As reported by
ZeroHedge:
Miami police and other officers appear to have used surrounding bystanders as "human shields" when they responded to the the hijacked UPS truck following an armed heist of a jewelry store Thursday. After suspects led police on a two-county rush-hour chase through Miami which ended in a hail of gunfire in the middle of crowded traffic on Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road, hundreds of police bullets from 19 officers firing on the truck brought it to an end.
As we reported earlier, four people have been confirmed dead, including the robbers and the UPS driver, since identified as 27-year-old Frank Ordonez, who unluckily had been taken hostage on a day he was reportedly filling in for another driver. Some of his own family members are blaming the "trigger happy" Florida police for killing him in their overeagerness to stop the criminals.
An investigation is underway which will also focus on the other innocent bystander that died — an unidentified person shot while trapped at the intersection in one of the many surrounding vehicles.
...
It is as yet unclear whether a police bullet or one of the robbers actually killed Ordonez. But what is clear from overhead video is that some among the responding officers actually hid behind vehicles with bystanders and families in them, who were trying to flee as gunfire rang out.
Though in the initial press conference in the immediate aftermath the issue wasn't raised, national media is beginning to acknowledge the growing public outrage. NPR
reports:
Former [U.S. Department] Department of Housing and Urban Development official Brandon Friedman described the shootout as "appalling." He
said the department should be held accountable for "choosing to assault the vehicle in the middle of stopped rush hour traffic" and using occupied vehicles as "human shields."
From one of the overhead news chopper videos, one panicked blue SUV is seen attempting to ram its way out of being in the direct line of fire, between the suspects shooting at police and the police themselves.
The article contains details, footage and pages of reactions from all quarters.
Nine times out of ten, I fall on the side of "police business is dirty work; there are always major risks; let them do their jobs" but this approach to thwarting a van hijacking strikes me as unforgivable lunacy. Starting a massive gunfight, in a hostage situation, in the middle of rush hour traffic on a freeway, using occupied commuter cars as cover? What were these officers thinking? How could this possibly comport with recommended operating procedures?
I hope for the sake of Floridians
and the Miami police force that the senior officers who made this call lose their badges.
What say you? Too hash? Too lenient?
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