So, as reported in today’s Brainerd Dispatch (my local newspaper), three law enforcement officials were honored for their actions with regard to a hostage standoff at the Morrison County (Little Falls, MN) courthouse in June 2008.
In a very small nutshell, Gordon Wheeler went into the county commissioners meeting with a loaded weapon and threatened to kill some of the commissioners and county attorney. He had a longstanding feud with the County over his businesses, which included pornography, exotic dancing, and prostitution, located near the Camp Ripley military base. Wheeler contended that the County commissioners, Sheriff’s department, and County attorney had taken away his livelihood, thereby preventing him from paying his creditors, etc. Financially, he was at the end of his rope. He obviously had come to the end of his emotional rope, also.
The June 2008 meeting had been videotaped. It is on-line and I watched it this morning. It showed the entire standoff except for the actual shooting. Wheeler gave long-winded diatribes about how the County had wronged him, his businesses, and his family. You could obviously tell from the video that Wheeler did not intend to come out of the meeting room alive, and Wheeler’s family had said after the fact that this was, in essence, suicide by law enforcement.
Immediately prior to the shooting, the room was cleared and, at that point, no person was in harms way, except Wheeler and the officers. Wheeler squatted down behind a table and pointed the gun at the doorway where the officers were standing. Then the tape ends.
There was a lot of news and rumors shortly after the incident, but little thereafter - until I saw the article in the Brainerd Dispatch today. That article triggered my search for the aftermath, and I was troubled by what I read.
Now, don’t get me wrong. When anyone walks into a room with a loaded weapon and says that they are, in fact, going to kill people, you have a serious issue at hand. After watching the videotape, I certainly don’t find any fault with the fact that the officers had to fire their weapons at Wheeler to bring the incident to a conclusion. It was obvious that they had to fire at him.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s report said that Wheeler was shot 7 times out of 20 shots that were fired at him by the officers. Wheeler’s gun had not been fired. The Minnesota Attorney General’s office (AG) investigated the claim that excessive force had been used against Wheeler, and they found that the officers acted appropriately under the circumstances.
Here is the statement in the AG’s letter that troubles me and this is verbatim from the letter.
“Mr. Wheeler was struck by seven bullets. One bullet penetrated his hat and grazed the left side of his head with a front to back trajectory. Another bullet grazed the right side of his head and also had a front to back trajectory. The other five bullets hit him in the back of his torso. The shooting by law enforcement lasted only three seconds. Twenty rounds were fired in that short time. Law enforcement immediately summoned medical assistance for Mr. Wheeler and paramedics arrived shortly thereafter.”
Twenty bullets fired in a very small conference room? Five bullets in the back? Considering the totality of the history between Wheeler and the County, heroism isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind.
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2 comments:
One thing that always strikes me in incidents such as this is how quick we are to analyze the aftermath. No one can know, with the exception of those directly involved, just what took place. The fact that Mr. Wheeler did not fire his weapon does not say anything about the frame of mind of those who faced that weapon and the very real threat that he was promising and very willing to kill. I certainly would not wait to see if he was going to actually fire at me or kill one of my comrades. Once I was certain he had the intent, and did not intend to be taken alive, there is very little choice in the matter.
I agree, and, as I said, I certainly don't fault the officers for shooting - and, no officer merely shoots to injur, as many think. When they shoot, they shoot to kill. I'm not troubled by the fact that Wheeler is dead. From those who knew him and his situation, he would have likely shot himself if the police hadn't done it.
I know that officers in rural areas do not call upon their "shoot to kill" skills (for lack of a better term) as often as urban officers, although similarly trained. My co-worker is from Pierz, near Little Falls, and said that the sherriff has likely not used his pistol for anything but target practice. They just never have situations like the one they experienced in June. The awarding of the medals is likely to help them deal with the aftermath as much as anything.
Wheeler was not a very popular person in Morrison County. He created a lot of trouble for the commissioners, county attorney, and sherriff's department. He wasn't necessarily viewed as a morally upstanding person.
I golf league golf at Eagles Landing by Little Falls, and many of the women knew the situation more intimatly than I ever would. They spoke of Wheeler to seem less than human - a slug - no-good trouble maker.
He made himself an easy target, in more ways than one.
As one who almost always reads too deeply into things and tries to view situations through the eyes of the social pariah, I'm just very troubled by the whole situation.
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