Jump to content

Man with knife fatally shot in head by officer in Virginia, Minn.

TBO

By TBO
in The Bored Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
Posted
A man armed with a knife took a hostage in the street of an Iron Range city and was fatally shot in the head by a local police officer, authorities said.
 
The incident unfolded shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday in Virginia, Minn., and started as a report of “suspicious activity” near Holy Spirit Catholic Church in the 300 block of 2nd Street S., where a man ordered a woman out of her vehicle, according the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
 
The man then entered the vehicle but later got out and grabbed a male bystander on the sidewalk.
 
Virginia police officers and St. Louis County sheriff’s deputies responded and soon afterward the suspect had a knife and was “running at us,” an officer on the scene reported to dispatch.
 
Moments later, an officer reported that “we got a hostage situation,” the emergency dispatch audio revealed. “Get a rifle out here. ... He’s got a male hostage.”
 
Shots were fired, and an officer was heard telling dispatch that the suspect has a “gunshot wound to the head. ... Labored breathing, unresponsive.”
 
The subject was taken by ambulance to Essentia Health-Virginia Hospital and declared dead, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which is heading the investigation. The man was later identified as 41-year-old J Scot Alan Widmark, of Virginia. An autopsy at the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Widmark died of a gunshot wound.
 
 
Crime scene personnel recovered a knife at the scene of the shooting, the BCA said.
 
Officer Nick Grivna, who’s served at the Virginia Police Department five years, was placed on standard administrative leave. Officers were not wearing body cameras, according to the BCA. Investigators were checking on whether squad cameras captured the incident.
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites
PATCHMAN Senior Member

PATCHMAN

Posted
Posted

A man armed with a knife took a hostage in the street of an Iron Range city and was fatally shot in the head by a local police officer, authorities said.

 

I've always read and heard that LEOs are notoriously bad shots.  Here, the LEO was aiming to shoot the knife out of this BG's hand!     Oooops!  Back to the range for more re-training!  

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
  • Author
Posted
 "IT issues prevent Virginia PD from using body cameras ... "
From the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Published 12/1/2018.
Seems strange in this day and age.
Budget issues likely.

Sent from my Jackboot using Copatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Duluth Senior Member

Duluth

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, TBO said:

Budget issues likely.

Sent from my Jackboot using Copatalk
 

I think you're right.

I read into it a little more. I saw an article that said they couldn't find a tech person, but they did hire one on 12/1.  Looks like they solved the issue.

Edited by Duluth
Added to the comment.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
steve4102 Senior Member

steve4102

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, TBO said:

Does US Steel give money directly to the police department?

If not, what is the process for how money gets to the police department budget?

Sent from my Jack boot using Copatalk
 

Reading is fundamental. 

 

Here let me help ya.

Quote

The City of Virginia has plenty of money, think US Steel.

Where does that say VPD?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
  • Author
Posted
And the PD Budget is set by the Virginia City Council.

As I said, that CITY has plenty of money, think US Steel.

Do you have numbers on the budget and tax revenue from US Steel?

 

If the PD budget can't cover an extra unplanned expense, what is the process for the PD to aquire that money?

 

Sent from my Jack boot using Copatalk

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
steve4102 Senior Member

steve4102

Posted
Posted

The process is to present justification to the City Council.

Maybe, just maybe the VPD hasn't presented enough justification to convince the City Council (with plenty of money) that cameras are a necessity.

More than likely it's not a lack of money as you assumed, but a lack of need. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
  • Author
Posted
48 minutes ago, steve4102 said:

The process is to present justification to the City Council.

Maybe, just maybe the VPD hasn't presented enough justification to convince the City Council (with plenty of money) that cameras are a necessity.

More than likely it's not a lack of money as you assumed, but a lack of need. 

How long does it take/can it take for that process?

Is it different than just asking one person for more money?

Can it be asked/answered in one or two days?

Can it be asked on any day, or is there a schedule it must fit into (making it a waiting period)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
steve4102 Senior Member

steve4102

Posted
Posted

Virginia has a population of 8500 people with 11 Police officers.

Out of 11 on payroll, how many in the field at one time?  Equipping them with Body Cams would not even come close to financial hardship on the city.  Nope, lack of need and lack of justification.  Money and budget are a non-factor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
  • Author
Posted
29 minutes ago, steve4102 said:

Virginia has a population of 8500 people with 11 Police officers.

Out of 11 on payroll, how many in the field at one time?  Equipping them with Body Cams would not even come close to financial hardship on the city.  Nope, lack of need and lack of justification.  Money and budget are a non-factor.

Is it possible the PD applied for the funds to buy the body cams, were granted them, bought them, then found out to use/implement them required more $$$ for such things as:

-tech set up (not hardware, but server/wi-fi/VPN)

This would require the PD to again request money through the process, which takes time.

Could that not be a reasonable explanation for why the PD had not as of then had the body cams implemented?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TBO Bored Member

TBO

Posted
  • Author
Posted
It's also possible that the Police officers and the Chief made requests to not be required to wear Body Cams.
Now you are really reaching, it's the chief who both asked for and ordered the body cams.

Sent from my Jack boot using Copatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
EdTracker Senior Member

EdTracker

Posted
Posted

To TBO's point Digital Infrastructure (and it's multitude of sub-specialities i.e. security) is significantly more expensive than the actual devices (cameras). What do you do with the files? who is in charge of them? are they being stored in accordance with the latest rules? whom has been trained in the latest rules? etc.

The point that I'm trying to make is that the cost of 5 or 8 cameras is not the expensive part. Supporting the use of the cameras is FAR FAR FAR more costly than the cameras themselves.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Please Donate To TBS

    Please donate to TBS.
    Your support is needed and it is greatly appreciated.
×
×
  • Create New...