Night Ride

I took my Raleigh Passage out tonight to blow some of the winter dust off of it. I guess I'm crazy, but I really prefer the ride and handling of my other bikes, the ones I built from scratch, to the bike store polished Passage. There is no doubt that the comfort bike is smooth. It rides like a dream. The chain shifts cogs quickly and effortlessly. I guess I don't really like the posture I must assume on it.

As I rode, I thought about an email I received from Austin Haley's mother, Renee. I will cut and paste her update here.

"Since the horrible tragedy, we now have another son--Gabriel Jeremiah Haley. He is now 9 months old....our precious little miracle.

We are so blessed that Austin's name and story has still not been forgotten....even one year and seven months later. A third year college student, Chris Rogerson, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sent us a letter a couple of weeks ago. In the letter, he stated that he wrote a music piece that will be played in an Orchestra on March 31, 2009. He titled it "Noble Pond." He invited us to Pennsylvania to listen to the college orchestra play the piece at that time. We feel honored and blessed that Austin is still being remembered.

We still live and relive what happened on August 3, 2007. Austin is still so dearly loved and missed beyond what words could possibly say. We are thankful, though, Austin's story is used in very important ways. For example, OMAG, an insurance company for many police stations in the state of Oklahoma, created a police training video in memory of our precious Austin. On the video, they had interviewed Jack and I to explain what happened. We appreciate this video being made, and hopefully it will encourage individuals to "think" before shooting, and know what is behind their target.

Jack and I often read comments made on the blogs, and we appreciate those of you who are still thinking about and praying for our family. We cope with the grief only through the grace of God. We are also in the process of writing a book that will hopefully one day be published. We pray the memory of Austin will live on forever, so Dalton, now 4 years old, and Gabriel, 10 months, will know who their big brother truly was....truly the best big brother they could have ever had!"

I can not imagine the inescapable grief and anguish of losing a child, especially to the errors of others. I can only admire the resolve and the faith of the Haley family. Thank you Renee.

A Comment From Renee Haley

"I have been reading your post for several months now and I have wanted to let so many people know what we know. We have had to wait until the preliminary trial was waived to let everyone know what is going on with the case. Of course you have heard we are not happy with the deal to put it mildly.

When we took this case to the Cleveland County DA Greg Mashburn, he did not seem to think that any charges were waranted. But he thought that maybe some probationary period might be in order. So we did not agree from the get go. We immediately made it known that we wanted to see jail time happen. What we really wanted is to see a trial happen, but over the months we have found that the DA and his office seem to not want to go to trial for the reason that since he was so graciously given his office by the local FOP [Fraternal Order of Police], he does not want to put away one of their finest. In other words, we do not think that he would put 100% of his efforts or his office efforts into a trial.

It seems like no one wants to address the fact and the stupidity of shooting a snake that was stuck in a bird house. Much less a non-poisonous snake. The snake in question being a black rat snake, by the way, at 2:30 the next morning was still stuck in the bird house and was removed by a Norman Animal control officer. The snake was never hit by a bullet, the stupid rookie missed twice. The second bullet hitting my son. These guys stepped over a shovel, a hoe and some hedge clippers to use a gun to try and hit the snake. They never used those garden tools. Michelle Key the first officer on the scene tried to use the handle of the hoe to no avail, and then when the boy cops showed up, it was time to show off.

Officer Robert Shawn Richardson said and I quote from the OSBI report "I guess we'll have to shoot it" then the rookie Paul Bradley Rogers said "I'll do it, I just got out of CLEET training". I am appaulled at the next bit of information. The rookie said "Fire in the hole" before his first shot. This was a joke to them, they were showing off for the girl cop. These guys were not interested in doing things right this night. If they would have, things would have been different.

My husband was in his shop not more than 60 yards away with his sliding doors open with music up loud, I was mowing our front yard with a push mower the same distance away, my father had just picked up our boys to go fishing at the pond, they had been there 5 minutes when the first shot rang out, 6 seconds later the second shot came. My father two months over a stroke he had, could barely muster the strength to lift my 50lb 5 year old son plus keep my 2 year old in check while they climbed up the hill to get to the 4 wheeler.

We did not know what had happened, until 2 minutes later when he drove up to me in our front yard. I yelled "What", Jack, my husband, came running to find our son bleeding from the head, knowing his life was gone from the first look at his injury. He yelled, what happened, He then began running around yelling "who shot my son?" Finally we heard some people coming from behind some trees, they were wandering what had happened. There were two of the cops, plus some neighbors. They acted like they did not know what was going on, and we were too messed up in our heads to even think it was cops that shot our son. We did not find this out until the Noble Police Chief, Ben Daves, came to the hospital to tell us.

These cops stayed as far away from the carnage they created as they could. They did not even see my son or the fatal injury they caused.

The neighbor that originally called the police about the snake, seems to be siding with the cops, they got to her some how. She won't even talk to us. Her 16 year old daughter got on the internet and fished up some photos of a rattlesnake and told the cops thats what the snake was. The birdhouse was not even in her backyard. It was her neighbors back yard. This neighbor has been extremely stand offish to us. Not even allowing us to talk to her daughter about what happened, we know that both of them are witnesses, other neighbors of theirs saw them watching the cops as they performed their "duties".

The whole mess has turned our lives upside down. My son, Dalton, relives this day everyday. I relive this day everyday. My husband relives this everyday. The only way we have gotten through these days is God. We know that God has our son. We know that God did not take our son from us. We know that God did not cause this to happen. It was the cops, their pride and arrogance killed my son. The cop thinking he could hit a moving target killed my son, the sergeant cop who said lets shoot it killed my son. Continue praying for us as this is still so very difficult for our family. Thank you so much for the uplifting comments. We read them often. Please, help us get the word out. April 30th at 8:45 a.m. is the court date in front of Judge Lucas at Norman, Oklahoma.

This is a video link of my father telling about the tragedy of losing my son. It is heart-wrenching to our family."

Renee Haley

It's so simple even a DA should understand it.


The Four Rules
1. All firearms are always loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it

4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

Austin Haley Update

Cleveland County prosecutors are offering deferred sentences to two former Noble police officers, Paul Bradley Rogers and Robert Shawn Richardson who are charged with second degree manslaughter in the death of five year old Austin Haley on August 3, 2007.

Austin was feeding fish from a dock when the infamous snake killers of the Noble Police Department fired two shots at a non-poisonous snake that was stuck in a birdhouse in a residential neighborhood. One of the shots hit the water in front of Austin, the second struck Austin in the head, killing him.

Little Austin Haley died in front of his two year old brother Dalton, and his grandfather, Jack Tracy, as a result of the actions of these two former law enforcement officers idiots with guns. Austin's family is still grieving.

According to James Haley, the idiots will be fined $1000, lose their law enforcement license, and will be put on probation. No jail time will be served, and most appalling of all, after two years have passed, they will be able under Oklahoma law to have the offense expunged from their records. This means that they could return to a position in law enforcement.

If we can do nothing else, let us make certain that a google search performed after a job interview will turn up these officer's names and connect them with this irresponsible and thoroughly unnecessary death of an innocent child. Let us make certain that Paul Bradley Rogers, Robert Shawn Richardson and the other officer on the scene, Michelle Key, have their negligence, incompetence and unsafe gun handling available through a simple googling of their names.

Assistant District Attorney David Brockman can be contacted at:
David M. Brockman OBA# 16109
District Attorney's Office
201 S. Jones, Ste 300
Norman, OK 73069
321-8268 360-4840
brockman@okdist21.org

Austin Haley Update

Officer Paul Bradley Rogers, Sgt. Robert Shawn Richardson and officer Michelle Key, all involved in the negligent shooting death of five year old Austin Haley have been fired, Noble City Manager Bob Wade said today. The three police officers responded to a call from Anita Williams regarding a non-poisonous, non-threatening snake stuck in a birdhouse. The police officers decided to shoot at the hissing reptile instead of leaving it alone.

Little Austin Haley was killed in front of his two year old brother Dalton, and his grandfather, Jack Tracy, as a result of the police officer's imprudence. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Richardson have been charged in Cleveland County District Court with one felony count each of second degree manslaughter. Noble Police Chief Ben Daves was handed his pink slip on October 7, 2007.

Renee and Jack Haley continue to grieve for the loss of their precious son. Dalton still has trouble sleeping at night and jumps at the slightest noise. Nothing can remove the pain and anguish these officers caused, but as intelligent citizens, we can seek to make certain they will not threaten public safety again.

"We're the Only Ones........"

Officer Paul Bradley Rogers and Sergeant Robert Shawn Richardson of the Noble Oklahoma police department turned themselves in today, to be booked on charges of second degree manslaughter in the death of Austin Haley. They were released without bond.

Other Noble Oklahoma police department news tells of an officer, Bobby Brent Sirpless, engaged in a little drunken hit and run activity over the weekend. Sirpless was stopped by Norman Oklahoma police at 6:45 PM September 8,2007 on State Highway 9 after police received a call regarding his pick-up truck impacting another automobile and running off. Sirpless was found drunk behind the wheel, and was arrested.

Sirpless was also charged with carrying a firearm while under the influence. He was booked into the Cleveland County jail and has now been released.



Noble has an advertisement online for police officers........Looks like police chief Ben Daves might need another one.

Noble, Oklahoma Police Department

The Noble Police Department is accepting applications for full time and reserve officers.

Job Description:
Patrols city in a car or on foot, respond to calls for service of a varied nature, write reports, interview victims, witnesses and suspects, secure and investigate crime scenes, relay information, testify in court, enter and retrieve data from a computer terminal, etc. A full job description is available with the employment application.

Skills Required:
Must be 21 years of age. Possess a HS Diploma or GED. Must have a valid drivers license. Must not have been convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude. Must be willing to undergo physical agility testing, an MMPI (personality inventory), a polygraph exam, and an Oklahoma Police Pension physical exam. CLEET certification is desirable but not required.

Compensation:
$21,840 to $30,701 (salary range / fulltime)

For information, contact the Noble Police Department at 405-872-9231. (7-10-2007)

Charges Filed in the Austin Haley Shooting

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Second-degree manslaughter charges will be filed against two Noble police officers involved in the accidental fatal shooting of a 5-year-old boy, a district attorney said Friday.

Austin Gabriel Haley was killed Aug. 3 after one of the officers fired his .40-caliber handgun at a snake in a birdhouse outside a home in Noble. The boy was standing at a dock at a pond near the house when he was hit.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn identified the officers as Brad Rogers and Shawn Richardson. They would face up to four years in prison if convicted of the felony charge. Mashburn said he researched the law extensively, visited the shooting scene twice and met with family members of the boy before making his decision. "I take no pleasure in this decision," he said. "Although this shooting is accidental, with reasonable care and caution, the death of a child could have been avoided."

The boy's parents, who were at the news conference where Mashburn made his announcement, said they supported the prosecutor's decision. The officer who fired the shot believed the snake to be a rattlesnake, but it turned out to be a harmless black rat snake that is often mistaken for a dangerous snake, Noble City Manager Bob Wade said. The city of Noble had no animal control officer at the time of the shooting.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn has declared the child's death was caused by "culpable negligence". "I conclude that these officers failed to do something that a reasonably careful person would do, by firing a weapon at a non-poisonous snake that was stuck in a birdhouse without knowing what lay behind their location," he said.

Paul Bradley Rogers, a sworn rookie peace police officer, fired his sidearm at a snake stuck in a birdhouse. He misidentified the snake as a rattlesnake. The snake was actually a black rat snake. City officials, being the snake experts they are, claim this confusion between rattlesnakes and black rat snakes is not uncommon in the area.

The dumbass errant officer who could not tell a stuck black rat snake from a viciously attacking killer rattler took the life of a child. Paul Bradley Rogers killed little Austin Haley.
Let me rephrase that.......Paul Bradley Rogers took the life from Austin Haley. Paul Bradley Rogers took a beloved son from his mother, Renee Haley, and a beloved son from his father, Jack Haley. Paul Bradley Rogers is a killer. Regardless of the reasons why, this police officer is a child killer.

Robert Shawn Richardson was Rogers' supervising officer with the Noble Police Department. He was at the scene when the decision was made to place lives at risk to kill a misidentified but stuck harmless black rat snake with a handgun. Rogers had been on the police force about a month, and Richardson had been on the force for more than five years

Reality Check Time..............It does not matter whether the snake was dangerous or not. It does not matter whether the snake was stuck in a birdhouse or not. It does not matter whether the snake was poisonous or not. It does not matter if the snake resembled a black mamba and was spitting blood from it's eyes like a horney toad. Discussion of the species of snakes, statistics of misidentification between serpent species, and degrees of peril encountered by these police officers is simply smoke and mirrors thrown up by a police department and a city government that does not want to accept the truth.

It does not matter whether the officer was a rookie or a 20 year veteran with trophies from Camp Perry and a gold trimmed letter from Ronald Reagan testifying to his history of safe firearm usage. The fact that the shots were fired by a rookie cop under the direct supervision of his more experienced partner is simply more distraction from the central issue. These facts are true, but they are irrelevant.

What is relevant is the town of Noble Oklahoma issued a yahoo a firearm, and instructed him to go preserve the peace. That is irresponsible and negligent. They would not instruct him to drive a police cruiser without first ascertaining he knew how to drive. They would not instruct him to enforce the law without first knowing what the law was. Yet they instructed him to strap on a deadly weapon and allowed him to parade about town as their agent of law and order, without a whit of information in his head on basic firearms safety. None. The city of Noble, Oklahoma allowed that. If they gave him instruction on the safe use of his firearm, he did not retain the instruction, he did not comprehend the instruction, or he just did not give a damn in his quest to be the big bad snake killin' hero of Cleveland County. Simple instruction. Basic safety instruction. Instruction not deemed necessary by the city government of Noble, Oklahoma or the police department of Noble, Oklahoma.


The Four Rules
1. All firearms are always loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it

4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

What could be more simple? A precious life is over, an innocent child is dead because a town did not care enough to train an officer of the law in the most basic rules of firearms safety. A innocent life is over, an precious child is lost forever because an officer of the law did not care enough to avail himself to the most basic of firearms safety, comprehend and integrate it into his vocation, and follow it before his hand approached his firearm.

A financial judgement against the city of Noble will not bring young Austin back. A prison sentence for the officers involved will not give these parents back their child. A financial judgement will help wake this city government up, make them face reality, and will help insure they invest in basic firearms safety training for their police officers. Prison sentences will insure that the remaining police officers stay awake in the class.

Rule Four

Noble Oklahoma: The first shot was so loud it made the hair stand straight up on Jack Tracy's arm. The bullet hit the water just a few feet in front of the boat dock where he was standing. Instinctively, he pulled his 5-year-old grandson, Austin Haley, close to his left side and began yelling that there were people down by the pond. Then came the second shot, and the unforgettable thump of a 9 mm bullet penetrating a young boy's skull.

"It went right through the back of his head and came out the front,” Tracy said. "He was just bleeding severely and I knew, right then, he was most likely dead, right there.” Tracy thought he and his grandson were under attack by someone trying to kill them both, so he threw the boy into the back of a 4-wheeler and drove to his daughter's house about 200 yards away.

"Then two officers came out of the brush over there,” he said. "They didn't tell us they were the ones who had been shooting or that they had shot him. They didn't admit a doggone thing.” Much later, Tracy said, he found out one of the officers had fired two shots in the Crest Lane neighborhood, trying to kill a snake that had become lodged in a birdhouse on the back porch of a house just up the hill from Tracy's pond.

Police had gotten a call of a snake complaint from a woman on Crest Lane, whose 16-year-old daughter saw the snake hanging about 3 feet of its body outside a neighbor's bird house. The woman, who would not identify herself, told The Oklahoman she called the police station to see if animal control could respond and take care of the snake, which she believed to be a diamondback rattlesnake. She was told that the city, which lost its only animal control officer recently, would send a police officer over to help.

"This was just a freak and tragic accident,” the woman said, "and I just feel really bad for everyone involved.” Other neighbors weren't as sympathetic.

Crest Lane resident Kara Johnson said there was no excuse for shooting a gun at a snake in a residential area. "It's a shame that someone had to lose their 5-year-old child over a snake,” Johnson said. "And that's their only child. They'll never get their kid back.”

Neighbor G.W. Henderson said his wife heard a woman screaming within minutes of the shots. "She was shouting ‘You shot my boy! You shot my boy!'” Henderson said.

City Manager Bob Wade said rumors of overeager Noble officers are inaccurate.
"I was told that they tried several ways to get the snake down, but it was still hissing at them and firmly lodged,” Wade said. "What I was told is that the owner of the home either suggested or agreed that they should go ahead and shoot the snake, and then everything happened from there.” Wade refused to identify the officer suspected of firing the shots but said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents were told that officers decided to shoot the animal after being told there was a field behind them, said Jessica Brown, bureau spokeswoman. "The first shot grazed the snake, and the second killed it,” Brown said.

Wade said he is 90 percent sure that the same bullet that killed the snake also killed Austin, but due to the trajectory of the shot and the fact that Austin and his grandfather were downhill, investigators have to be 100 percent certain. "This is so bizarre it has to be fully investigated. ... We're pretty sure circumstantially that it is the bullet from the police officer's gun, but it might be a bullet from someone else,” Wade said.

Tracy has little doubt about what happened. "I was standing right beside him when they shot him in the head,” he said. "There just wasn't anything I could do for this baby. He was dead. And he was just the finest Christian boy. His mother just bought him a Bible not a week before this — he wanted one that was camouflage because he was in the Lord's army.'”

Tracy said that when he saw the news reports and heard the police chief saying it was an "unfortunate accident,” the remark seemed too trivial and dismissive. "I'm not saying the cop shot him on purpose,” Tracy said. "It was an accident. But let me tell you — if I had a kid and put him in this car and didn't put him in a car seat and he got killed on the way to town, they'd charge me with murder ... and what this cop did is a lot worse than that. ... There was no reason for him to kill my grandson.”

By Johnny Johnson
Staff Writer NewsOK.com

Rule Four God Dammit! Rule Four! This is not a damned accident! This is negligence, pure and simple. There is no rational reason for this tragedy. None. These officers should be prosecuted. The shooter for negligent homicide. His partner as an accessory.

And to think that these are likely the same nimrods who run around saying that firearms are too dangerous to be in the hands of civilians. Yep, they probably believe they are the only ones professino enuff.

Be certain of your target and what lies beyond it. Rule Four.

A comment from Austin Haley's mother:

My name is Renee Haley....the proud mother of Austin Haley who was shot and killed by a Noble Police Officer. I want to mention two very important things that have been somewhat forgotten in the blogs. First, the THREE police officers who reported to the house of the snake, decided to literally pick up their feet, step over a hoe, rake, and hedge clippers placed directly inside the gate before the police officers arrived to shoot the snake. The second fact is this was not a poisonous snake, but a rat snake that is very similar to a king snake. It was five feet long, but it could not get out of the small opening in the bird house because it had eaten bird eggs or birds. It was stuck and harmless! I do forgive the police officer who shot my precious son, but I do believe there have to be consequences of his behavior. Please keep us in your prayers...God bless all of you.

Renee

More.

Video statements from the Haley family.

Jeff Cooper on shooting snakes.

And the news story.........

Jeff Cooper on Snake Pistols

September 1965--"Actually, the idea of a 'snake pistol' eludes me. If you see a dangerous snake first, stay out of his reach. If you don't, what good is your pistol?"