Cop kills armed guest at Campbell motel

CAMPBELL
Man is fatally shot by police officer

Suzanne Herel

Friday, September 9, 2005

A Campbell police officer shot and killed a man who allegedly lunged at him with a knife at a Motel 6, authorities said Thursday.

Campbell police Capt. Russ Patterson said the incident had begun at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday when someone from the motel called to report that a man was yelling that someone was in his room.

Officers found Campbell resident Steven Loren Fountain, 24, on the motel balcony, "obviously agitated'' and holding a knife. They ordered Fountain to drop the weapon, Patterson said. Instead, he said, Fountain charged Officer Brian Sessions, who shot him with a stun gun.

When that didn't stop Fountain, the officer shot Fountain with his handgun four times in the legs and torso, Patterson said. Fountain was transported to Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

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A story like this raises so much suspicion. Police claims of "he had a knife" are so common, and even police have gone on record saying they lie.

Just letting a corporate media story stand with no discussion is really not right. Sure, the story may be true -- although officers may have had other options, like just stay back.

But what about all the other possibilities: he was a political target, or he didn't have aknife but was acting out and police escalated things and lost control of themselves. I could go on and on.

The words of the corporate media here have no counterpoint. No witness corroboration. Never let a police statement stand on its own like that, without pointing out that police lie. Their words already carry way too much weight with the non-critically-thinking public.

- O - well there you go another person shot and killed by the Police When will it stop people , When will we make it stop .




Just in case yuo all forgot "COPS" are killers and muders running free in our streets our communities doing what they please - Killing my god how could we the people let this happen let this happen so long .

When will we Fight Back ?

Go to the website listed for the victim, and tell me if any of you understand a word on there. There isn't one complete coherent sentence. It is tragic that he was killed, but he certainly sounds like he had issues, so don't start blaming the police until all the facts are out.

Well...we just all hate the police so much, and what they do and stand for; until our own lives are on the line and we reach out to them for help. No, not all police officers are moral and just people. Just like other people from all walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds, we should not judge an entire entity based upon the actions of a few. So remember how much you hate the police the next time they are the only ones between you and becoming a vicitim. Or, maybe it's generally just a bad idea to stand on a hotel room balcony and scream with a weapon in your hand. Hmmm...

>his blog doesn't make any sense

So...we should add "mediocre postmodern poetry" and "programmer notes" to the seemingly endless list that the state gives us as to why it's OK to shoot people? Please. I don't know exactly what happened on the balcony where Mr. Fountain was shot any more than you do, but what I do know is that the police seem to think it's open season.

There are other ways to deal with people who are agitated than shooting them. I would hope that this would be obvious, but I guess some people don't really know what it feels like to be the underdog, now do they?

happens all the time now

was i only one noticed whenever clinton wanted anti-gun legislation some nut went off with a gun?

turn off the television america

I spoke to slf a few weeks before this happened, and at the time he was already well beyond paranoid. He thought there were people after him all the time, thought the government was going to shut down his website and make him dissapear for something he "found out."

don't do drugs, kids. except heroine, that doesn't make you nutty.

Dirty cop terrorists with "police powers" need to wear a camera on their head and be wired with audio. THE DIRTY COP TERRRORIST WITH "police powers" credibility is less than ZERO. ----------------------------------------

I see a lot of KIDS here rushing to defend this person, assuming the cops just decided to shoot a person. Oddly enough, several articles indicate the contrary and that your pal was posing a risk to himself and others, and didn't seem to have the intellect to obey someone who was pointing a gun at him. Perhaps DARWIN is to blame here.

Since when is being "crazy" or "paranoid" or "at-risk" or even just plain stupid reason to be shot? As previously mentioned, there are other ways to subdue a person (not that I necessarily agree with that, but it's better than killing someone). It is interesting if he was worried about someone being after him. I mean I guess it was justified after all. Good thing the cops where there to save him from being a danger to himself.....

I've known SLF for a few years now and well... he was always sort of frail. Just based on his size alone I'd say they probably weren't justified in shooting him. He did have a quick temper though, and had in recent months seemingly lost the ability to think rationally about anything. So who knows what kind of state he was in when they got there, obviously he was hallucinating and paranoid. Regardless of that there should be some kind of reasonable protocol for dealing with the mentally ill, which he obviously was. I can't imagine shooting them is the standard procedure. Given that the stun gun didn't work though, I'm not sure what else they could've done to prevent him from going after them with a knife. Didn't sound like they were shooting to kill though, but personally I'd have tried to shoot the knife out of his hand, seems like a better injury than going for the gut.

Ive known steven personaly for close to 10 years, From when he used to live in seattle. In no way what so ever was he a bad guy. I had not talked to him in 6 months befor this happen so I dont know the state he was in latley. But reading over his blog, I see a big change over the past 6-8 months. He was a dear friend and will be missed. By me, and by hundred of his friends in the seattle area. Steven/ katlin will be remembered

I don't know what to say....it's been about 5 years since I dated steven. we've kept in touch but I haven't talked to him in about 6 months as well....I had a hard time talking to him....it's hard when you see someone falling and you can't really do anything to help them. I worried about him....but never thought something like this would happen. I don't know if he was taking care of himself or not....regardless, I feel really sad that maybe I could have been there to help in some way...I don't know what help I could have been after hearing from others that he was in some kind of downward spiral it seems. I'll remember him as a fun, lovable & offbeat guy.....who needed some guidance just like the everyone else.

Kaitlyn used to work for me at a Fontune 10 company, where I risked my job to get her hired as a minor. She was very conflicted, and quick to judge, but extremely intelligent. She worked very hard, but had authority and teamwork issues. This was five years ago (when she was a teenager, and I knew what I was getting into).

So sad. Sounds like a case where less then letal force could have been applied (like the bean bag shotguns in use in S. California).

honestly, shooting someone 4 times, and saying he was STILL charging the police officer sounds like the officer is trying to make an excuse for why he let 4 bullets fly into someone.

If the guy was shot in the leg, chances are he would have dropped right there, something sounds a bit fishy here.

the cops are nothing but lunatic killers that are a disease terrorizing the people

the situation is outragous !!

when will it stop ? they hunt the people of this country with a total indiferance to human life, killing at will whenever it suits them , for their pleasure.


It is time to stand up and say enough is enough !!!

Its tiime the hunted become hunters and and start taking these bastards out of our comunities!

people must organize and lay plans to eleminate these threats to life and liberty with the force these murders understand.

its alot easier to whine, about how unfair it is that the cops are killing people for their entertainment.
just cowering down every time the cops threatens them praying the lunatic doesnt feel like murdering at the time.

people are behaving like a deer cought in the headlights of a truck, just waiting for their turn for the po-lice to kick their door down and fill their sleeping pathetic bodies full of lead knowing it WILL be justified by the state.

The string following this article is interesting. Without any real evidence, activists immediately assume that this is another case of unnecessary police force which cops lie to cover-up. Pro-cop people are also assuming, without any real evidence, that Fountain is a violent drug addict who genuinely attacked armed police with a knife.

In reality, no one has any idea what really happened. It's interesting to see how much people contort reality to suit their ideology. Both activists and cop lovers appear to be primarily ruled by their dogma, not their senses. Not exactly encouraging (for EITHER side).

To quote a bumpersticker I saw last week, "How much of your reality is imagination?"

A paranoid nut job waving a knife is not a threat. I saw a tv show where they shot weapons out of peoples hand and subdued them with a judo chop to the shoulder. Why can't real cops be like TV cops? Where are you Starsky and hutch when we need you?

go to bugmenot.com for a username and password but look

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/12654568.htm

it wasn't a knife

SJ Murky reports: "Capt. Russ Patterson, the department's spokesman, said this week that Fountain complied with Sessions' command to drop the weapon in his hand -- which was not a knife at all but a 10-inch sharpening steel on a five-inch handle.

Patterson now says Fountain, after putting down the sharpener, continued to come toward Sessions with some sort of papers in his hand. That's when Sessions fired the Taser at Fountain, Patterson said. After one of the two barbs required to shock a subject missed its target, Fountain retrieved the steel and ``charged'' Sessions, Patterson says."

The Taser website, at http://www.taser.com/law/videos04.htm has a video showing the reaction of a bull who was peacefully grazing, innocently ignoring the jism-clogged blockhead terrorist pointing a Taser at him. The Taser shock instantly takes the bull down. When he recovers, he immediately charges at the threat to his life. The video ends there.

We don't know if the torturer then blasted the bull with bullets - as is done on the streets with humans. Or if other bulls then lamented how the dead bull clearly had issues.

Given that the story has shifted, I feel no need to justify my doubts in the present version of the story. But if we take it at face value, we have someone who thought he'd complied with police orders by dropping what police feared could be a weapon, yet still found himself subjected to the "humane" electroshock that cops who've experienced it call "the worst 5 seconds of my life".

With all due respect to Mr. Fountain's friends that have posted here, I question the rational functioning of anyone who would NOT conclude that his/her life was in danger under such circumstances. Regardless of the soundness or unsoundness of Mr. Fountain's reasoning before the arrival of police, from this account it seems that after the arrival of the police his reasoning was sound enough to comply with police orders and to to eliminate the perceived threat, and then sound enough to realize that the person before him was responsible for the worst 5 seconds in his life - despite his complying - and therefore the person before him was a dangerous, unpredictable threat to his life.

The death of Mr. Fountain is not "tragic". Being killed by a tree limb dropping on you in a storm is "tragic". The death of Mr. Fountain is called "homicide". What's deeply tragic is the immortality of the insane notion that people killed by police provoked their own murder.

Posted on Thu, Sep. 15, 2005

Campbell police shooting murkier than reported
MAN HELD SHARPENING STEEL, NOT KNIFE, COPS NOW SAY
By Chuck Carroll
Mercury News

The distraught man who was shot dead by a police officer at a Campbell motel Sept. 7 was not wielding a knife, but a sharpening steel.

In the initial news release on the death of Steven L. Fountain, 24, police said four-year veteran police officer Brian Sessions shot a knife-wielding Fountain after Session's Taser stun gun failed to stop his ``advance'' on the officer.

Capt. Russ Patterson, the department's spokesman, said this week that Fountain complied with Sessions' command to drop the weapon in his hand -- which was not a knife at all but a 10-inch sharpening steel on a five-inch handle.

Patterson now says Fountain, after putting down the sharpener, continued to come toward Sessions with some sort of papers in his hand. That's when Sessions fired the Taser at Fountain, Patterson said. After one of the two barbs required to shock a subject missed its target, Fountain retrieved the steel and ``charged'' Sessions, Patterson says.

He also noted that a sharpening steel isn't technically a knife, but it's still a dangerous weapon. ``It would seriously injure somebody.''

Also, while initially the police did not disclose how many shots were fired, they now say Sessions squeezed off 10 rounds from the Campbell Police Department's standard-issue firearm, a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which has a 12-round magazine. Patterson said four of those rounds actually hit Fountain -- also a new detail. Fountain died in a local hospital.

Patterson said police were called to the Motel 6 at Camden and Curtner avenues at about 10:40 p.m. Sept. 7 by someone who reported that there was a man standing on a second-floor balcony screaming that someone was in his room. Police have said there was no one in his room.

Sessions remains on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Campbell Police Department and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Both paid leave and a review by the prosecutor's office are routine in fatal police-involved shootings.

The Mercury News has also learned that, contrary to police statements from the first couple days, a second officer was on the scene by the time the shooting occurred. Police continue to say all the shots came from Sessions' gun, and that the other officer did not use her Taser.

Deputy District Attorney David Tompkins declined to discuss the specifics of the shooting.

``We'd rather not comment on something that's still under investigation,'' he said. ``We haven't even received the report yet.''

But Tompkins noted that it's not unusual for initial reports, in all sorts of police matters, to be wrong or incomplete, as revealed later by a full investigation.

Tompkins added that it could be three months before the final report in the motel case is presented to a grand jury for possible prosecution. It often takes that long to get the coroner's report, which must include toxicology lab test results, he said.

Campbell Police Chief David Gullo said the department has been as forthcoming with the media and the Fountain family as they could be, but that they wanted to be careful not to release information that was incorrect.

``We try to give the basics of what happened'' as soon as the media start asking, he said, ``and as things unfold and we learn more about it, we have a much broader picture.''

Gullo said it was inappropriate for him at this point for him to conclude whether his officers acted properly.

``We can't answer that right now. The facts have to be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office. We work with them to prepare the report, but they have to review it'' and draw their Ted Fountain of Portland Ore., the father of Steven Fountain, said he's not ready to blame the police for his son's death because he still hasn't heard a full account of what happened.

``I don't want to prematurely accuse anyone,'' Ted Fountain said. ``I want to gather the all the facts and take appropriate action when it's appropriate. There's obviously nothing I can do to bring Steven back. It's obviously a tragedy, and we're just trying to pick up the pieces.''

Contact Chuck Carroll at ccarroll@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5206.

The cops are nothing but lunatic killers that are a disease terrorizing the people

The situation is outrageous !!

When will it stop ?

They hunt the people of this country with a total indiferance to human life, killing at will whenever it suits them , for their pleasure.


It is time to stand up and say enough is enough !!!

Its time the hunted become hunters and and start taking these bastards out of our communities!

people must organize and lay plans to eliminate these threats to life and liberty with the force these murders understand.

"The Cops are lunatic killers"? One shooting of an armed individual not following orders to drop the weapon does not make the thousands of police risking their lives to protect you from the muggers, carjackers, murderers and rapists that are indeed out there "lunatic killers".

This shooting may or may not have been justified, but you weren't there having to make a split second decision so don't be so quick to judge. I suppose if there weren't police all the criminals would voluntarily lay down there weapons and stop praying on people?

I know it is hard for someone like you Casual Observer, with an IQ lower than the room tempature, but if you if you read the acount of what happened four or five times and try to think really hard you might get it

THE DUDE PUT THE TOOL DOWN COMPLIED WITH THE OFFICERS DEMAND.

THEN WAS SHOT TEN TIMES BY THE LUNATIC COP !!

Casual Observer its time for YOU to take your medication
you dimwit.

That's rich, I'd love to compare IQ's. You probably didn't even finish high school you loser. Why don't you tell the group what you do for a living now? Probably a gay prostitute.

I believe that the officer shot 10 times only hitting him with 4 bullets. He didn't comply, he put the weapon down and then reretrived it, comming back after the officer.

Brings out the right wing, homophobic whackos when you start confronting cops' behavior...

Let's test your theory about the police. Go outside with a knife and start screaming your paranoid anti-police ranting views. When the police get there, refuse to drop the weapon. If they shoot you even though you made no move towards them-I'll admit that you are right.

Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean that they are right wing. Just a thought.

I think this quote says alot about this coward: "That's rich, I'd love to compare IQ's. You probably didn't even finish high school you loser. Why don't you tell the group what you do for a living now? Probably a gay prostitute."
OK, maybe he's not right-wing, just a homophobic piece of shit.

I wonder why it took three days for the police to correct their own press releases stating that Steven had a knife when in fact it was a knife sharpener. Far too many details have been left out creating a knife weilding man killed by police after taser has no effect story. Fact is it was not a knife. It was also put down prior to being asked to do so. Steven only advanced with papers he wanted to show the officers so he could explain what he was trying to tell them. He had thought harm had come to his child and was attempting to explain. When ordered to lay flat on the ground so the officer could cuff him he did not so the officer choose to fire his taser as another officer covered him. The fired taser missed Steven and had no effect. After being fired upon Steven retreated and said he was going to get it now. Upon returning in the direction of the two officers where one still stood with an unfired taser, Steven was meet with a hail of gunfire even though one of the officers still had an unfired taser, mace, and baton. These are the facts as close as anyone will get to them for several weeks while the investigations continues. Reports from those who have been questioned, suggest they may not be getting the straight story when told what happened. When people call out for help, who will be there for them in their time of need? Isn't the motto "To serve and protect"? In his own words "Our only crime was caring too much". Depression and the loss of loved ones has a profound effect on the mind.

The bottom line is that a man is dead. A man who was a father, a brother, a son, a friend etc. A man who needed the help of the officers not the bullets from their guns. He was waving papers for Gods sake. I think we all know there was another way to stop Steven besides shooting at him ten times. How about waiting for more officers, ones that knew how to actually use a taser gun. How about a can of mase? How about more officers that could help physically restrain him. I don't know...I do know that now there is a mother and a father with out a son, a child without a father, and a boy without an older brother. There is also a man who has to live the rest of his life knowing he took the life of a man, when frankly, it just didn't have to be that way.

My prayers to them all.

Would it matter what weapon was in a person's hand? Wheather it is a knife, sharpened metel, pencil or anything any other hard object that could be used to penetrate the flesh and cause serios injury or death. The fact that someone is screaming at the top of their lungs with a weapon in their hands should show you that state of that persons mind. Now I'm sure a normal person who needed police help because someone was in their room would have acted a lot different when the police showed up, but to continue screaming and then approach the police. If I was the officer responding I would think something is wrong with this individual. People dont normally scream at the police. Now some of you are saying he only approached the officer with papers in his hands. My question would be how was he holding the papers. Where they rolled up possilbly concealing another weapon? We only know what we have read, and we all know you can't believe what you read. There are to many unanswered questions and variables with this article to judge anyone.

The bottom line is that a man is dead. A man who was a father, a brother, a son, a friend etc. A man who needed the help of the officers not the bullets from their guns. He was waving papers for Gods sake. I think we all know there was another way to stop Steven besides shooting at him ten times. How about waiting for more officers, ones that knew how to actually use a taser gun. How about a can of mase? How about more officers that could help physically restrain him. I don't know...I do know that now there is a mother and a father with out a son, a child without a father, and a boy without an older brother. There is also a man who has to live the rest of his life knowing he took the life of a man, when frankly, it just didn't have to be that way.

My prayers to them all.

Ive had my run ins with police before.. they have a bad habbit of taging you as "combative" as soon as you start trying to defend or explain your self specially if your not the one who called them!!
santa clara county sherrif are triger happy as its been proven many times over, campbell police are bored more then not and anything that makes them look like the good guys they jump on, I have seen campbell police plant evidence once before about 15 years ago so it would not surprise me if they didnt do the same in this case, and yes. having worked with departments in the santa clara valley many officers have admited to me that they do lose there cool and react in ways they shouldnt. and 4 shots?? thats what you would need for someone on PCP !!!!!!!!!!!!1

Let me guess, not one of you that are blaming the police have ever worked one day in law enforcement? All you know about being a cop is what you watch on TV right? Do you realize how un educated you look?

First of all Uneducated is ONE word, and second of all........my husband has worked for the sheriff reserves in the state we live in, and guess what.......he agrees with me;)

I am an officer, in another state. My use of force continuim says stop the threat as best as possible with the least amount of force possible. Somtimes it's talking, sometimes OC, and somtimes the individual gets shot. I have to fill out a report for every incident, I have report for every use of force, that details what I did and why I did it. I have to testify in court about what I did and why I did it. Be it restraining, pushing, hitting with a baton, whatever.
This guy died because he chose wrong. I was not there, and neither were you. Second guessing and what iffing won't change this outcome, or the next incident.

Did you all not hear that it wasn't a knife? This man was killed for nothing! Mr. Estrada, are you a police officer because you enjoy violence and killing?

FTL *uck the Law. I knew steven/Kait silver for years he was a dear friend to me and I was in contact with him two weeks before the insedint. He was emotinally and mentally of kilter. All he needed was my love and care but due to my current leagal problems i couldn't be with him to help him. I feel so badly for the loss of my friend and I cant help but think that I could have done something to help him. Im so saddly effected by this loss and I hope the asshole cop who took away my close friend gets *ucking fried. He needs to pay for his gross incompetance and I swear that that cop burn in hell for what he has done. That selfish ignorant bastered. I love you steven/Kate you will be missed....................

Don't you guys have anything *ucking better to do. I don't need to see you all writing about my cousin. This is sick! Stop Talking about him on the internet in things like this, please.

I've know steven aka kaitlyn for years now and i am not at all saddened by this. Everyone dies. He was too busy doing dope to take responsibilty fer his kid... I just hope serrita sues for orion :) at least that way he could be a provider even in death

John W...you're the dumbass. Just because you're a cold heartless punk doesn't mean the rest of the people that knew Steven are also. People with addictions don't make reasonable choices. Sadly because of that, people around them suffer. Making bad choices does not mean someone is a "bad" person. So grow up and use that pretty little brain of yours next time you decide to post:)

Erica...so sorry for your loss.

if you knew what was going on in his life. his blog made plenty of sense.

Um kay, Steven/Kait really needed more sleep than he was getting and while I agree that the cops prolly used more force than was necessary & I certainlty didnt expect him to go out like that, but after his paranoid delusions got out f control a few months back, I stopped having anything to do with him.

Geniuses & Meth Dont Mix.

Where is it?

dreamscape.org

Read through slf's blog and several things seem likely:

1) slf was mentally ill and it was getting worse,

And/Or

2) slf had a nasty meth habit and it was getting worse.

ALSO

3) slf had made his child the center of his world, to an obsessive degree imho, and the loss/removal of that child caused extreme distress which exacerbated the above problems.

============

ON THE OTHER HAND:

When the cop arrived, slf did NOT have a knife. He had a sharpening steel. If a well-trained, fully-armed cop can't disarm and disable this one little guy without resorting to firing 10 SHOTS from his .45, then at the very least we need to seriously ask ourselves whether that person should be allowed to continue his employment as a police officer.

Let's also consider the location:
We're standing on the balcony walkway of a cheap motel. It's 10:30 at night. Maybe it was dark enough that the officer couldn't tell that it wasn't a knife. Maybe. But 10 SHOTS? How far was the cop from slf? Far enough that he missed a body-sized target confined along a narrow pathway 60% of the time. Is the cop the worst shot ever, or was slf that far away? Or did the cop keep shooting even after slf had gone down?

Have any of you ever seen what happens when someone gets a heavy dose of mace/pepper spray straight to the face? I don't mean a little bit of pepper spray wafting down the street, but a full stream in the eyes? Those folks go down. Those folks pose no further threat to anyone in the vicinity. And those folks almost always survive.

And what about those SIX stray bullets? Fortunately, none of them lodged into some other random motel resident... some little kid... grandma. But they could have.

So even if you love police officers and everything that they stand for, I think you need to be asking yourself and others some hard questions:

Is this police officer the sort of person we want cruising around OUR community brandishing a loaded weapon?

If you knew that this particular cop had a regular beat that included your neighborhood, would you feel safe when your kids were playing outside?

Would your sense of safety increase or decrease if you saw this officer walk/drive past your home?

Think about it.

> Brings out the right wing, homophobic whackos
> when you start confronting cops' behavior...

Yeah, that's the sign of a real intellectual - start spewing and making the silliest of accusations. So I'm a homophobe because I just might think that a raging loony holding a knife and screaming at the cops JUST might have in SOME way contributed to his own demise? Get a clue...

> So...we should add "mediocre postmodern poetry"
> and "programmer notes" to the seemingly endless
> list that the state gives us as to why it's OK to
> shoot people?

So, we should tell the cops that it's not OK to shoot someone with a knife who is screaming and threatening people, because he might be a really nice, lovable guy when he's not on meth and running around like a crazed lunatic? You think the cops should have held his hands and engaged in an a capella round of "kumbaya" instead? Gimme a break...

To you last two that made comments....I think you need to reread the facts....you both mention a knife, when in fact there was NO knife.

In memory of Steven L. Fountain
http://dreamscape.org/

i knew kait/slf from working with her at cellmania.

she was the best friend anyone could have, and do anything for you..

we remained friends after she didnt work there anymore... we remained friends when she decided to be a he again.

we remained friends after serai took his life.

god bless steven l. fountain and his beautiful son

I had known Steven for years and even spoke to him a few days before he died. What little information I have heard regarding the incedent seems fishy to me. If you had known Steven you'd agree that he was not strong physically. Any police officer would have a good eye for people's physique and be able to judge instantly whether that person was actually a threat or not. I can not see firing ten shots as anything except extremely excessive.

If the Police officer responsible is not punished for what he did then I can see this as nothing but State Sponsered Homicide.

I am training to be a police officer. We are taught if a suspect advances on us and we feel there is a reasonable threat to life and limb to ourselves or any other person, we have the right to shoot the suspect.

I know a lot of people feel "All" cops are dishonest, but the truth is most cops are God fearing, good people who only have the interest of the community at heart. It just goes to show you everyone loves a cop until they arrest a family member or friend. With the way the laws are going, police officers will have limited force options that will tie our hands behind our back when we are trying to legally do our job. It will get to the point where people will blame cops because they cant do anything about crimes because we wont be able to our jobs legally.

Now i am not saying there are no bad cops out there. I'm just saying people should get more involved with voicing they're opinion about these sorts of matters. Most of the time people will learn they did not fully understand the situation and were uneducated when it came to the details of what happened.

"God fearing". Maybe therein lies the problem.
Besides that, the "few bad apples" theory sounds great and all, but the reality is there is a code of silence, and in many ways the only difference between the cops and the criminals is the uniforms...gangs in blue. Enforcers for the elite.

"...most cops are God fearing, good people who only have the interest of the community at heart."

This reminds me of the way the swaggering asshole US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan think they're just "protecting their buddies" when in fact they're jackbooted SS babykillers stomping into Poland and Czechoslavakia circa 1939, just too brainwashed and stupid to know it. Most cops are power-drunk authoritarian asswipe bullies. That's why they become cops. Take away their guns and clubs and body armor and power of numbers and put them in a fair fight and they'll break down bawling and shitting themselves every time. Am I wrong cop? So prove it. HA HA HA HA HA HA! Like that would happen.

"It just goes to show you everyone loves a cop..."

Huh? Speak for yourself, idiot.

"With the way the laws are going, police officers will have limited force options that will tie our hands behind our back when we are trying to legally do our job."

This is the same bullshit cops have been bawling and sniveling for the past 40 years. That's why they despise their own Internal Affairs departments. The plain simple truth is that it DOESN'T MATTER what the letter of the law allows them to do, they do whatever the fuck they please regardless. Who's going to bust them? Other cops? Haw haw!! They have to get caught dead to rights on videotape, a la Rodney King, for that to happen. Oh, and don't let them get their pig paws anywhere near the tape, either.

Stupid asshole brainwashed cops need to keep their stupid asshole brainwashed comments to themselves

"Most of the time people will learn they did not fully understand the situation and were uneducated when it came to the details of what happened."

You mean like when my brother got Rodney Kinged?

Or when the same thing happened to a close friend?

There's NOTHING that justifies that, cop.

Or when a D&D I knew got drowned in a toilet at the county lock-up by the power-drunk pigs "pacifying" him?

Or do you mean the times I've been harassed over nothing by cops in a sour mood who obviously just wanted to play a little game of cat-and-mouse with someone who didn't have a gun (cop insecticide) at their hip?

Fuck you, cop. Let's get this war a-rockin. I got an incendiary IED for you. I want your buddies frozen in horror watching you cook and scream while I blow holes through them with my elephant gun.

As somebody who has known Steve casually for the past three years, at least now I know why I haven't run into him recently. I'm sad to hear this. Steve was a good guy, who for whatever reason, couldn't quite get his life together. He was a passionate, emotional person, who loved his daughter, and his work.

A friend reminded me of Steven the other day and I have been thinking about him since. He was fun to be around, and as many have said, a very passionate person. He is missed...

crazy you should bring up political. Steve was somewhere in between genious and crazy, although I believe he was more genious and just eccentric. He was working on runic stacking using things like those spam emails that have no link or anything else just tons of random words with no apparent rhyme or reason as his input. He believed that he found messages in them and that everyone was in on it, both sides. I dont know what he meant by that but it was soon before he died and he was scared that he would be killed. Honestly I dont know what to believe

I used to live with Steven as a roomate and he soon became a friend of mine. We used to talk about computer realated things all the time and most of the time he would go way over my head. I believe that he was a genius in his own way and a master of sorts when it came to PERL programming. As he stated to me one time "I can do anything in PERL". That is statement that only the confident make. While emotianally fragile at times I would do my best to comfort him and for the most part it worked but no always. I don't ever recall him being a user of Meth but maybe that is something that came later on down the road. After speaking with him a year later he was a new changed person after the birth of his child. I was then speaking to a new person. He seemed happy and always on rise of something new and exciting. I do remember when I was living with him that he did mention that he had "found something out" but never really elaborated on what it was. It is sad to see such talent like Steven pass. He had potential and could have really become something. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Steven. I really don't want to get started on the whole cops thing since I don't have all the REAL facts and would no like to make any comments until a full analysis of the details has been preseneted to me. I do no that he was not a very big guy at all by any means and I think that shooting such a fragile person is uncalled for. If anybody ever met him you would know what I was talking about. In fact when I was living with him I told him to let me know if anybody ever messed with him because defending himself was out of the question. You will be missed my friend.

I used to live with Steven as a roomate and he soon became a friend of mine. We used to talk about computer realated things all the time and most of the time he would go way over my head. I believe that he was a genius in his own way and a master of sorts when it came to PERL programming. As he stated to me one time "I can do anything in PERL". That is statement that only the confident make. While emotianally fragile at times I would do my best to comfort him and for the most part it worked but no always. I don't ever recall him being a user of Meth but maybe that is something that came later on down the road. After speaking with him a year later he was a new changed person after the birth of his child. I was then speaking to a new person. He seemed happy and always on rise of something new and exciting. I do remember when I was living with him that he did mention that he had "found something out" but never really elaborated on what it was. It is sad to see such talent like Steven pass. He had potential and could have really become something. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Steven. I really don't want to get started on the whole cops thing since I don't have all the REAL facts and would no like to make any comments until a full analysis of the details has been preseneted to me. I do no that he was not a very big guy at all by any means and I think that shooting such a fragile person is uncalled for. If anybody ever met him you would know what I was talking about. In fact when I was living with him I told him to let me know if anybody ever messed with him because defending himself was out of the question. You will be missed my friend.

Wow, it's been a while since I talked to SLF... I remember him as a rather intelligent and intriguing boy and then as Kaitlin... I was shocked to hear about this after so long. It's amazing what happens to people. I just hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.

I am the person who brought Steven/Kaitlin to California. I knew him the longest of any of his Californian friends.

I was on the eve of deploying to Afghanistan - y'know, the real war, not the sham in Iraq - when I heard about this. I've been thinking about it a lot. I introduced Kait to the mother of his child; I dated her for over three years. And while Kait was my roommate, they slept with each other behind my back, so I'm probably not the most neutral and unbiased resource.

We were in touch in and out for a few years - from threats of lawsuits over my blog (how can it be libel or slander if I'm not seeking to deprive one of anything and nothing is a lie? Bah!), to talk about the ex...

Shortly before his death, he got in touch with me to apologize because things had fallen apart with that woman, and he felt horrible about things he had said to me after I left California. I honestly tried to rebuild a friendship with him, but he was so out of his mind that it really didn't have a chance. Steven was intelligent, but well, so am I. It's why we were such good friends for several years. We had a lot in common, and we were very close from 1996 to 1999. The poster above me who referenced hiring Kait as a minor used to be my boss too, and well, those were fun days. I remember the first time I talked to Kait as Steven. It was weird. Very weird. But I was happy for him.

Steven had definitely lost it to drugs and addiction. He was a threat to the cop, that is for sure. Steven wasn't in the correct frame of mind for most of the time he was awake when this happened.

That said, it doesn't justify a fatal reaction by the cop.

I can understand how the cop could have been scared. I've had my life threatened several times; it's hard to maintain your intellectual analysis on the situation, to suppress adrenaline and emotions and, well, it's difficult to make rational decisions. But that's no excuse. That's what we expect of our law enforcement personnel. The rhetoric of "well, if you were in that situation, what would you do?" or "you'd shoot too!" is machismo bullsh!t spewed by someone who doesn't understand; there is a reason we are supposed to hold cops, federal investigators, the military, etc., to a higher standard - because they are supposed to be better than that dumb, automaton firing on Red Bull and hate. That's not who I want protecting me, that's for sure.

I really don't think the reaction to this situation was at all proportionate. Considering the situations I've been in, this cop is an embarrassment to public service everywhere, from his 60% miss rate with his weapon to his lack of capability with the taser. I will say, the knife sharpener thing vs. a knife at night, well, that one I'll give the cop - that's VERY difficult to tell apart. But, that said, the cop had a lot of options he didn't even try, from, oh, aiming his weapon for a non-fatal body area... Well, aiming at all would have been advised.

I don't think, looking at what happened, that the cop was a "trigger happy lunatic." A trigger happy lunatic is typically very good at the parts of the job like shooting someone. This guy obviously wasn't. He reacted like a fresh 2nd Lt. in the Army acts his first time in combat - scared. I think he was scared and unfit for duty. Either way, I hope he got fired or permanantly desked for what happened. What happened was unacceptable.

16 years ago, slf made the pilgrimage in a black Honda. A couple quarts of oil in the trunk, as the engine was no longer as robust as it once was.

Time and rough wear had taken its toll on that Honda, as well as its occupants. I came to realize the disproportionate toll it had taken on one.

We fell out of touch after. I didn't want to see the memory of our friendship become a collateral casualty. I hoped for a change. 16 years later, I discover what that change was.

It pains me to know that the chance for a turning point was cut short. It saddens me that I'm just now finding out. I don't know what words I can write, or what I can say.. and I question whether I should even say anything. Ultimately, I come to a single decision; I don't want to have never said anything.


For the others who made the journey, I hope that in the years since, you've been able to heal some of the wounds. There was warmth and solace in the house; it was valued and appreciated, and I hope it's lived on.

Ex-boss: She was proud of the opportunity you gave her. It was an empowering and inspiring thing. She knew it was not a small risk you were taking. I hope it's a warming smile, to remember her rollerblading adventures.