Witnesses: Man killed in officer-involved shooting in Pittsburg

Police survey the scene where a man was shot and killed by police near the intersection of E. Leland Road and Crestview Drive in Pittsburg , Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2008.

[WHY MIKE]

OMG! COORS LIGHT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SEE YA IN A BIT!

[El Chupacabra]

Way to go Antioch and Pittsburg PD. Great job!!!! Keep up the good work.

[meagan]

That is so ignorant. someone has lost their life at the hands of the police and you're cheering them on. that person was someone's son and father. How insensitive can you be?

[Clean Fun]

I think that policing and keeping order is a good thing but over-policing does nothing for the excellence of society.

We have a serious problem with over-policing here in the East Bay.

Somehow, I seriously doubt that this guy reached for the officer's gun. Especially if the officer had their weapon in the semi-ready position.

Truth be told, he rammed a cop car that was strategically placed to block his escape, which was stupid as hell, but that gives them every right to start blasting away and the part that really concerns me is that good judgment is no longer executed by officers.

Good judgment has been replaced by justifiable action.

Furthermore, it's almost as if they antagonize the situations. Race your vehicle in front of someone speeding to get away from you and there's a high probability they are going to hit you on accident.

If you give an officer any opportunity to shoot you, they WILL take it and it wont be a single shot to bring the situation under control, they'll riddle your lifeless corpse with bullets until they're thoroughly satisfied your family will attend a closed casket.

It's far from uncommon for a "bad guy" to go straight and live a decent life that's productive to society. With situations like these though, it's going to become more and more rare.

[A Post]

This guy drove through my neighbor's yard crashing though a fence to avoid a spike strip. When you see the kids little riding trucks and all the toys on the yard now with tire tracks right through them and a fence thats smashed to bits on a street that has an elementry school (thank god that school was in session) which the guy that got shot raced toward before he took a left turn at the school's driveway to run up into another yard it makes me think he was on a mission to hurt others to save his own skin. I don't know the whole story but if you risk other lives of innocent people then you might and should get shot and killed.

[Way to go PPD]

Good for the police. Maybe the driver of the car should have stopped when he saw the red and blue lights behind him! You dont think officers are on edge after two of there own have been killed in recent years.

[Manteca]

Meagon is an idiot. "That person was someone's son or daughter"?!? tell that to all the family member's of the people he has victimized. Dude was running from the cops in a stolen car, he has prior drug and violent crime charges. He is a TIRD!!!! Meagon has apperantly not been the victim of anything in her sheltered little hippie life. Pittsburg and yes even Antioch are being riddled more and more with these shit heads that are commiting violent crimes. Consider yourself lucky to even have cops working those streets. And as for the other idiot who commented police using too many bullets when shooting a bad guy, please explain to the thousands of victims across this county who have lost someone in a drive-by or senseless robbery due to some tird. Guess that tird should get in a few years so he or she can make a "decent life that is productive to our society". Bendejos!!!

[pittsburg]

he was wrong. but being shot five times is not rite. and if you you want justice arrest him and bring him to court! maybe teach our PD more driving skills. cause me personally would have put a corrolla down fast. come on a 2000 pound car vs a 4000 pound cruiser? and if he couldnt be stopped quit chasing him! much respect to the richardson familly....

[agreewithyoupitt sbrug]

meagon is not an idiot, how in the hell do you know she could have experienced something like this with someone, so dont fcking judge ahole he could have been someones father. that is actually ignorant praising the cops for shooting him, so your saying he deserved to die, plus he did not reach for the cops gun. he rammed his car into the officers car, he was already stuck in between them. he got out of his car with his hands up, and then they shot him. yeah he should of stopped. please and i bet if your ass was in the same situatiom, your ass would of begged to cops not to shoot, so ass down puto

[maikolo12]

meagon is an IDIOT!

if hes someones father why wasnt his ass taking care of his children rather than stealing and robbing from others>!>!?!?

He didnt deserve to die but if your going to be a criminal your taking your chances of ending up dead! PERIOD!

Teach that to your kids!!!

[pittsburgh 1 bad guys 0]

wow, i can't beleive what some of you people post! this scum bag was clearly out of control and driving a 2000 lb vehicle as a weapon at that point. hitting cars, driving through yards running into the cruisers for over 15 minutes. all the while you stupid idiots gathering on the sidewalks to watch something exciting. maybe you should think again and realize that the officer was helping to protect your lives as well as there own! this scum bag stole a car from a poor pizza guy, and by the way he just got out of prison where we have been paying for him to live a scum bag existance. i commend the hard work of our police officers in this country and its a shame we have idiots that question there judgment, thats what they are trained to do....stop the threat not just shoot them in the arm! lets pull our heads out of our butts people, be glad he did not hurt you while driving out of control!!!!

[Karma]

another dead gang banger wahhhhh. if we keep giving them the chance they will eventually kill themselves off. Police should shoot first and ask questions later. Or if the police did their job right there wont be anyone to question.

[Made]

Hate to break it to you guys but this isn't the 1800's. We have electricity, indoor plumbing, and stealing / driving through people's yards is not an offense punishable by death. Or even accepted as one

Doesn't anybody else find it slightly disturbing that the cops in the Bay Area are getting bloated salary's of $130,000.00/yr and more. The job doesn't even require a college education!

What? They place their life on the line every day etc ...? Oh boohoo, 3 to 5 Cops die every year in California. According to statistics, you're much safer being a cop then a construction worker.

Vallejo just had to file for bankruptcy because 3/4 of their city revenue went to cops and firefighters alone. Get a grip of yourselves.

It's no wonder that California is in the huge mess it's in.

[Dru]

Don't want a problem? Don't commit a crime and don't run from the police. Simple solution. The guy had to have an idea of what was going to happen to him when he was being an idiot. As insensitive as it seems it's the absolute truth.

[Jeff]

Antioch needs a vigilente committe. It's time to quit being politically correct, and let "these people" know that they're welcome in Antioch. Let's cut the crap. If "these people" want to stay in Antioch and not live by the rules, then lets make life misarable for them. The same way they have been making our lives miserable. Remember there are still a hell of a lot more of "us" than "them." Let's take quit hiding like cowards behind our locked doors and windows, and "engage" the enemy. We need a war mentality, not a "politically correct" one.

Contact [e-mail] for more information.

[Disgusted]

I am disgusted with the people that are agreeing with the idiot that just got out of jail steals cars, flees from police with priors. I bet that every person on here would not be agreeing with him if while on his run after going through a fence ran over somebody in their family or a close friend. As for "Made" construction jobs arent nearly as dangerous the only reason their aren't as many police officers killed while on duty is because THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR DOING. If someone was on a rampage tearing down the streets driving through anything they can to get away i guarantee you would shoot them however many times you need to get them off the streets and away from hurting family and friends. There is no question about it what the officers did is right. Anyone who is questioning that needs to get their head out of their a$$ and realize that these police officers put their lives on the line everyday just to keep YOU safe.

[Dirtybird]

as a matter of fact, this man was someones father and had a mom and dad who loved him. he was a friend of mine. im not saying he wasnt wrong in some of the choices he made but getting shot five or six times when he was unarmed is a little overdoing it. dont u think? r.i.p Tommy Scogland

[Ghetto H8TR]

Clean Fun wrote:

I think that policing and keeping order is a good thing but over-policing does nothing for the excellence of society.
We have a serious problem with over-policing here in the East Bay.
Somehow, I seriously doubt that this guy reached for the officer's gun. Especially if the officer had their weapon in the semi-ready position.
Truth be told, he rammed a cop car that was strategically placed to block his escape, which was stupid as hell, but that gives them every right to start blasting away and the part that really concerns me is that good judgment is no longer executed by officers.
Good judgment has been replaced by justifiable action.
Furthermore, it's almost as if they antagonize the situations. Race your vehicle in front of someone speeding to get away from you and there's a high probability they are going to hit you on accident.
If you give an officer any opportunity to shoot you, they WILL take it and it wont be a single shot to bring the situation under control, they'll riddle your lifeless corpse with bullets until they're thoroughly satisfied your family will attend a closed casket.
It's far from uncommon for a "bad guy" to go straight and live a decent life that's productive to society. With situations like these though, it's going to become more and more rare.

If you cant pay the price Dont be a screw up. Im never involved with the police,Why Because I dont do anything that would have to involve them. If your in a hi speed pursuit with the police you should be shot because your endangering lives of everyone else on the road.

[Ghetto H8TR]

meagan wrote:

That is so ignorant. someone has lost their life at the hands of the police and you're cheering them on. that person was someone's son and father. How insensitive can you be?

Thats the problem with this country, Everyone is to politicaly correct.

[Ghetto H8TR]

pittsburg wrote:

he was wrong. but being shot five times is not rite. and if you you want justice arrest him and bring him to court! maybe teach our PD more driving skills. cause me personally would have put a corrolla down fast. come on a 2000 pound car vs a 4000 pound cruiser? and if he couldnt be stopped quit chasing him! much respect to the richardson familly....

If he cant be stopped quit casing him are you for real, Thats that ghetto mentality coming out, If you like living that way go to richmond