 Image via Wikipedia |
| Above is a famous "Derringer" pistol. Below is the water nozzle Doug Zerby was holding when he was shot by LB Police Officers. Would you be confused if you were a Police Officer at the scene? Tell me your thoughts. Hit my comment section. |
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| Long Beach Police display "water nozzle" that they said looked like a gun Doug Zerby was pointing at Officers and neighbors. |
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010
Long Beach, CA
I wanted to update the community about the officer involved shooting that resulted in the death of well known Long Beach resident Doug Zerby on Sunday.
The investigation is still "ongoing." Many of Doug's friends are demanding more answers and for more accountability from within the Long Beach Police Department. Also released, was a photo of the now famous "water hose nozzle" that Zerby was allegedly pointing at police officers when they arrived on the scene at an Ocean Boulevard apartment complex on Sunday night. I also posted a photo of a Derringer "six shooter." Would you confuse the two if you were a trained member of the Long Beach Police Department, standing at a close distance? Also, no "official" report from the Coroner's Office, and the case is now being formally investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Keep you posted....
BTW...This information is preliminary and has not been completely verified. It is based in part on hearsay and is intended for early information use rather than being a formal investigative report.
RrE
From the Long Beach PD
"On Sunday, December 12, 2010, at approximately 4:40 p.m., Long Beach Police responded to the 5300 block of East Ocean Boulevard regarding a report of a person with a gun call that resulted in an officer involved shooting and the death of a male adult.
Two people inside the calling party's residence could see a man on the porch landing with a gun, which was described as a "six shooter."
When the initial officers arrived, they confirmed that the subject appeared to be armed with a handgun. They positioned themselves so they could watch the suspect while waiting for additional officers/resources, including the Air Support Unit and Mental Evaluation Team. For everyone’s safety, the officers did not immediately contact the subject to allow time for those resources to arrive and lock down the area, to prevent the subject from escaping the location while armed.
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| Victim Doug Zerby |
As additional units and resources were responding, the subject pointed what officers believed was a handgun at the apartment building. The subject continued to manipulate this object, which made noises similar to a handgun.
As the subject was in a seated position, he used a two handed pistol grip hold of the object with his arms fully extended, consistent with the behavior of someone about to discharge a firearm. When the subject pointed the object at one of the officers, two officers fired their weapons at the suspect, striking him in the torso multiple times.
Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and began treating the suspect; however, he was pronounced deceased at the scene. No officers were injured in this incident.
The suspect has been identified as 35-year-old Douglas Zerby of Long Beach. Our investigation revealed that Suspect Zerby actually had possession of a black pistol grip water nozzle with a metal tip.
Along with the Long Beach Police Department’s ongoing investigation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is also conducting an independent investigation, which is routine for all officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County.
Anyone with any information regarding this incident is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Malcolm Evans and Todd Johnson at (562) 570-7244." Related articles
19 comments:
Police Officers are trained to know the difference between a pistol and a water nozzle. I am a cop, and I have been in situations when kids pull out "water guns" and I could always tell the difference.
Just my opinion, but if I was working a "beat" and knew the people in my community, I would probably would have reacted differently. Just my two cents.
Randy, I appreciate you coming forward as a police officer and admitting that you would know the difference, or take the time to find out. We are tired of hearing about the "tough choices" that these police officers had to make. It is so nice to see an officer give an honest assessment of the situation. This has terribly harmed our community, our generation, our sense of safety, and our trust in law enforcement. I am so glad that it is being reflected in our responses that we won't stand for it anymore. This is not a video game. This family cannot get bonus points to earn another son. However, cops continue to work their beat like human lives are just avatars on a screen. Reset. Do over. To the contrary. The Zerby family will be burying their son for the holidays. If I made a mistake at work that led to a terrible failure, I would no longer have a job. With such high stakes, why do these ultimate failures continue to be excused? They won't. We will not forget, and every Christmas season every blinking light on a house will forever represent to the Zerby family the fading heartbeat of their son. Enough is enough.
To Mark and family,
First off i am so sickened by this. I can't begin to imagine the pain and disbelief and grief you stricken with. I use to know your dad, he came to Big Bear Lake, he had a storage unit, i got to know him by seeing him when he made his pmts. I always thought he was a genuine person, easy to talk to and always had a story for us girls in the office. My prayers are with all of you. Mimi from Big Bear
I have been listening to John and Ken "rant" over this case for the past two afternoon's on KFI.
Also just heard the leader of the Long Beach Police Officers Association comment on the case. Here is my take....
I live in Belmont Shore.
We need to stop the games and talk about the real problem, and that has destroyed our community. Our neighborhoods are totally infested with drugs and alcohol and bars and head shops, and now medical "pot" shops are popping up everywhere.
Mr. Zerby is like thousands of other people who have issues with addiction here in Long Beach.
Time for a real revolt to stop our city officials from being the "supply" source of so many bars,and clubs, and "medical" pot shops.
My heart goes out to the Zerby family, and to his eight year old son. Time for the community to wake up.
I don't place blame on anyone in this case, except for the policy makers at Long Beach City Hall.
Just my two cents....
BTW. I love your Blog, Randy! Been a reader for 5 years! Thanks!
Doug was a loving friend. He cared about his family and daughter. I hope something good can come from this sad case. How come Mayor Bob Foster has sat silent on this issue. How come none of our elected officials have called a press briefing on this matter? We want answers. How many other people have been involved in "officer related" shootings in Long Beach during the past 5 years?
Those LB PD Officers did nothing short of what they are trained to do in that situation...
Now the public has all the time in the world to pick apart their decision, while they had mere seconds.
The officers admitted they NEVER had any verbal communication with Zerby.
They claimed there was not enough time. So, who is to blame?
Doug was murdered by the Long Beach Police Department-pure and simple. The LBPD are a band of reckless thugs who need federal oversight in lieu of an impotent city government and a city council more concerned with preserving the wetlands and keeping WalMart out of Long Beach than protecting core civil rights the people of Long Beach enjoy under the U.S. Constitution. These trigger happy gangsters who play policeman are way overdue for a spanking. I spoke with a local judge about this and his response is just like the rest of the enablers who say "well, you know, long beach has a lot of crime", similar to the clown who says the problem is head shops and pot. No, the problem is police brutality, unchecked and illegal violations of basic civil rights, and the tendency for people in positions of power throughout the city to put thier head in the sand and pretend not to see it. THERE WAS NO WARNING!!! He never had a chance. That's called premeditated murder. The fact that it happened in Belmont Shore, on private property. I mean, Jesus Christ, bullets were flying into nearby apartments. The LBPD are way out of control - period. They are a Nazi-like group of deviants who have become more like city-sanctioned gang members, much like the ones they use to justify all of this excessive force to begin with. I've got an idea! How about firing someone for not doing their job right and getting a solid citizen killed? And who gives a shit if he was drinking? Was he driving? Was he causing some kind of clamor? No. He was sitting in a quiet tucked away building in a quiet tucked away part of the city. This wasn't on Canal St. or in North LB. That shows you what little regard the LBPD has for it's citizens, wherever they may be. And tell the 911 caller the next time he thinks he sees someone with a gun outside to put on his fuckin' glasses and think twice the next time he "drops a dime" and jumps to the wrong conclusion.
No warning? Not even to tell him to show his hands or drop his weapon? Cruel and not right. His wonderful amazing son is going to be dealing with his dads death for christmas. That's wrong in so many ways. Answers need to be given to this incredidble little boy who will never get to see his dad again. RS your aunties love you!!
all I can say is that none of h were in those officers shoes...and in reference to what the barstow pd guy said....all I can say is wow I'm shocked....i can almost promise u if someone was pointing an object that looked like that at him or his partner....he wuld of reacted the same...I am ashamed to b apart of this society...the police do there best and no one sees that
It is an unfortunate situation but, I believe in the split second LBPD had to react to what they thought was a gun being pointed at an officer, was the right action to be taken. If it was a real gun, and he did point it at the officer, the officer could have been killed. They had that spilt second to make a decision and you people have had a week to ponder all this. What if that officer was your son or friend that a supposed gun was being pointed at. How would you want them to react? Its a sad situation and I feel bad for his family but, i believe they did what they had to do to protect themselves.... Just unfortunate all around. But we didnt need another Officer Bonaminio ending... They have to protect themselves too people... You need to support them! They do there best and I do believe that!
First off Chief McDonnell said that Douglas pointed the water nozzle in the direction of an officer. NOT AT AN OFFICER. How do you point something at someone who is hiding, behind cover, that you can't see and you do not know is there? It wasn't split second. They had 10-15 minutes to approach him before they shot him-thats how long Chief McDonnell said they had been 'observing' him. Had they taken 3 seconds during the 10-15 minutes that they were ambusing him- none of this would of happened. Google six shooter and pistol and revolver and then look at the pictures. An officer should of known the difference and if they were confused during that 10-15 minutes they should of gotten out their damn binoculars or looked through one of their high powered scopes. And what about all the people that the LBPD put in danger...not Douglas? They sprayed a tiny courtyard and surrounding apartments with bullets. It was reckless, senselss, lethal force was not necessary and we are lucky that Douglas was the only one shot that day. Get the freaking facts straight people before you throw in your two cents. And the owner/landlord had set that 'water nozzle' on the landing where Douglas was sitting after disposing of an old hose a week or so earlier. He just sat down- picked it up and started fiddling with it while he was waiting for his friend to come home and now hes laying in a box. I guarantee that each and every one of you that say - the police were right- they only had a second- would feel very differently if you took the time to learn what really happened and put yourselves in the shoes of Douglas and his family. KILLING INNOCENT CITIZENS HAS TO STOP.
Some people are so ignorant! You have no idea what your talking about... But go ahead and point fingers if it makes you feel better!
I am with "moving out of long beach". He/she has the issue right. If the police had 10 - 15 minutes to observe the suspect, they certainly had the time to observe the nature of the device which he was holding. Squad cars have binoculars. Policemen understand and work with firearms day in and day out and can recognize the difference between a water nozzle and a weapon. These guys just did not take the time to focus on the reality and nuances of the situation and instead got all wrapped up in the ferver and excitment of the moment. Officers are supposed to the be 'cooler heads'. I feel so terrible for the that 8 year old boy of his....
If the facts are as represented, the officers involved need to be criminaly charged as this is a case of what I would term "negligent homicide".
Charge the officers? They have their lives on the lune for you every single day. They are people too with families and children. It's an unfortunate situation but, they did what they thought was right. How about blaming the caller that called The police in the first place...
Yes the police officers SOMETIMES have a tough job, but then again a lot of people do (look at how many jewelry or liquor store clerks are killed). the reality is cops have it very easy MOST of the time and that leads to complacency and when they go from loafing to some excitement they (esp younger hormone cops) are overly excited and already believe the guy has a gun and they really want to shoot somebody
the reality is regardless of how bad the cops screwed up they cover for themselves and the system protects them.
just read the story about this state trooper driving 126 mph while texting AND talking on his cellphone to his girlfriend/wife. Crashes into & kills 2 sisters and gets probation (NO Jail or Prison)!
Way late and the jury has already awarded Zerby 6.5 mil. But the story said he pointed the sprinkler at the officers. How? they were hiding and the on the spot testimony said he was waiving it around then raised it pointing at a wall. Sitting on the steps as he was the only place he could have pointed it was the wall and the cops were 15 feet away 90 degrees to where he pointed it. Of course the jury saw through the police testimony immediately.
One gets a bit sick of he3aring the police put their lives on the line for others every day. Of course they don't They are not even in the top ten hazardous jobs according to the BLS. They go in the community with a shoot first then lie policy. We go into the community with a wallet or purse and absolutely no protection if we kill a person who is robbing us. Calling the police seems to just add danger to a bad situation. I would think two or three times before doing so. They would be too late anyway and in California criminals are just let out or not even prosecuted anyway. So why bring gun toting zealots who can't be prosecuted if they screw up to the crime scene? It is like throwing fuel on the fire.
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