Urinating dog triggered argument resulting in 3 officers' deaths

(CNN) -- Three Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, police officers were shot to death while responding to a 911 call of a domestic argument triggered by a urinating dog, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

The officers were the first department fatalities since 1995, according to the department.

Police said following the shootings Saturday that Richard Poplawski, 22, would be charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and other charges. Poplawski, who was shot in the leg during a four-hour standoff with police, was hospitalized at an undisclosed location, police said.

Details of the incident were included in the police complaint seeking an arrest warrant for Poplawski. The complaint says Margaret Poplawski called 911 about 7 a.m. Saturday to report that her son was "giving her a hard time."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/05/pittsburgh.officers.shot.dog/

Details of the incident were included in the police complaint seeking an arrest warrant for Poplawski. The complaint says Margaret Poplawski called 911 about 7 a.m. Saturday to report that her son was "giving her a hard time."

How messed up.



:shrug:

so she could leave her kids for the evening and go out to a party.

Too many people don't have a clue as to how to resolve life's little disturbances and hurdles. Too many people just think 'somebody has to do something' and never consider they ARE the somebody.

Police are stretched a bit thin. That's why I have a couple of guns. I know there is no help coming from police if I am threatened in my home. We have 2 law enforcement officers (and they have less than 2 years experience between them) to cover a county of over 4000 square miles. Most people have more law per area than here, but the law is also asked to do too much basic life stuff for too many people.

We need better life skills, resources, education if we are gonna make America less violent.

Are busy chasing dope smokers..

Our jails and prisons are overflowing for basically the same reason.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7698

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 775,138 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 97,583 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. Nearly three in four of those arrested are under age 30.

There you go, about 875,000 marijuana arrests in 2007..

Each arrest takes up hours of at least one officer's time and I'm sure there many hours spent looking for dope smokers for each arrest made.

But cops love arresting dopers, they are easy pickings, violent criminals are much more difficult to catch and to deal with.

THEN, corporate, for-profit prisons noticed that pot smokers were a pretty easy crowd to keep penned up with less expense than holding real criminal types...

And pot prison populations give the corporations peaceful, really cheap labor without the headaches of having middle managers learn some Third World language.

Yep, cops are tied up with too much busy work to be really effective in law enforcement.

Knew lots of cops (family had several). Knew enough of them to figure they had lots of good dope too ;)

Are busy chasing dope smokers..

Our jails and prisons are overflowing for basically the same reason.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7698

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 775,138 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 97,583 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. Nearly three in four of those arrested are under age 30.

There you go, about 875,000 marijuana arrests in 2007..

Each arrest takes up hours of at least one officer's time and I'm sure there many hours spent looking for dope smokers for each arrest made.

But cops love arresting dopers, they are easy pickings, violent criminals are much more difficult to catch and to deal with.

inability to resolve basic domestic conflict, and a bad temper?

Nah, it had to be because of guns.

Guns made it easy.

Jim Jones did it with Kool Aide.

Violent behavior doesn't have to lead unmercifully to death. Guns just make it a whole lot easier.

But the Kool aide did a number on many, many more. But was it really the Kool aide, or some dangerous thought processes?

Bombs make it even easier than guns. But in the end, it is the dangerous thought processes at the root of it all.

But the Peoples' Temple had a "right" to defend itself.

I wonder if he bought and sold using ebay or craig's list? :shrug:

They remove listings for firearms and some firearms related items rather quickly. You can buy guns online from dealers or private individuals, it just has to be shipped to a federally licensed gun dealer. Ammo can be bought online from thousands of places with almost no federal restrictions but some states have strict laws.

...

The bill would close the so-called "gun show/Internet loophole." It would prohibit private sales of pistols or assault weapons unless the buyer or seller was a federally licensed dealer, or used a licensed dealer to transfer the weapon. That includes sales at garage and estate sales and over the Internet, which are currently exempt from background checks.

...

http://www.startribune.com/39844612.html

Which wouldn't surprise me given his Stormfront connections, firearms purchased on the internet have to be sent to an FFL who then has to do a background check same as any gun purchase.

His friend was on local radio today claiming Poplawski got his guns via FFL's and that he wasn't under any restriction to own guns. Also claimed Poplawski had a carry license. I'll be curious if this will be revealed as true as the news unfolds in the coming days and weeks.

It seems almost criminal to call the police for help while omitting that your son is a nut, he has numerous firearms & a bulletproof vest.

the mom had mental health problems. Radio host Marty Griffin who claims to have inside connections with police said she was calling the cops "pigs" as they took her son from the house.

Did she call to have them come to her house so she could call them "pigs" to their faces?

Right.

America's precious snowflakes can do no wrong!

It will make me feel safer, so it is a good idea.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5393391&mesg_id=5393391

Who'd have thought that the GOPers would react so rationally?

"T'was dog urine, your honor. It made me lose my mind (that and the extra twinkie I had for breakfast)."