WHATEVER! If there was a “good reason” for this murder then why aren’t we hearing about it? I believe that they are waiting for the public to “settle down”. Anyone else would be sitting in jail, not on paid admin. leave. So far they are saying that Tyler was approximently 5-6 feet away when he was shot, standing in nothing but swimtrunks. The cop was approximently 60 lbs heavier. How could he be such a threat? I want the report from the BCA…shouldn’t be taking this long!!!
You’ve got to love anti-police and anti-order people who talk out of their asses before knowing the facts. My heart goes out to all the parties inovolved along with their families and friends. Officer Waldron was put into a horrible situation and has to live with this for the rest of his life. He was doing his job and then was attacked by Heilman. The BCA report will take awhile to come out. They will do a very thorough investigation.
For those of you who are passing judgement on Officer Waldron before knowing all the facts should just wait until more facts come out and learn that you can’t just go by what the media reports. They don’t have the whole story and don’t always report the whole story when they do have it. Here are a couple points to ponder… Kasota is a very small town. Heilman had numerous run ins with law enforcement in the past and numerous offences on his record. Heilman has offences for assulting a peace officer. Officers in small communities know people have lengthy criminal histories. Heilman had been consuming alcohol that afternoon. Heilman had been driving very irratically. Heilman drove off the road, up a grassy hill to the apartment complex. Heilman attacked Officer Waldron. Officer Waldron was concerned for his safety and had to make a split second decision to protect himself. Law enforcement officers are trained to protect themselves first and to use deadly force if need be. Enough said.
If you can’t stop an unarmed man in a Speedo without a gun, you should be working at Wal-Mart instead of as a police officer. This situation really is that simple. I’m not even a cop and I can think of a half dozen very basic ways to disable and contain an unarmed man without using a gun even as a threat. Don’t they teach you boys any kind of joint locks or submission holds or is the training to now to shoot first and ask questions later? Hell, even basic wrestling skills would have been sufficient. Seriously, a yellow belt could have taken this guy down and not broken sweat. This isn’t “poor attacked officer”. If the guy had come at him with a weapon or there was a reasonable suspicion that he was carrying, I can see pulling the gun and possibly using it. This is just bad judgment. This is an issue of competence or lack thereof in dealing with said attack and exercising the appropriate amount of force to resolve a situation with the minimal damage possible. Shooting an unarmed man who was by the very nature of his garb incapable of having a concealed weapon unless he pulled it out someplace one does not traditionally carry a firearm or bladed weapon? So the proper reaction is a fatal shooting instead of any one of the several non-lethal physical techniques you should have gotten as part of any reasonable and/or effective police training? Was the officer not carrying a taser? How about that ubiquitous pepper spray? Had to shoot him, huh? Ehhh, don’t think so. Enough said.
Buddha- Officer Waldron is an Investigator and was in plain clothes and driving and unmarked Durango. Investigators don’t normally wear a duty belt with all the tools that a normal uniformed officer wears. Normally Investigators carry a badge and a gun.
Has anyone thought yet that Heilman had tried grabbing Waldron’s gun? Only one side of the story has been made public, which is from a few friends of Heilman’s and other speculators. No other information has been made available because of the investigation. Wait to judge and critize until all the facts are available.
The truth has come out. All of you speculating and blow smoke out your asses can now find out the truth!
One of the numerous news articles:
http://www.startribune.com/local/north/72752757.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
YouTube of press conference:
Quote:
“A grand jury decided this month not to indict Waldron in the case.
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Which I think was an incorrect decision, especially given the additional facts.
Mighty mouse Le Sueur County sheriff’s deputy Tom Waldron was out of his league and he should have waited for the squad car to arrive. He instigated an altercation that needlessly caused the death of a father.
Quote:
Assistant Anoka County Attorney Andrew Johnson “confirmed that Waldron did not verbally identify himself as a law enforcement officer.”
________________________________
This certainly appears an injustice to me and another case of giving unwarranted deference to the officer.
FFLEO,
What is the end result?
Who knows? A civil suit perhaps? This all seems an injustice based on the deputy’s supposition that Mr. Hielman knew Waldron was an officer and the county attorney’s limited direction/instructions to the grand jury.
_________________________________
Quote:
“The only question the grand jury had before it was whether there was probable cause to believe that Waldron’s actions were murder, the jury said no,” Johnson said Tuesday.
Also at issue was whether or not Hileman knew Waldron, again in plain clothes, was a deputy.
The attorney’s say it was obvious. He (Waldron) said Hileman looked at his badge and gun several times.
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=829160
Reading the entire account Gomnvikes belief that it exonerates Officer is to be charitable, premature. The truth is still quite up in the air but for the young man to have died due to his intervention is intolerable. After all the Officer’s only basis of suspicion was that in his opinion the car was driving “erratically”
“Waldron called for a squad to respond, lost sight of the car and went to an apartment complex on an unrelated matter,”
Just a felicitous coincidence finding the cars occupants. They were now out of the car so what was the Officer’s investigation of them going to be about? The officer by his own word did not see them park. The driving “erratically” was judgment call open to many interpretations, some of which would not be illegal and a squad of officers was on the way to do what exactly? It really seems to me that the officer was being hyper zealous and perhaps had some personal investment in this. Perhaps he felt he had been cut off by the offending auto. In any event the events leading up to the officer’s confrontation do not seem anywhere in the league of requiring the death of a “supposed” perpertrator and the appearance of a new witness, casually driving by and stopping to see a fistfight might well be taken with a grain of salt since that witness dis not view the events providing context to the struggle.
In my opinion, based on the cited story alone, this was Manslaughter fueled by the officers feeling slighted. Just another example of life in today’s America, that has allowed its’ police officers to forget that their first duty is to the public and not in ensuring the obeisance of the public.
Always swim in the place with a lifeguard train station which has a lifeguard present. A lifeguard needs to be preserving observe on your own part of the actual beach front always.swim fins