Officer shoots and kills maintenance worker

Woah...strange indeed.

 

Maybe he was depressed? Suicide by cop? Or, maybe, he didn't think the cops were actually cops? Do cell site substations have a lot of break-ins? I haven't really heard of any.

Why the local businesses called police is beyond me, though. "There's a suspicious white truck near the substation... it looks just like the hundreds of other white trucks and vans I've seen parked there. Quick, send police!"

Very bizarre. Something just doesn't add up.

 

Exactly. Something in the story isn't 100% accurate.

 

It was nighttime. He was alone.

Is the cell site in a good or a bad part of town?

Imagine yourself there. Alone in a small building at night possibly in a bad part of town. Suddenly you hear someone yelling at you. The commands could have been inaudible due to fans off equiptment inside or he is bad of hearing.

What would you do?

 

Freaky...but how stupid do you have to be to pull out a handgun and then not drop it when a police officer tells you more than once? Surely if the officer would've had another option (i.e. Tazer gun), I'm sure he would have used it but in that case, he probably didn't have time or another choice.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-754891.html

Worker may not have heard police command before he was shot

The Associated Press
July 22, 2006 6:11 pm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A telephone company worker may have been fatally shot by a police officer because noisy air conditioning prevented the victim from hearing the officer's repeated commands to drop his own gun, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and other telecommunications workers.

Anthony Wayne Furr, 41, a father of two from Oakboro in Stanly County, was shot to death early Thursday when the officer responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle near a cell phone tower said Furr pointed a gun at him.

Police said Furr was a contract worker who was performing maintenance on equipment in the building. His friends and neighbors said he was a selfless and respected father, active in his church, and never seen as a threat.

Police said Officer Anthony Payne responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle when he encountered Furr at about 1 a.m.

Payne, 32, was in uniform when he identified himself as an officer, but Furr reached behind his back and pulled out a handgun, police said.

Payne repeatedly told Furr to put the gun down, but Furr raised the weapon in Payne's direction and the officer fired three shots, police said. Furr's gun fell at his side and he died at the scene.

Police are investigating whether Furr might not have heard the officer over the noise of air conditioners that are used to cool the electronics in the station at the tower's base, said Keith Bridges, a police spokesman.

He suggested that there was enough light for Furr to see a uniformed police officer.

"It's horrible, it's a tragedy," Bridges said. "We're trying to look at all things we can to provide any possible explanation for why (Furr) reacted the way he did."

Bridges said police also were investigating whether Furr had encountered robbers in the past, since thieves often steal copper from cell towers.

Tim Turner, a Union County sheriff's deputy and friend of Furr's, said Furr had not talked of any encounters with robbers. He said Furr was carrying a snub-nosed .38-caliber handgun the night of the shooting.

Furr did not have a concealed weapons permit in his name, according to police records.

Work on the towers often happens late at night to avoid disrupting cell phone calls, and workers say the loud noise of air conditioners makes it almost impossible to hear anything else.

"They are extremely loud," said Michael Hackett, human services director for AFL Network Services, where Furr worked. "All the sound vibrates off of everything."

Other telecommunications workers said the lighting at the station is very bright, and Furr might have needed more time to focus clearly on the police officer when the officer entered the station.

Police are conducting two investigations into the shooting, but have said it appears Payne, who's been with the department for 10 years, acted properly. He has been placed on administrative leave, which is customary after an officer fires a gun on the job.

A funeral for Furr was scheduled for Saturday in Oakboro, about 33 miles east of Charlotte.

Family and friends say they still have questions about the incident.

"A lot of factors can come into play -- noise, weather, lighting," Turner said. "But I want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer, too, because I know it's got to be devastating."

 

WOW! I feel sorry for everyone involved. I think both parties overreacted, Payne did the right thing. What I don't understand is why Payne didn't run the plates on the vehicle and have the station get a hold of the company to varify where the vehicle was to be and who was driving?

 

I would've locked the door to make sure nobody comes in to shoot me. I think the officer did the right thing, although he should've run the plates (maybe he did), but then again, that's no indicator that the person inside wasn't a thief who stole a company truck.

 

I never close the door behind me, I don't like opening the door back up not knowing what's out there or worse if someone was knocking. When I'm working I'll normally turn off or turn down the air to a reasonable level if it's somewhat cool outside. If you're in a shady neighborhood at night you also want to be able to hear your vehicle :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

If the compound was large enough, I would pull the truck into the compound and lock the gate behind me.

 

That'd be nice but in this area it's a pipe dream. Except for mountain top LMR sites I haven't been to a site that I could pull into in a looooooooong time. Most sites have just enough room to work if it's cabinet mounted equipment or if it's a shelter the fence is typically just around the shelter itself. Real Estate is a big premium here and the carriers are already paying big bucks for that 10x10 square

 

Well, whether the door is open or closed you still won't know what's out there when you come out, right?

 

If the door is open, you are not secluded from the exterior environment. If it is closed, it is like stepping into a different world when you open the door.

 

Correcto! I can normally hear a vehicle pull up or someone walking around on the gravel. Even when I can't because of the a/c I like the option of hearing something loud. I'd much rather see an attacker face to face than getting knocked upside the head when I open the door blindly.

 

I know in our place when the alarm is tripped the alarm company notifies the Police. There have been a couple of instances where both the Police and I were surprised because I am in the warehouse so I do not hear them come in the building nor do they announce they are in there. Unfortunately as we can see it can take a turn for the worse the same incident happened in Shrewsbury.Luckily the Officer will make a full recovery,it's a tough job not knowing what you are walking into.

 

I can't help but think there must be more to this story - something does not feel right.

 

The only thing I can think of is the worker had been attacked or almost attacked/mugged in the past & decided to carry the gun for his protection.
It is sad & hopefully this won't happen again, as for the best solution to preven this from happening again I don't think there is 1 good solution to use.

I do have a question for the tech's here, is it's possible that the A/C can be shut off either automatically when the door is opened or by the tech to lower the background noise, while working in the building?

I am sure if you have to be there for a long period of time, this could be a problem with equipment overheating, but it could save someones life if the noise is brought down to a reasonable level.

 

the cop could be lieing it would not be the first time a cop lied on a bad shot for ever 10 good cops there is one pig that make the rest look bad i hope this is not the case and if it is nail hime good i respect the police but there word is no better than any one who fires a gun in deffence when no one else is around.

 

Without calling the officer a "pig" it is certainly possible the cop is lying.

The explanation someone posited over on HoFo makes sense to me, it was to the effect of:

Officer enters equipment room with gun drawn, startled worker draws his weapon, officer fires in response to perceived threat. Very quick exchange, perhaps not with enough time for the worker to notice the other person is a police officer.

Suicide by cop is probably the other likely scenario.

 

With no witnesses to say if the cop is telling the truth and the victim dead it will be hard to prove if the cop is lying. They usually cover themselves up. So, yes, it is a possibility, but that's one of those things that will never be known.

 

i was not calling the shooter a pig i was using the term pig for a officer that dose not belong with a badge or gun if it was a clean shot ok if it was not nail him to the prison wall