Jim Leach began his law enforcement career in 1975, and he shares his insights as a Criminal Justice Consultant for Golden Media Group. He served as a Special Agent in Charge for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
I have heard at least 2 dozen experts on TV and radio give many thoughts and opinions about the tragedy in Minneapolis that resulted in an I.C.E. Agent shooting into a vehicle and the driver being killed. Most of the experts I’ve heard speak have never been in a civilian firefight or investigated one.
The big question at this point is, did the officer think that he, or someone else, was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm if he didn’t shoot the driver of the vehicle?
To arrive at an answer, investigators will look at a lot of things before they get together with prosecutors and decide whether there is enough evidence available to support any type of murder charge. They will analyze every available video and interview every eyewitness they can locate who will cooperate with them. These interviews may take a long time because small details a witness recalls can make a big difference in accurately reconstructing the chain of events leading up to the shooting. Each witness’s statement must be compared to what other witnesses have said. Do the stories corroborate one another, or are there enough significant differences to question a witness’s credibility?
Even after viewing the videos, there are still differing views of whether the vehicle was being used as a weapon or as a means of escape. Results from the autopsy, combined with blood spatters and the gunshot hole, may show the trajectory of the gunshot. This information may give a good indication as to whether the shooter was directly in front of the vehicle, or, to the side, when he fired. This might turn out to be a very important point in determining how much of a threat the vehicle presented when the shot was fired. Of course, there is the possibility that the driver changed the vehicle’s direction as a defensive maneuver because the gun was pointed toward her.
The officer’s experience and training have been discussed and may play a role in any decision on whether prosecution is warranted.
Please understand that events leading up to a situation of this nature may take some amount of time, but the time involved in actually making the shoot/don’t shoot decision is incredibly short.
There is no creepy music playing in the background, like in the movies, to let you know something’s coming. It just happens, and it happens very fast.
A lot of things have been said by people on both sides of the issue in this case.
Hopefully, our justice system will work as it is designed to do and let the facts speak for themselves.
