There is a growing outcry in Tuscaloosa, Ala. after a police officer fatally shot a man wielding a “large metal spoon in a threatening manner.” Jeffory Ray Tevis, 50, was killed after a confrontation with the officer on his balcony. Police say that he may have been “suffering from a mental episode” . . . and then he grabbed a spoon.
Police were responded to a report of an assault on the premises and found Tevis with blood on his face and legs. He said that he had been attacking while another man accused him of threatening him. Police say that he became aggressive and an officer used a stun gun but Tevis then charged the officer with a spoon. Police said it was 10-12 inches long. The officer shoot him twice in self-defense.
The officer reported minor injuries.
As daunting as a large spoon maybe, the incident rises the question that we discussed earlier about sharp difference in the use of lethal force in the United States as opposed to other countries. In fairness, we have not heard the officer’s account and it may be possible at the location on the balcony or other factors proved mitigating. However, the object itself raises fair questions about the use of lethal force.
Annie,
Amosexual freedoms and their deeply held convictions always come before the safety of others…
Aridog, the killer, VESTER FLANAGAN AKA: Bryce Williams had a double bonus protected class. He was gay and black. And, he threw around the race card freely. Enabling can be deadly. The liberals here can’t even say his name, much less hold him accountable.
Radon! Testing for radon in WI. and MN is mandatory when selling/buying a home. But, you can own a home for decades and never know. There are home test kits that work well. I’m glad you caught it. Take care of yourselves.
Nick … an aside regarding Dera’s and Ari’s deaths from cancer caused Judi to insist we have professional air quality, mold, and Radon tests done. Result on the air and mold have not come back yet, but the Radon ( a known carcinogen) did at 7.7…anything over 4.0 requires remediation, so our next “household expense” will be to install remedial devices to reduce the Radon in our house. We’ll test again in 30 days for a new reading, since weather can effect Radon measurements, and then proceed accordingly. Damn!
Nick … thanks for the remark about our dog “Dera”. It’s been 10 days now and I am healing on schedule. However a strange thing has occurred with our cat, usually aloof as snot and hardly affectionate, except with “Dera”…and now she follows me around and demands I let her sit on my lap, even when sitting at this desk. I suspect little Nitwit Kitty feels the loss more than all of us.
Annie … good questions. Really. My answer is yes a heightened sense of situational awareness might have helped the 3 people shot in Virginia…however, I’d hold the station responsible for providing awareness coverage when reporters and cameramen are focused on their subject. We live in an ugly world at times and at times no amount of awareness will save you. Slightly off topic…I’m a little concerned that this crazy man was discharged for cause and noted to be volatile, implying violence now and then, yet anyone calling and asking about him wouldn’t be told of all that due to the litigious society we’ve become. Have we put blinders on ourselves?
Ari, Everything you said about some people carrying a sidearm and reckless behavior can be said about driving an automobile. Are we going to do complete psych evaluations for all gun owners, licensed drivers? How about if you buy an ax, or set of sharp knives, of chainsaw? The list can go on. Don’t get me wrong Ari, there are people who get balls from a gun. Hell, think of all the people who get “balls from the bottle.” This is a free society. With freedom comes risk. We need REASONABLE laws and regulations for guns. But, you know that is a Trojan Horse for the 2nd Amendment haters. I’ve known you for a long time, Ari. If there were folks w/ your knowledge, common sense, and wisdom regulating firearms, I would be happy. But, that ain’t the case.
Sorry for the death of your dog, my man.
Aridog, do you think the two news people shot in Virginia yesterday should’ve had the expectation that they could’ve been shot by someone who was fired from their place of employment two years prior? Do you think heightened situational awarness during a casual interview at a water park could’ve saved them from an ambush from the shooter? Do you think even if they would’ve been armed they could’ve saved themselves?
stevegroen … now do you have any ideas about how we could accomplish that? While I agree that some people draw “false courage” from a sidearm, I am not sure how to vet it. It’s a tricky proposition. Politics would no doubt pollute the process.
I agree, mainly because bravado is practice by those of us in denial (speaking for myself of course, as I’ve been there before), and denial is a hard shell to pry open. I have no real answers though. That’s a complex policy issue and, as you say, brazenly political.
Perhaps simple visuals would be a start, such as mandated training videos to coincide the 9th-grade-level firearms safety exam one must take to obtain a weapon with trained actors strutting their stuff around and then getting the shi’ite scared out of them when they get into it with someone who won’t just back down at the sight of dude walking around with his shoulders spread. Visuals are mentally imaged and recorded much better than the spoken word I think.
And then “some” (meaning at least two separate days for a total of ten to twelve hours’) firearms training to carry concealed. I’m all for anyone carrying as long as he or she suffers through the training regimen to get a modicum of contemplative time in.
Issac … you do make an interesting point about the false “courage” a sidearm can generate. I am a long time shooter (I murder paper and/or clay targets) and someone who has carried for real long ago, today just because…it lends no confidence to my attitude, just a fall back provision I’d rather not require. Anyone who has actually been in a gunfight knows that sidearm bravado is baloney (your so called “bravery” melts after the first shots are exchanged)…you discover that v-e-r-y quickly…however I do believe that a carried gun can generate false “courage” in some people, maybe too many people. So it is a worthwhile subject for discussion…and a feature of personality that perhaps should be part of side arm licensing. A psych check? What? I am not sure, but more than willing to discuss.
Aridog: Excellent post (at 3:55PM). I’m one-hundred percent in agreement regarding a licensing requirement dealing with concealed-carry bravado.
I should add that the map of states requiring good background checks provided by I. Annie a while back is germane and those casual states (the majority) need to tighten up their requirements. Even then, if federal screener folks don’t do their jobs, the background may be useless because it isn’t observed. The incident in Roanoke, VA is a classic example…there was ample background to deny the guy a permit to purchase, but he did so anyway. Carelessness kills.
Dust Bunny Queen … your own in-house pedant here 😀 You will never be “charged” by a wild wolf unless you are messing with his or her food supply, be it carrion or garbage.
Unfortunately, when humans move in to an area and develop it, their first product is garbage and wolves like garbage and quickly adapt to it as a food source….then humans may have problems with wolves, but it is of their own making….albeit sometimes necessary. Even then in the past 200 years wolf on human attacks have been very rare…and some Grizzly attacks get blamed on wolves post facto. Now Grizzlies can be aggravated to attack just by a human presence in a boundary area that is replete with garbage. I highly recommend no one be casual with their food and garbage in Yankee Jim Canyon or Mill Creek Gorge in Montana ( and those are the less remote locales)…Griz is not your best buddy. You got food? He/she’s gonna take it and get very unpleasant if you are anywhere nearby. Big difference between wolves and grizzly bears. I give Griz a very wide berth because…BEARS.
Issac … your mistake about .45 ACP pistols is not a big deal (a gun is a gun)…personally that would be my preferred defense weapon if pushed in to a corner by a nut case. And I do carry a .45 ACP pistol. Fortunately that hasn’t happened since I took off my uniform long ago. Lately I am more aware of everything around me due to crazy people acting out in places untold of before. Now I watch everything and look closely at anyone approaching that I don’t know well. Where I live that is a necessity given the issues between Shia’ and Sunni … I live among Shia’ and a Sunni could easily penetrate our neighborhood….and make things ugly for us all.
It is the price we pay…situational awareness, which is always the best defense…even back in the day when I was still in uniform…several times I found force unnecessary for me when I made contact with a smile and extended hand. The problem with that approach is knowing when it is futile. That’s not easy. The USA is not Europe, or even Asia…where I’ve lived at times. We won’t remedy crime in the USA by removing guns, but might make a dent if we went back to providing care for the nut cases…and frankly I am not sure we can do that anymore. Long ago when the state closed the sanitarium near my home, one of the released persons promptly went out and killed an old lady on her porch..with an ax. I’ve visited mental institutions when they were common, such as the one that used to be near Traverse City, MI., and they seemed to be more about incarceration than cure or remediation. They even locked up epileptics…really. I just don’t know anymore how we could do it. But…I’d listen to any rational ideas.
Aridog
A great response, but some don’t cotton to that situational awareness talk around these parts. It rustles their jimmies.
It’s the price paid by all for the rights of a few to feel empowered.
Issac
“Power perceived is power achieved.”
Ernie Hudson
The Substitute
Some, here, would take exception.
@ What????
Go ahead. Take exception. We have many more exceptions to dish out for you to feast upon…..say please. 😀
And for all of those second guessing the policeman and micro managing what he should’a could’a done (yes Isaac I’m looking at you). Unless you have ever been in a situation where 1. you don’t know what you are going to face UNTIL you get into the middle of the situation. 2. you are trapped on a balcony with a bloody crazed man who was totally ignoring being tazed rushing at you with a possible weapon in his hands with all intents to either kill you or throw your butt off of the balcony to the concrete below. 3. A man likely out of his gourd on drugs at the least……you have no basis from which to speak. How dare you judge.
When you are being charged by a mountain lion, a bear, a wolf or even a crazed pit bull, you don’t have time to analyze the situation, call Peta, worry about the endangered species status or anything else. You shoot and hope you survive. If you don’t act in an instant, you will be dead or worse. Ditto when being charged by or stalked by a crazed human being.
The police, every day, face life and death decisions that must be made instantaneously. And for dopes who don’t know their rear from a hole in the ground to discuss and try to dissect the situation without any real information is just beyond tedious.
It is easy to be an arm chair quarterback when you don’t live in the areas where these crimes and dangers occur and where you probably would not consider even visiting after dark. Safe and secure in your underwear behind your computer screen. Cocooned in your echo chamber. Speaking from your ideological ignorance. It is easy to say what someone who is on the front lines should have done when it is a place and a situation that YOU would never voluntarily go or be involved in.
pinandpuller
45 or 9mm, he was nothing without the gun and without it Martin would be alive. Zimmerman would not have even unlocked his car door. Of course my mistake regarding calibre means that absolutely everything I have ever said is without merit. To some this is how they base their foundation on issues.
Issac
I meant no offence to the calibre of your comment. I should have known you were from the UK
We do have a concept here that GZ had the same right to walk around and observe TM as TM had to be in the subdivision but he had no right to go hands on with GZ.
Consensual encounters aren’t just for police v citizens. And 911 operators aren’t the boss of me.
Its pretty obvious that TM was a troubled kid on a drug run and his life of crime was cut short.
I’m not going to exclude using deadly force if some young punk wants to put me in the hospital (see Sean Connery, The Untouchables).
Said about Jonathan Turley, by “Nick Spinelli”: “But, he’s in a manic cop hating phase and needed one post for today.”
This is the second time in just a few days that “Nick Spinelli” has used the word “manic” to describe Jonathan Turley. Some, here, would take exception.
Nick: The Frogs will want us to take on ISIS all over the middle east while the Frogs stay home and eat….. Frog Legs. Friggin Frogs! All of Europe is lame. We should pull out now like our fathers should have.
Barkindog
If our fathers had pulled out we wouldn’t be here.
zedalis
Reminds me of an Ouroboros…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros
The same murder apologists chasing the same murder apologists tail. Unreal.
pin, And it was Americans who defended themselves and many Europeans on the Paris bound train. We are the last people you want to screw w/!!