Shooting suspect thought cop was criminal

[SecularMotion]

On a day where almost everything went wrong, Atibi Thomas and Keith Roach were lucky about one thing when they met nearly two years ago: Roach wore his bulletproof vest.

If Roach had removed the vest when he ended his shift as an Atlanta police officer at 
3 p.m. on May 29, 2010, he would be dead and Thomas would be facing a life sentence in prison — if not the death penalty — instead of the 25 years he faces this week.

Thomas shot Roach three times when the officer was in full uniform, fracturing Roach’s rib, piercing both arms and shattering a cellphone in a pocket above the officer’s heart. Why? He said he thought the officer was a crook.

Thomas, a DeKalb County merchant who at that moment was a victim of crime, said he believed the officer to be part of a robbing crew with which he had just exchanged gunfire. Roach, who had just left work in his Chevy Tahoe, heard the gunfire and drew his .40-caliber Smith & Wesson on a fleeing Thomas, the only man he saw with a gun.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/shooting-suspect-thought-cop-1339626.html

[PavePusher]

1. Sounds like he should get the same treatment the police get....

when they shoot the wrong person by mistake, i.e. often a free pass.

What did the officer's clothing/uniform look like? I've seen a few police uniforms that could be easily mistaken for non-duty clothing under hectic circumstances.

[YllwFvr]

2. mine is dark blue.

It could be mistaken for black in low light. I don't have a lot of adornment. No collar pins, no nickel name tag, and a patch in place of the badge. So if it were dark I could see that I wouldn't be recognized.
If he man had just been attacked... I wouldn't want to see him charged, personally.

[rrneck]

3. I didnt see in the article

where the officer identified himself even after the suspect was on the ground.

The guy is shook up and scared after being lured into an ambush. Then he sees a guy get out of an unmarked vehicle and point a gun at him. Even if the officer's uniform was blindly obvious he should have declared himself a police officer. Thomas complied with a command to get on the ground so although the situation was far from under control the officer just knew he could drop on the guy like a ton of bricks and shut him down. He was wrong.

All the officer had to do is yell, "I'm a cop, drop the fucking gun!" but it's much more fun ram your knee into someone's kidney.

[gejohnston]

4. this could go both ways

Can't find the link right now, but I remember reading about a homeowner in Quebec who shot a cop and got off. It was a no knock warrant and the homeowner was awakened by guys with SMGs. He shot and killed one and surrendered when he saw the word police on the back of the vest. It was ruled justifiable because the SWAT team's uniforms were no markings indicating police.

[krispos42]

5. A couple of years ago a guy in Minneapolis...

..filled a SWAT cop full of birdshot. Or his vest, at least.

An informant had given the cops lousy or phoney info, so they got a no-knock warrant on some innocent guy's house.

No charges.

[Logical]

6. OK, not sure this guy is guilt of anything but a mistake......

cops make mistakes all the time and never get any trouble.

Typical double standard!

[ileus]

7. Hopefully he has a good lawyer...

sounds like a mistake...