Officer Shoots Man Trying to Drown Baby

[Cidp24]

http://www.wlbt.com/

Lincoln County 04/21/08
(Mississippi)
Man Killed While Attempting to Drown Baby

A Lincoln County man is dead after an officer-involved shooting near Brookhaven. Eyewitnesses say the victim was threatening the life of a newborn baby when a deputy shot him.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing was very limited in what he could say about the shooting, because it is now under state investigation.
What we do know is that a deputy responded to a domestic 911 call on Highway 84, about two miles west of I-55. When he arrived, eyewitnesses say the baby's father was dunking the little girl in a pond.
When the deputy told the man to stop, he refused, and the deputy shot and killed him.
The 3-week old infant was resuscitated by first responders at the scene, then driven to a hospital for treatment.
Lincoln County officials say this is the first time a deputy has shot and killed someone in the line of duty in over a decade.
"I've been here for 12 years, and this is the first one I can remember being involved in," Rushing said. "As far as details on the incident, it was a domestic dispute we were called to and led to an officer-involved shooting."
Relatives of the victim and the baby at the home where the incident occurred did not wish to be interviewed by the media.
The names of those involved were not immediately released.

04/22/08
Infant Involved in Attempted Drowning Remains Critical
More details in the case of a man shot to death by a lawman, allegedly, while trying to drown his child Monday.
University Medical Center officials say the 3-week-old remains in critical condition Tuesday night.
Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing says the baby's father, 26-year-old Curtney Gayten, was holding the infant under water in a pond on Highway 84 when authorities arrived.
Witnesses said a deputy whose name has not been released ordered Gayten to release the child but he pointed a gun at the officer, who opened fire.
Gayten died at the scene.
The Sheriff said he and several other officers entered the water trying to rescue the baby.
"One of our first responders located the gentleman first and then from that area there we were able to locate the child and the handgun. We removed the child from the water and two of my officers did CPR on it until the ambulance got on the scene," said the Sheriff.
Coroner Clay McMorris said autopsy results may be available Wednesday.
MBI is conducting a probe into the shooting.

[Wolven]

Bravo to the officer! Hope the child is ok.

[TXCharlie]

Good going!

I bet the Monday morning quarterbacks (possibly even the mother) are gonna have a few things to say about it (did the officer REALLY have to shoot the guy, couldn't they have just tackled him, etc, etc) - but screw them.

[Buttercup]

Good job by the officer and I hope that baby recovers.

[snuffy2202]

Great job!

[Just KC]

Oh man.....i pray that baby makes it. Good job, Officer! Proud of you!

[Second Chance]

Good job..........

[Willowdared]

Prayers for the baby, and all the officers who responded to the scene - I'm sure they will be deeply affected.

As far as the dead POS - rot in hell.

[Ducky]

Good call. Looks like the officer acted just in time.

[gozling]

3 weeks old....
wow

I hope the baby makes it through

[k-9max]

Kudos to the officer.

Thoughts, and prayers sent to the little one.

[Ender]

Hope the officer sleeps well.

Hope the baby recovers fully.

Hope the POS rots in hell.

[CTR man]

Well put, Ender.

[osugirlP103]

damn i would have shot the giy no matter if he were pointing a gun at me or not

[PCSD722]

Prayers for the baby, good job to the officer, thoughts and prayers for him too.

[oldtrooper]

Good going!

I bet the Monday morning quarterbacks (possibly even the mother) are gonna have a few things to say about it (did the officer REALLY have to shoot the guy, couldn't they have just tackled him, etc, etc) - but screw them.

They already have. He was swinging his weapon toward the deputy and was shot in the forehead. A relative stated on a TV interview "why did he have to shoot him in the head, couldn't he have done something else?"

[Ducky]

They already have. He was swinging his weapon toward the deputy and was shot in the forehead. A relative stated on a TV interview "why did he have to shoot him in the head, couldn't he have done something else?"

If one of my relatives had been trying to drown a baby, I'd have shot them MYSELF.

[10-42Adam]

Job well done.

[countybear]

Steve Rushing should be damned proud of this deputy for saving that kid's life and protecting his own in the process.

Excellent job.

[MacLean]

They already have. He was swinging his weapon toward the deputy and was shot in the forehead. A relative stated on a TV interview "why did he have to shoot him in the head, couldn't he have done something else?"

Well, counsel, I'm glad you asked me that.

You see, there are four ways to incapacitate the human body, and as you well know we shoot to stop, or incapacitate.

The first way to incapacitate someone is psychologically. If we make their mind think they are losing, they lose. We tried that with this guy by saying "POLICE STOP" and he didn't stop. Perhaps we should have simply surrendered then, but it didn't seem prudent at the time since he was trying to drown a child.

The second way to incapacitate someone is to lower their blood pressure. We typically do that by placing holes in the center mass of that person's body. Firing enough shots into center mass to incapacitate this guy takes more time, and places more risk to the baby that was in immediate proximity to him. We felt that shooting the baby was a less than desirable outcome, would you agree counselor?

The third way we can incapacitate someone is electronically. This may sound unpleasant counselor, but it has been established that destroying the computer usually ends the fight with a human adversary. It also allows any misses to safely go over the top of the infant he was holding on to. We tried this method counsel, and it worked, so we did not have to progress to method number 4.

In case method number 4 had you wondering counsel, the fourth way to incapacitate a human is mechanically. This can be accomplished by placing rounds into the pelvic girdle, causing the person to fall down and not be able to move much - although they can still usually work their trigger finger. It's a damn good thing method number 3 worked out counsel, because if he had fallen that poor child might have gone under water with him, and we would not be able to get close to save that poor baby when we knew the bad guy could still shoot.

Are there any further questions for me counsel, or can I go about my business of saving children and generally making work for you?