Police: Pastor Shot While Drawing Gun

15 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Sisyphus on September 07 at 2:58 p.m.

  Guns don’t kill people….

• 

  TALKJOC on September 07 at 3:12 p.m.

  The story didn’t say whether or not the officer identified himself. Creech may have thought the unmarked car was just another prowler and couldn’t really see the officer. Was he in uniform or plain clothes? If a man you didn’t process as being an officer but someone hitting you in the leg….you’d pull your gun to defend yourself. Way too many unanswered questions, Was the officer in uniform? Did he identify himself?
  If he had the gun out and then put it in his wasteband why was he hit at that time? This rough.

• 

  MatthewRoot on September 07 at 3:17 p.m.

  I did not read where Deputy Brian Hirze, sitting in an unmarked car at night, identified himself to the property owner.
  Seems like the Deputy escalated the situation (instead of diffusing it) by ordering a law-abiding citizen standing on his own property to get on the ground, then striking a 74-year-old man sending him to the ground (standing on his own property).
  Seems like very bad judgment and very bad police work.

• 

  Voltron on September 07 at 3:44 p.m.

  This is a tragedy.

  I wonder why a pastor has a gun?

  I wonder why a 74 year old man would attempt to apprehend anybody instead of calling 911?

  I wonder why the cops didn’t call the property owner to tell him them they’d be in the area patrolling.

  I wonder why the cop didn’t use a taser?

  I wonder why the pastor felt it necessary to argue with a cop?

  I wonder why the cop felt it was necesary to smack a 74-year old man with a billy club?

  I wonder why pastor didn’t simply drop his handgun?

  These are vexing questions and only two people know the answers and the truth about what happened. Unfortunately, one of them is dead.

  It’s easy to armchair quarterback this situation, but in the moment — this cop had split second decisions to make and he believed it to be a life and death situation. Did the cop use bad judgment? Maybe. Did the pastor use bad judgment? Maybe.

  I am frustrated that we will never know the “truth” but life is like that.

• 

  sue on September 07 at 3:49 p.m.

  “Unfortunately, one of them is dead.” And the other went on vacation. The sheriff would’ve done the deputy a favor by canceling the vacation. Sure added to the perception of cover-up and a callous disregard for another’s life. I’m doubtful we’ll ever know the truth too.

• 

  hmoffsuite on September 07 at 4:04 p.m.

  On an initial thread on this topic, I made the following post. I am reposting it here as it seems to fit the discussion. I think this terrible situation was a result bad police work as others have suggested. my post ….
  
  I would think that this whole thing could have been easily avoided had the Sheriff’s dept made a simple phone call to Creach, advising him that they were placing an unmarked car in his lot to look for the reported bad guys. A simple phone call. A heads up. I think this borders on negligence on the part of the sheriff.

• 

  Howard_Martinson on September 07 at 4:04 p.m.

  The police response was predictable. Self defense. And the victim can’t refute that, having been shot dead by the cop.

• 

  nic on September 07 at 4:09 p.m.

  Will the world stop spinning if I agree with hmo?

• 

  Sisyphus on September 07 at 4:18 p.m.

  At the risk of hijacking THIS thread, I’m a gonna explain what I mean at the top and why I don’t arm myself. In this case a person is dead precisely cause he had a gun. The pastor went a lookin’ fer a prowler and took a gun to protect himself and his property, a right our western community prides itself on. The cop had pulled over to do some paperwork, was also on the lookout for the prowler and was, of course, charged with protecting the community, with violence, if necessary. Both men were doing precisely what they, and society, deemed to be correct. So how did this end tragically?

  What we had here was a standoff, both men sure they were right, doing their duty with God on their side. Each was armed with lethal force and were prepared to use it. Only they failed ultimately to communicate to each other their common goals and instead chose to rely on the fact of the weapon to gain superiority leading inevitably to the shooting. One thing is for sure, if either man had lacked such a weapon, the outcome would have been markedly less tragic.

  Now I’m not some rabid anti-gun nut. I’ve owned and shot weapons all my life in Idaho. But there’s too much macho mythology and not enough common sense when it comes to using weapons of lethal force.

• 

  Sisyphus on September 07 at 4:35 p.m.

  Too many unanswered questions, hmoff. How do you know that wasn’t communicated to the Creach’s? And was the cop in the driveway coincidence or deliberate? Was he there cause it was convenient to get caught up on his paperwork or cause he was sent there, or both? Cops tend to be kinda reluctant to give out detailed information on stakeouts. And do you think it woulda made one iota of difference to Creach, since he was notorious for confronting intruders with a gun?

  In any event, ya gotta assume that the officer identified himself multiple times during the initial communication. The question is, why did the cop decide it was necessary to club an old man in the knee after Creach never threatened the officer and had replaced the gun in his waistband indicating he wasn’t a threat?

  Another interesting disclosure. Creach’s wife heard three shots. Only one shot killed Creach. Where did the other two go? This was point blank I assume.

• 

  Stickman on September 07 at 4:37 p.m.

  Good comment Sis.

• 

  toadman on September 07 at 4:52 p.m.

  Creach was the first cousin of the father of one of my good friends in High School. He called me the day after the shooting to talk to me about it. His dad said he was notoriously “mouthy.” My friend said his dad was very sad about his cousin’s death, and attended the funeral in Oklahoma, but honestly, wasn’t entirely shocked. My high school friend said he would see Creach at family reunions in Oklahoma when he was a kid, an mostly just steer clear of him…mostly out of fear. ;-) Just more info, that’s all.

  He was still loved by many, it would seem, no matter how “mouthy” he was. I’m sure he’ll be missed.

• 

  toadman on September 07 at 4:56 p.m.

  “Guns don’t kill people….” You’re right. Bullets kill people when flung at them at high velocity. Still, that’s not what actually “kills” people. Failure of the body continue to work, kills people.

• 

  Escapee on September 07 at 11:46 p.m.

  How would the basic ‘everyone’s a suspect’ attitude affect a cop on the prowl late at night for who-knows-who?

• 

  stacyp on September 08 at 8:30 a.m.

  I think Sys said it best at 4:18.

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