Dallas officer fatally shoots man after foot chase
DALLAS — Extra officers, some in riot gear, were called out Tuesday evening to calm a crowd after a police officer fatally shot a man after a foot chase in southeast Dallas.
The victim, identified by Dallas Police Chief David Brown as James Harper, was shot after leading police Officer Brian Rowden on a chase that went over three fences near the 5300 block of Bourquin Street.
Brown said Rowden was exhausted and in fear for his life when he shot Harper.
Harper, who was not armed, had a long arrest record, which Brown read at a news conference about four hours after the 5 p.m. shooting.
Full story Here:
Dallas officer fatally shoots man after foot chase
There will be *some* that read the following commentary and will believe it to be racist, but rest assured, every word that will be posted in this commentary is TRUE and ACCURATE and has nothing to do with being racist, and has everything to do with what is really going on in neighborhoods all over this nation.
If you doubt these words, if you have a friend that is an Officer, ask them whether or not I am accurate in my assertions.
Yesterday, in a neighborhood near Fair Park, an area of Dallas Texas, a KNOWN drug dealer was shot and killed by a Dallas Police Officer.
This incident sparked a near riot as what was estimated to be a crowd of 350 people came out in immediate protest to the actions of the Dallas Police and their Officers as word spread through this neighborhood like ‘wildfire’.
All of the local television stations were carrying LIVE reports, they had helicopters in the air and at least 2 or 3 camera teams and reporters on the ground, and as this story was seen by Dallas locals, many streamed into the area to offer support to the residents and to take a stand against the Dallas Police Department.
Neighbors told police the house was a drug house, he said.
After the shooting, TV helicopters showed a crowd forming around crime scene tape. The Dallas Police Department reported on Twitter that response teams from seven substations had been summoned to the scene for traffic and crowd control.
I have to congratulate the Dallas Police for their professionalism in the handling of this incident, one that seriously could have developed into a full blown riot. The Dallas Officers performed in the manner they were trained to do, once again proving that training and professionalism are as much a part of the job as any other aspect.
Pay attention to this particular line, “Neighbors told police the house was a drug house”, it plays into the rest of my commentary.
At the news conference, Brown said a 911 caller said that a black man with his hands tied behind him was being dragged into the house by five or six Latin males. Three officers went to the house. They found no Latin males and nothing to suggest a kidnapping had occurred. Also, the phone number given to police went to a person who did not speak English and knew nothing about the matter.
It may have been a bogus call, possibly made by drug rivals, Brown said.
This entire incident was likely started by a *how to eliminate the competition with one simple phone call* scam. Bootleggers used this scam back in the days of Capone and Prohibition, drug dealers; from street level all the way up to Cartel level, use it today.
The officers knocked on the door, Brown said. They heard scurrying inside and glass being broken. When they entered, they saw a handgun on a table, Brown said.
And this is when the mayhem began, setting off a chain of events that resulted in the death of James Harper.
Harper ran out with Rowden in pursuit. They went down an alley and over three fences, and Harper fought with Rowden at each fence.
At the third fence, Brown said, Rowden “became fatigued and was losing the fight.” He said the officer “was out of energy and clinging to Mr. Harper who was beating on him.”
If you have never engaged in a foot pursuit, in 96° temperatures, in full dress, while wearing a full Police gun rig AND a ballistic vest, the nuance of the situation Officer Rowden found himself facing may escape you.
All gear combined, an Officer carries at least 40 pounds of additional weight around his chest and midsection with the equipment he carries on any given day.
Some Officers carry more equipment than others, but know this; the physical requirements placed on an Officer on the street are stringent. That is why you see mostly young and fit officers on patrol, you don’t tend to gain weight and lose your fitness until you move up to a supervisory position. 😛
Seriously, street cops have to be in tip-top condition to perform the duties they are required to perform, but even then, fatigue can set in.
According to the chief, Harper told the officer, “You’re going to have to kill me.”
Well, OK – BANG!
In fear of his life and having no cover close, Rowden pulled out his weapon and shot Harper.
He said the officer, who had been beaten and “kicked in the chest pretty aggressively,” did not require hospitalization.
Brown explained in detail how an officer is hampered during a fight because he or she can use only one arm while keeping the weapon from the other person.
“We cannot lose a fight with a gun on our hip,” Brown said.
Pay attention folks, Chief Brown is doing something that all the folks in this particular neighborhood have a real problem with understanding; Chief Brown is telling the truth!
Brown said it appeared that Harper was shot in the stomach and a hand, but that an autopsy would be conducted.
According to *the people* of this particular neighborhood, Harper was fleeing the Police and was shot in the back, MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD, as he stood there with his hands in the air.
By now I am sure you’re wondering why I said *some* that read the following commentary will believe it to be racist. I guess I forgot to mention that the deceased is a Black man and that those turning out to challenge the Dallas Police we Black individuals and that the neighborhood in question is a blighted ghetto where Police aren’t welcome.
Let me say this; as many of you know, I am Administrator for a site called The Thin Blue Line – Coast to Coast. I have members from all over the United States, most are Officers or families of Officers. I have the opportunity to talk to Officers from ALL levels of Law Enforcement on a daily basis; street cops, supervisors, Chiefs of Police, County Sheriffs and Deputies as well as an assortment of State Officers, Troopers and the like.
I garner a great amount of information from my various Police contacts and it has been my personal, on the street observation, coupled with the observations and opinions of my Officer friends that leads me to make this next statement.
There is MORE racial division in this nation today than at any time since the 1960’s and 70’s. There is more racial tension than I can remember in many years.
Black neighborhoods all over this nation are veritable powder kegs, one spark away from blowing up and causing rioting like that after the Rodney King affair.
For some reason, the Black communities seem to believe that they are being *picked on* and targeted by Police simply because they are Black. The also seem to believe that the Black population in prison is SO high simply because the Police and Judges only want to lock up Black people.
What these people fail to see is that more crimes are committed by Blacks, with more Blacks caught and jailed FOR those crimes simply because of the overwhelming number OF Blacks that are involved in criminal activities.
Blacks, as a whole, are frustrated; the election of Barack Hussein Obama was supposed to make being Black a great thing, Obama was going to be the fulfillment of a dream as Blacks were handed the keys to the Kingdom and allowed to run wild.
It just didn’t work out that way.
Now, Blacks, as a whole, seem to be looking for a fight, looking for a reason to be offended, looking for a reason to take it to the street as they wreak havoc by breaking, burning, looting and destroying anything they can.
The Black Panthers have no problem with showing up ARMED, openly armed, and crying *KILL THE WHITE MAN*. It was reported yesterday, during the LIVE reports on TV, there were many in the crowd that came out to stand against the Dallas PD that were carrying weapons, openly and obviously armed.
I do NOT exaggerate when I say; yesterday was as close as you will ever come to having a riot, an exhibition of full blown anarchy, and not actually seeing it occur.
My sources tell me that Black crime is UP tremendously this summer, Black on Black crime is way up as well, but if a Black criminal, engaged in some form of illegal activity threatens the life of a Police Officer and said Officer is forced to shoot, the cry from the neighborhood is one of RACIST COPS. Never mind that the Officer involved may well have been Black himself.
It appears to me, through personal observation and from comments from friends, neighbors and relatives that ARE Officers of the Law that many in the Black community are spoiling for a fight and that just ONE WORD said the wrong way could be the trigger to a catastrophic event.
Desperation, and a sense of entitlement runs rampant in some Black communities right now, and until such time as those feelings are laid to rest, we, as a people, Black and White, as well as our Police and Firefighters, are in a dangerous position because of these Obama supporting anarchists and trouble makers. We must all remain vigilant and be prepared to address any possible scenario that may arise.
To the Black folks that are so upset about the number of young Black men that have been recently shot by the Dallas PD; when these young men stop being hoodlums, drug dealers, gang members and criminals, they won’t be placing themselves in a position to be shot by the Police.
If for some reason you find my words to be racist and offensive, know this; THE TRUTH IS NOT HATE SPEECH. I have spoken nothing but the truth in this post!
This house was a known DRUG HOUSE, the person shot was a KNOWN drug dealer, yet the neighborhood came out to support HIM!
Figure that one out…
Fred,
You end your article with, “This house was a known DRUG HOUSE, the person shot was a KNOWN drug dealer, yet the neighborhood came out to support HIM!
Figure that one out…”
OK, here it is in black and white (pun FULLY intended)…
the neighborHOOD came out to support HIM…
BECAUSE HE WAS KNOWN TO BE BLACK!!!
Guess eyes bees racis’ two!!!
Guess eyes bees racis’ two!!!
LMAO 😛
First off Fred, excellent post, you’re very objective.
Secondly, as you know I spent 28 years as a Police Officer, doing an 7 year stretch working narcotics with the DEA task force in McAllen, Texas, Hidalgo Texas, located right in the middle of drug corridor here in South Texas. We had our hands full to say the. Least, so I understand what the Dallas Officer was up against.
In the type of situation which the officer found himself in the first place was DANGEROUS from the get go. Apparently thee foot pursuit was close to or within the violators neighborhood. The officer was in a bad spot, not knowing neighborhood, exhausted and not knowing if help was close by or not.
The very moment that the OFFICER felt like he was losing control of situation, the fight, he knew within himself that he had to make a decision; a decision he had to make and little time to make the decision. How much time did he have? About the time it takes you to blink your eyes, just a millisecond.
The Officer knew that his window was closing, he made the right decision, unfortunately he had to take a life. He did not go to work that day thinking “Well who can I shoot and kill today?”
That thought is not in his mind, but it is SOMETHING, that is embedded into your training.
Can you just picture running with 50 pounds of added weight, you are running with the radio mic in one hand your calling your direction, your are checking your surroundings, all of this while chasing a bad guy, then the fight, your winded, your soaked in sweat, you begging to fade out, you know if the bad guy gets your weapon your dead, now it’s life threatening your life, you do what you have to do. Unfortunately the bad guy is DEAD, but you went home. Job well done.
Unless you have been there in his shoes, then no one can criticize, that’s up to the Shooting team and DA….
It’s the longest week of your life waiting for the grand jury’s NO-Bill.
You know my story, so I will say no more, but trust me, it’s a long week.
As a former Police Officer and Former Chief it’s appreciated how you presented the post, just the truth. If you speak the truth, the facts will support the incident, period.
This Officer should be cleared, no doubt.
The blacks support ALL blacks no matter what they are,,, or have done.
Only being black is there mantra.
Nothing else matters to them.
I know this area well, as I had to drive thru it to get to Baylor Hospital for my wife’s cancer treatments and operations.
This area is 100% typical of what blacks do to “all their neighborhoods”.
Run down, no grocery stores, almost all businesses closed except for absolute crap stores selling liquor, cigarettes and lottery tickets.
Prostitutes openly hawk their wares.
Stoplights along the route scare me, and I am calm, alert, and prepared.
Yesterday’s righteous shooting was all that was left for the Dallas PD officer to do.
Lots of police have been killed this way.
Did you see the newsreel of this? Swarming huge crowd of ignorant black women, young black men, older black men.
The reporter’s camera caught all the ebonic jibberish coming out of all their mouths.
Then the black councilmen, and their political entourage were recorded spewing out verbal lies about their mistreatment.
The cry of “gib’s me dat” and “like” starting every sentence, made anyone watching who graduated from High School just cringe.
So what is the answer??
I believe the blacks want a riot! Kill whitey is their mantra.
After all, we will go back into the burned ruins and re-build it better “for them”.
I am just tired of paying for all the reparations to the blacks, and look where it has got us.
It is time now for changes to be made. Stop the black subsidies NOW.
Let them riot and burn. Cordon off the area. Shoot any black that wants to break out and riot, burn, kill whitey.
I’m done with anymore “sympathy.”
Arrest, convict and punish.
And I hope all these upcoming black riots all start on the same day.
I want it all done, and get it over with this epidemic, so our lives can get back to keeping the USA and it’s Constitution viable.
If not, then these United States will become ripe for a full-out war with the Communist Nations such as China and Russia.
And if “one of these powers win, guess what the Chinese or Russians would do with the black population??????
I watched the whole thing unfold for over an hour, I thought the DPD did a marvelous job of self restraint!
Damn that apple aint too far off the branch is it? LMAO..
Well, if the hoodrats and barrio dwellers want to riot I guess they can have dallas and LA but they come to my “Hood” and I got plenty of firepower to remove the urge from them. I’m sure you guys in Texas proper won’t hesitate in making examples out of a few of them either.
Gangbangers and drug dealers killing each other? Oh that’s just life in big cities. Cop kills them? OH MY GAWD RIOT!!!… P
Personally, I’d like to see the dept of wildlife management issue tags for scum like this. I’d have a hoodrat and Paco mounted next to bambi over my fire place.
But do you have any good recipes?? 😕
It’s gonna get worse. Count on it.
Why should Blacks not riot? They know that they will get anything they want to stop rioting. Free food, free televisions, free money.
The next time they riot the police should get out the fire hoses and wipe them out with them. If that doesn’t work, shooting bullets will. I can assure you that the riot will stop and it will be a long time before they ever even think of rioting.
And yes, I will be called a racist for this. Too bad.
I am a former police officer and have worked many years in a neighborhood that looked quite similar and had the exact same inhabitants as in this situation here.
I have been in some knock down drag out fights many times. I worked these streets in my early thirties when I was in my top physical condition and I can tell you one thing…2 minutes of hand to hand fighting and ground fighting is absolute torture. I have had situations where if my backup didn’t show up when they did, I would have been done for. During these fights, I had used up all the energy I had in me and was running on pure adrenaline and when it was over, I was to the point I could not catch my breath for 10 minutes and didn’t have the strength to stand on my own feet. Two minutes does not seem like a long time until you are fighting for your life. I have weighed my equipment, and trimmed down to the bare minimum, was 26 lbs. When I was a rookie, I carried all the goodies, had two sets of cuffs, a large heavy flashlight, and anything else sold that was painted black and looked cool on a belt. After a while, you realize this crap is heavy and you carefully choose what you need with you at all times and what can stay in the car.
Every single cop knows that losing a fight even once, could be his last. If I am over-powered or knocked unconscious, they will take my gun and could very well use it on me or later on some poor slob they decide to shoot. If the bad guy loses a fight, he gets the cuffs slapped on him. But if the cop loses the fight, he may never see his family again. Big difference in motivations.
If a person is insane enough to put hands on an armed officer, then the cop cannot assume that person is normal or will play fair. So many times you hear stories how the cops over-reacted to someone and how they shot some poor slob who only had a pocket knife and blah blah blah. Well, that is garbage. The number one rule of police work is to go home at the end of your shift. No where does it say I have to fight fair. Those rules are for sports, not police work. A cop can NOT fight fair for the simple reason as stated above, he can not afford to lose EVEN ONCE. There is no BS that if the bad buy has a club so I should only use a club. In a fight for my life, I will bite, claw, rips his balls off, whatever it takes to win. I WILL GO HOME AND SEE MY FAMILY.
This job is tough and there are very few like it. One minute you could be thinking about how wonderful life is and the next thing, you could be fighting for yours. There may be no warning…nothing. Being a cop means SHTF moments are common.
Our criminal system is bad enough with the leniency on criminals these days. Now we have worsened the system by allowing criminals to never take responsiblity for their own actions, they claim it’s someone else’s fault, they are a victim of circumstances, big dollar civil lawsuits and on and on. The only reason this continues is because bleeding heart liberals have allowed it and forced the rest of us to accept it. They lend credence to these cretins and get placed on juries where they award big dollar settlements to criminals that got beat up by the cops. They ruin a cops career and slap the bad guy on the wrist. It is crap like this that many cops no longer do the job they as they should. I remember when a young black thug came at me with a knife. I drew my gun and had every right to kill him and stop the threat to my life. As I had my gun drawn on him, and as he was coming at me, all I could think of was the Internal Affairs investigation I would have to face, the 3 months of humiliating leave after having to turn in my gun and badge while they investigated me and Monday morning quarterbacked my every action. I was more afraid of this than being stabbed. I ended up holstering and going to pepper spray and hand to hand in order to disarm this stupid kid as opposed to having to take his life. In the end, I made a decision to put my life at risk in order to save his life. And what did I get for this? His entire family still filed a racial harassment complaint against me and I still had to endure an IA investigation. I was cleared, but it was still hell to go through. That was my thanks for saving his life.
Anyone who condemns this cop without all the facts should have to face the same circumstances. They should be placed in a life or death struggle with real and actual death as a consequence for losing. Cops, firefighters, soldiers and very few if any other job has death as a real possibility everyday. To be judged by people who work in safety and comfort everyday should not be. How can they truly judge a person’s actions when the worse thing they could get at work is a paper cut.
But with out PC as high as it has ever been and the most divisive attitude our country has seen in half a century, this poor cop may be ruined. That is his reward for protecting his community and the consequence for having to fight for his life. Protesting blacks are doing nothing but protecting their own. After 150 years of freedom from slavery, so many blacks have this revenge for slavery attitude. They continue to blame white people for their own self-inflicted misery. No matter what is done for them, in their minds, nothing can make up for what happened generations ago. When will it be over? When will blacks learn to forgive and let the past remain in the past?
Everyone has to deal with tough moments…it’s called life. But it seems for black people, when something good doesn’t happen for them, it’s because of racism.
I am sure many of us here are starting to see the pendulum is swinging back. Now, being called a racist is not to be feared, but expected. I can’t help but feel that way too many white folks are getting a little tired and finally, ready to put a stop to it.
White people as a whole are really trying to end racism. On the whole, we have come a long way and have done a really great job at this. The only people that won’t let racism die are the people who benefit from it and claim to be the victims of it. They see that by labeling themselves as victims, they can demand special treatment and great benefits. They don’t have to take responsibility for their own actions, they don’t have to work, they don’t have to stop having babies, and they keep getting more and more free govt stuff. As long as we allow these attitudes to continue and the free cheese provided by the govt at our expense, this crap will continue. We need to stop it now. We need to quit rewarding “Victims”, we need to quit with the special laws favoring blacks, and we need to ignore the race-baiters such as $harpton an jack$on and others from peddling their racist wares.
Most of all, we need to quit condemning law enforcement officers who act responsibly and properly. We need to allow them to do their job.
If liberals allow this type of behavior continue, everyday average white people will be forced to take action and fix this problem ourselves, and it won’t be pretty. Just like the officer in this story. We are fighting for our very lives. We can NOT afford to lost this battle.
SDKAR, This IS the best reply That I have ever Heard or read regarding the plight of an “exhausted policeman facing the absolute reality of being killed in the line of duty.
If I was a young man at the academy teaching “street smarts” to young recruits, I would use your reply as a “mandatory handout and teaching”.
It IS that good. There are a lot of “old crow” officers here, and I expect they would feel the same.
TEN-HUT,,,,dismissed.
I remember back in the 80’s in Dallas there was a rash of shootings by police. Almost all the bad guys were Black. Lots of media coverage and speculation. Local Black politicians and activists raising hell, threatening riots. So the police backed off. Results? Several dead Dallas cops over the next year or so.
One of those cops shot was patroling downtown Dallas at mid afternoon. Beside the Federal Building he stopped to question a couple of Black guys. One of them, a homeless guy, jumped the officer. They fought. The Black guy was able to get the officer’s gun from it’s holster and got the drop on him. The officer begged the guy not to shoot. Then the Black guy shot the officer 3 or 4 times killing him. That was bad. Equally bad or worse was the crowd across the street at a MacDonalds. The MacDonalds and an adjacent Greyhound bus depot were nortorious hangouts for Black teens, thugs and vagrants. Right in the heart of the Dallas downtown business district and mere blocks from court houses. Anyway, while the homeless guy was deciding what to do as he held the officer at gunpoint and the officer was begging for his life, the very large crowd of Blacks were screaming and shouting, “Kill the pig, kill Whitey, kill him”. And that is what the vagrant decided to do. There were no criticisms of the crowd’s behavior from Black politicians or activists. No prayer vigils from Black clergy.
Not a lot has changed in 25 or 30 years. We can still see the same primitive feral mob (tribal) mindset in the present fad of Black flashmobs ransacking stores. The same attitude of preferring rule of mob to rule of law. The idolizing of criminals and thugs. And the blaming of Whitey for the results of Blacks own seemingly preferrence for community anarchy. There are a lot of good Blacks, but they still seem to pick the worst possible leaders for their communities, or maybe only rabble rousing, self serving, criminal minded want to be leaders. I quit trying to figure out the whys or answers a long time ago.
Tuesday in Dallas showed that not a lot has changed in 30 yrs. in Black communities whether it is South Dallas, South Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, Compton, DC. or dozens of other locales. 95% for obama is a very telling statistic.
There is MORE racial division in this nation today than at any time since the 1960’s and 70’s. There is more racial tension than I can remember in many years.
Black neighborhoods all over this nation are veritable powder kegs, one spark away from blowing up and causing rioting like that after the Rodney King affair.
—————————
Indeed Fred, Indeed.
I have friends who are in LE in several states and have been in similar situations. A couple are in one of the HOTTEST cities in the country and wear all the extra gear you mentioned. I know three who are in LE that had to shoot the perp or bad guy to get home to their families and all three bad guys were shot dead. Two Blacks and a Mexican. So they are racists, of course as all of us are called when the truth is told.
Big well done to the DPD and I will cross post to PC. Fine job and this needs to be shared with as many as possible.
I am not a law enforcement officer. I do know they have the toughest job inside the boundaries of the United States, except maybe for Obama’s spin doctors.
sdkar is correct, there is no such thing as a fair fight that an officer on duty is involved in, and rule number one is live to see your family.
Now, Fred, I want you to know that I believe you have written one heck of a fine post here, but there may be one thing you overlooked. You see, the poor, unarmed victim was simply a self-employed young man, doing what he could to scrape together enough to keep his family supported. All those people you say were trying to riot, why, they were simply his grief-stricken customers, showing their support for this home-town business man that the PO-lees had done obviously targeted for no reason what-so-ever.
buh-WAH HAHH HAH HAH HAH! Sorry, couldn’t keep a straight face any more.
In a society where one faction decides that it does not need to live by the rules and mores of the rest, a larger percentage of that faction will be found guilty of breaking those rules, and subsequently wind up serving the appropriate sentences FOR breaking those rules. There is nothing “racist” about crime, if a majority of your buddies are criminals, then a majority of them are going to end up in jail.
While the thought makes me (nervous? apprehensive?), I can see a time coming soon when the Panthers will light the fuse themselves, and then jump in with both feet. Like Robert, I will defend my home turf (sorry, Fred, I don’t have any recipes either) and the warning shots will be double taps.
Fred, thanks for the coverage. I also watched this unfolding on local television and was absolutely impressed by the courage, restraint, and professionalism of the Dallas PD.
I think I have mentioned this to you before, Fred, but I am expecting an American Kristallnacht before the end of the Obama menace. That is why I close my posts with
keep your powder dry
So, it appears that the HOOD RATS did what HOOD RATS do best, they LIED…
County ME says no truth to rumors about report saying James Harper was shot in back; autopsy report still “weeks” away
Too damned much restraint… Should have been 350 more based upon the news reports. But then again I’m the guy that told the robber, who just happened to be black, to “drop the damned gun or I will blow you out from under that wool” back in the day. I’d never make it in the PC world of today’s Police…
Best post from retired LE ever!
Should win a Pulitizer prize or something,,,,,,